Billy Randolph Edwards

The former manager of the Limestone Flea Market pleaded guilty Tuesday to federal sex trafficking charges, according to a release from United States Attorney Jay Town.

Billy Randolph Edwards, 63, pleaded guilty before U.S. District Judge R. David Proctor to commercial sex trafficking, coercion and enticement of a minor to engage in prostitution and being a convicted felon in possession of firearms. Edwards’ sentencing is set for Sept. 2.

A local law enforcement official said Edwards, a Huntsville resident, had been an employee at the Limestone Flea Market, were he collected rent from vendors.

Authorities said Edwards paid the father of a 15-year-old so he could have sexual contact with the child. The child’s father, Darwin Moises Amador-Zepeda, 38, a Honduran national, is charged with commercial sex trafficking and coercion and enticement of a minor to engage in prostitution. Amador-Zepeda’s case is proceeding to trial but a date has not been set.

“The trafficking of any human being, especially a child, is unconscionable, unthinkable and unforgivable,” Town said. “Our Human Trafficking Task Force remains committed to bringing these despicable traffickers to justice and we have reserved bed space in prison for them all, which will only serve as temporary quarters on their road to perdition.”

Edwards acknowledges in his plea agreement with the government that he began paying Amador-Zepeda in 2014 so he would persuade or coerce his 15-year-old son to have sexual encounters with Edwards.

During the ongoing sexual trafficking of the child, Edwards often paid Amador-Zepeda by check, and the two men used cellphones to induce or coerce the child to engage in sexually explicit conduct, according to Edwards’ plea agreement.

The sexual encounters with the child continued for several months until Edwards stopped paying to have them, according to the plea agreement. At that point, Amador-Zepeda began blackmailing Edwards, threatening to show law enforcement the cellphone communications between him and the child unless Edwards paid him. Amador-Zepeda told the child what to say in English to deliver the blackmail threat, according to Edward’s plea agreement. The two men later executed a contract for Edwards to make a series of payments totaling $20,000 to Amador-Zepeda in exchange for the cellphone containing the incriminating evidence.

In May 2017, the child told law enforcement about the sex trafficking. In September 2017, the Madison County Sheriff’s Office obtained a warrant and searched Edwards’ residence, finding an Industrial National de Armes .38-caliber revolver, a Jimenez Arms .25-caliber pistol, a Bryco Jennings .380-caliber pistol and a Winchester model 1400 MKII shotgun. Edwards previously was convicted of a felony, conspiracy to commit fraud, in the Northern District of Alabama in 2005.

The penalty for commercial sex trafficking is 15 years to life in prison and a maximum $250,000 fine. The penalty for coercion and enticement of a minor to engage in prostitution is 10 years to life in prison and a maximum $250,000 fine. The maximum penalty for being a convicted felon in possession of firearms is 10 years in prison and a $250,000 fine.

Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s HSI, in conjunction with the Madison County Sheriff’s Office and the Madison County District Attorney’s Office, investigated the case, which Assistant U.S. Attorneys Xavier Carter and Carla Ward are prosecuting.