He’s charged in a human trafficking case.
Frederick, Md (KM) The prosecution continued to make its case Wednesday at the Frederick County Court House in the trial of Thomas Duane Jones, 36, of Houston,Texas. He and Marvin Armstrong, 47, of High Point, North Carolina, were arrested last year for bringing a 17-year-old girl from Texas to Maryland for sexual purposes.
Jones is charged with several counts of human trafficking, 1st-degree rape, 1st-degree sex offense, false imprisonment and 2nd-degree assault. Armstrong pleaded guilty in May to 2nd-degree assault and 1st-degree sex offense. He also testified against co-defendant Jones during the trial.
State’s Attorney Charlie Smith says the trial was scheduled to start at 9:00 AM on Wednesday, but it was delayed because the court had to hear other matters. “We did start at 10:30. The co-defendant {Armstrong} resumed his testimony on the stand. And once we finished up with the co-defendant’s testimony and the cross examination of him, Detective Deweese, who was a detective who was part of the case, took the stand,” Smith says. Deweese also played a 46-minute recording of an interview he conducted with Jones.
In addition, Smith says six different phone calls made by Jones outside of the jail were submitted as evidence. He calls them “incriminating.”
Also, the prosecution called two employees of the Super 8 Motel on Monocacy Boulevard, where Jones and Armstrong were arrested last year, and the 17-year-old girl was found. Smith says they spoke about “the specifics of when they got there, why they got there, who was there. And much of what they had to say corroborated what this young lady had to say about what was occurring in terms of her human trafficking case.”
He says the State is expected to rest it case on Thursday. Then the defense will present its case. Smith hopes the jury will get the case by the end of the week.
Armstrong was scheduled to be sentenced on Wednesday, but that was postponed because he was testifying in Jones’ trial.
By Kevin McManus