Pimp Gets 15-year Sentence, Fine

A federal judge sent one of Atlanta's best known pimps to prison for 15 years Thursday, after an afternoon of arguing during a bizarre sentencing hearing.

Jimmy Lee Jones, 32, acted as his own defense attorney in an Atlanta federal courtroom, but he had some problems doing it.

U.S. District Judge William S. Duffy had to repeatedly warn Jones to stop arguing with female witnesses who claim he forced them into prostitution and stripping. Some of the alleged victims were juveniles.

Jones already pleaded guilty to prostitution conspiracy charges on the second day of his trial last August. But during what was only supposed to be his sentencing hearing, he acted like he could somehow still clear himself by trying to prove the women are lying.

The first witness, now age 24, testified she met who she thought was "Mike Spade" at Club Chocolate in DeKalb County. She said he persuaded her to sign what she thought was a modeling contract, only to find out that she owed him $450 a week. She says he lured her into a career as a stripper to help pay off the debt and then forced her into prostitution with the threat of beatings and other violence.

Wearing an orange inmate jumpsuit, Jones tried to damage the witnesses' credibility by showing suggestive nightclub videos of them in scanty clothing. He repeatedly pointed out they were smiling and seemed to be willing participants. But the first witness insisted they acted that way only out of physical fear.

At one point the judge became so frustrated with Jones' conduct as his own attorney that he warned, "You're not helping yourself".

Aside from the 15-year sentence, the judge ordered Jones to pay the victims $60,000 in restitution.