Joseph-Michael Elias McFarland, 22, of Madison, was arraigned by a federal grand jury in October of 2015, following an investigation which revealed that McFarland had knowingly enticed and engaged a minor under the age of 18 in a commercial sex act.
The investigation, which was led by the United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement Homeland Security Investigations, the Tallahassee Police Department and the Madison County Sheriff’s Office, also revealed that McFarland knowingly distributed Mehtylone.
The indictment was not admittance or verdict that McFarland had committed the acts to which he was charged, so McFarland was presumed innocent and was entitled to a fair trail in which he would be proved guilty without a doubt.
In the United States Courthouse in Tallahassee on Monday, May 9, McFarland pled guilty to his crimes of sex trafficking of a minor and drug trafficking.
McFarland’s trail has faced many reschedules in the past few months, but with his plea of guilt, the case will go directly to a sentencing session, which is scheduled to be held on Aug. 5 of this year.