After a three-week trial, a Solano County Superior Court jury found a 29-year-old Oakland man guilty of multiple counts of pimping, attempted pimping, and pandering.
The verdict came Friday in Department 23 in Vallejo, where Eric Pree was taken into custody and remains without bail in the Claybank Detention Facility in Fairfield.
Jurors also found to be true that Pree had prior convictions for robbery out of Alameda County, according to a press statement issued Tuesday by the Solano County District Attorney’s Office.
Court records show that on Nov. 8, 2023, Pree and a woman were contacting during the course of a traffic stop by Vacaville police. Evidence was found in the car and on Pree’s mobile phones, indicating he was pimping the woman in the car as well as several other women.
The investigation into Pree’s activities continued over the next several months, and on Aug. 15, 2024, he was contacted as he was attempting to recruit a new victim. His phone was seized, ultimately revealing that he had continued to engage in pimping and pandering with new women during the past year.
Jail records show Vacaville police officers arrested Pree in the early hours of the following day in the 4000 block of Business Center Drive in Fairfield.
The Solano County District Attorney’s Office filed its felony complaint on Aug. 20, 2024, charging Pree with pimping and pandering after six victims were identified.
His jury trial began last month. After three weeks of witness testimony, jurors, deliberating for several days, reached a unanimous guilty verdict on 10 felony counts: five of pandering, two of pimping, and three of attempted pimping.
After the verdict, Judge John B. Ellis ordered Pree to return at 8:30 a.m. Feb. 21 for setting a sentencing date and a ruling on the Racial Justice Act, a California law that prohibits the use of race, ethnicity or national origin in the criminal justice system.
Vacaville police detectives Megan King, Daniel Baxley, and Scott Lamphiear investigated the case.
Deputy District Attorney Luke Leichty led the prosecution. Alternate Public Defender Sayuri Takagawa represented Pree.
At sentencing, Pree faces up to six years in state prison for a single charge of pimping and pandering and a fine of up to $10,000, with harsher penalties if a victim was a minor.
In the prepared statement, Solano County DA Krishna Abrams, the county’s top law enforcement officer, said to call (707) 784-6827 if you — or someone you know — has been a victim of sexual assault or human trafficking and need the help of an advocate.