'I Do My Music For Pimps': MA Man Gets 15 Years In Cape Cod, Boston Sex Trafficking Case

BOSTON, MA — A Boston man was sentenced to 15 years on sex trafficking and cocaine charges stemming from his involvement in a drug and sex trafficking hub operating out of a tent at Massachusetts Avenue and Melnea Cass Boulevard (Mass and Cass) in Boston, the U.S. Attorney's Office in Massachusetts announced.

Officials said Jonathan Vaughan, 37, "preyed on women, particularly in the Boston area and Cape Cod, some of whom he transported from Massachusetts to other states, including New York, for commercial sex."

Recently, Vaughan who was also known as "Ason" or "Ason the Pimp", pleaded guilty to three counts of sex trafficking by force, fraud and coercion, two counts of transportation of an individual for purposes of prostitution and one count of possession with intent to distribute cocaine.

“Vaughan preyed on individuals who struggled with substance use, using their vulnerabilities against them to exert control and force them into violent and dangerous situations. We hope that this guilty plea and the knowledge that Vaughan is facing serious federal prison time brings some peace to those he victimized,” said Special Agent in Charge Michael J. Krol for Homeland Security Investigations in New England.

From at least June 2019 through October 2021, Vaughan recruited and trafficked three female victims to engage in commercial sex acts, and in or about October 2021, transported two of the victims for purposes of prostitution to another state.

At the time of his arrest on state charges, on Oct. 13, 2021, Vaughan possessed 15 bags of cocaine intended for distribution to drug users, officials said.

Vaughan's operation dated back to at least 2019, according to officials, when he began targeting women specifically in Boston and on Cape Cod. From at least late spring or early summer of 2021 until his arrest on state charges, Vaughan maintained a tent at Mass and Cass which he used as a hub for distributing drugs and recruiting and trafficking women, officials said.

Vaughan permitted his sex trafficking victims to stay in and bring “dates” back to his tent so long as he received the proceeds of the commercial sex acts that the women engaged in at his direction, officials said.

He recruited victims in and around Mass and Cass and Downtown Crossing as well as on the internet, including over Facebook. Vaughan also brought his victims to hotels in Boston, Chelsea, Saugus, Cape Cod, as well as Queens and Manhattan, N.Y.

Vaughan forced at least two of his victims to solicit themselves outdoors, by walking “the track” in areas such as Mass and Cass, Broadway in Chelsea and in and around Times Square in Manhattan, N.Y. Dating back to at least 2019, Vaughan engaged in both physical and sexual violence against his victims to manipulate them and to assert power and control over them.

According to court documents, Vaughan called himself “Ason the Pimp,” has a tattoo across his chest that states: “Pimp or Die,” and wrote music in which he glorified his work as a pimp and the objectification of women.

The opening bars of "Pimps Only" feature a repeated ad-lib from Vaughan: "I do my music for pimps. If you not a f***ing pimp, don't listen to my music."

In one of those songs, published to YouTube in 2021, he raps specifically about Cape Cod, name dropping locations including the Sagamore Bridge, Falmouth and Hyannis.