She was only eighteen, a senior in high school, when a woman named Marissa messaged her on a dating site. MK thought she was falling for Marissa, building an online romance that felt exciting and new. It seemed wonderful that someone was finally paying attention to her. Marissa arranged to pick her up right after school.
When the car pulled up, MK was shocked to see a man in the passenger seat. This was David. He introduced himself as Marissa’s older boyfriend, and in that moment, the careful trap snapped shut. At first, they treated her well.
They took her to nice hotels just for fun, made her feel important, and promised her a life filled with money and people who cared. She thought it sounded great, and she willingly went along, unaware of the nightmare she was stepping into. Only about a month after she met them, the focus shifted. Slowly, they introduced the idea of escorting.
They told her they were making a documentary about prostitution, and that she would become famous and rich for participating. David said she would get twenty million dollars when it aired. He showed her pictures of himself outside the HBO building, trying to prove he was a real producer. MK did not know that this documentary was a complete lie.
There was no film. There was no deal. There was only David and Marissa, creating a believable world to exploit her and other vulnerable women. David was the charming mastermind, and Marissa was the recruiter, a friendly face who made the whole horrible situation seem legitimate.
This was the beginning of a massive criminal case. It began when a detective from the Redmond Police Department called the FBI about a cyber harassment case that did not feel right. After looking into it, they realized it looked like human trafficking. A young woman named MK was involved, and her case was about to reveal a nationwide web of fraud and cruelty.
David’s scheme was designed to attract the most vulnerable people. He looked for women desperate for money, affection, or an escape. He would dangle a carrot in front of them. For one lonely girl, he offered friendship.
For an aspiring musician, he offered fame. He would find their deepest weakness and use it against them. He promised them all a fortune, and they believed him because they wanted to. The women were told to go on “dates” and then come back to be interviewed about their experiences for the documentary.
They signed non-disclosure agreements, under the impression they were part of a professional production. David took huge “production fees” from their earnings, keeping the majority for himself and giving them only a small portion. What he took paid for his car rentals, first-class flights, and nice hotels. When the women wanted to leave, he threatened to sue them, and they were too afraid to break away.
The case against David relied on the testimony of the victims. The FBI agent had to get a witness statement from another woman to corroborate MK’s story, and she was able to get one. Armed with new evidence, they got a search warrant for David’s apartment. The place was disgusting, smelling of animal urine, but the evidence they found there was powerful.
They found hundreds of hotel key cards, plane tickets, and a contract with MK’s name on it that was just sitting out on the table. One of the most damning pieces of evidence came from a photo on David’s computer. He had been sending women a screenshot of his bank account, claiming he had one hundred and fifty-five million dollars. When the FBI agent looked more closely, she could see the Excel toolbar at the top of the screen and the little cursor marks between the numbers.
It was a fake picture, a screenshot of a spreadsheet, not a real bank account. David had never had anywhere near that amount of money. When they executed the warrant, David did not even have any film equipment. He had no way to make a documentary.
It was all a fantasy designed to get women to give him money and their bodies. The FBI agent also discovered that David had been recruiting not just adult women but also young girls under the age of eighteen. He would coerce them into making sexually explicit videos and then use those videos to blackmail them. David and Marissa were arrested, but David posted bail and went on the run with Marissa.
He fled to other cities across the US while the FBI tracked him. David decided to fly back to Seattle. The FBI told the agent he was coming, and she went with them to the airport, walked onto the plane, and met him face to face. She booked him into jail, and shortly after, agents in Chicago arrested Marissa.
While in jail, David continued to scheme. He was on the phone trying to convince his daughter to dispose of evidence. He begged Marissa to take the fall for him, promising to make her famous when he got out. He worked hard to manipulate her even from behind bars, but it did not work.
The evidence against them was too strong. At trial, David continued to be difficult. He threw tantrums, refused to eat, and even collapsed on the floor. But the evidence was undeniable.
The jury saw the fake bank statement, the hotel records, and the testimonies from the victims. They heard from HBO that they had never paid anywhere near the amount of money David had promised. The jury found David guilty on all counts. The judge sentenced him to thirty-three years in federal prison.
It was one of the largest sentences in a very long time in that district, a sign of how serious his crimes were. Marissa, a victim-turned-perpetrator, received a plea deal for a much shorter sentence, but she continued to struggle and make bad choices after getting out of David’s influence. After the trial, the FBI agent reflected on the case. She said that people often think that selling their body for a little bit of money is a quick and easy route.
But talking to long-term survivors, she knew the price was much heavier than they anticipated. Every one of them has said the same thing: It is not worth it.
