Martin pleads guilty

Published 1:00 pm Thursday, November 17, 2011

One of the five Niles teenagers allegedly involved in the sex video extortion scandal pleaded guilty to reduced charges today at the South Berrien County Courthouse.

Parnell Martin pleaded guilty to criminal sexual conduct in the 3rd degree and had the first degree criminal sexual conduct and extortion charges dismissed, Prosecutor Art Cotter said.

Martin

His sentencing is slated for Jan. 9. He is facing a maximum of 15 years in prison.

Martin also pleaded guilty to a contempt of court charge for violating his bond by contacting a co-defendant, Martise Washington. Martin was sentenced to 60 days in jail for the offense with credit for 22 days already served.

Co-defendant Martell Miller will be in court Friday for a status conference and a contempt of court hearing. Currently his trial is set to begin Nov. 29.

Trey Nichols, another defendant, will face his trial in December. Washington was found guilty on all seven charges earlier this month.

The teenagers are accused of producing a sex video of a then 17-year-old girl and threatening to post it to Facebook if she didn’t engage in sex acts with them.