A 19-year-old Eagan woman who admitted to advertising teenage prostitution services on the popular Internet bulletin board craigslist.com was sentenced Monday to five years in federal prison -- the maximum allowed by law.

Justine Alex Reisdorf, also known as "Deja," had operated a prostitution ring of high school students through a condominium and a Burnsville motel where she had worked.

Her lawyer, Katherine Menendez, argued for leniency, citing Reisdorf's troubled childhood, her history of drug and alcohol dependence, and the fact that she managed to earn her high school diploma with a better than B average.

Menendez acknowledged that the government had already given Reisdorf a generous deal in the plea agreement, allowing her to avoid a 10-year mandatory minimum sentence.

But she asked U.S. District Judge Patrick Schiltz to reduce the sentence to two years in prison. She noted that Reisdorf had herself been victimized as an underage prostitute and urged Schiltz to let her out of prison early so that she can be with her daughter, who is 20 months old.

Although Reisdorf was accused of pimping three underage girls and two adults, Menendez said they were peers and friends who made bad decisions. Reisdorf is not what Congress had in mind when it imposed stiff penalties for human trafficking crimes, she argued.

"You're not sentencing a 30-year-old man who goes trolling the streets," she said.

From prey to predator

Assistant U.S. Attorney Erica MacDonald countered that the five-year maximum was appropriate. "The fact that Miss Reisdorf was one-time prey and then became a predator is not uncommon," MacDonald said. Without elaborating, she reminded Schiltz of the victim impact summaries that were included in the pre-sentencing report, which was filed under seal.

Reisdorf said she accepts responsibility for her crimes. "I'm sorry. I'm ready for the consequences, and that's it," she said.

Schiltz said five years in prison followed by three years of supervised release was reasonable in her case. "Human trafficking of a minor is a truly awful crime," Schiltz said. Some victims have described it as worse than death, and some have chosen death by committing suicide to escape it, he added.

Schiltz said he did not believe it's less harmful to be betrayed by a peer or a friend and it might even be considered an escalating factor "because Miss Reisdorf knew the harm that could be done."

Furthermore, the record shows that Reisdorf allegedly threatened an underage witness. Schiltz said he wanted Reisdorf and others who might engage in such activities to know "that serious crimes come with serious consequences."

Dan Browning • 612-673-4493