OAKLAND — A local resident has been charged with pimping a woman in her 20s after they met on social media, rendezvoused in Las Vegas, and agreed to meet up in the Bay Area to continue the romance.
The suspect, 32-year-old Michael Oliver, even allegedly promised to help her get a job at Tesla. Instead, police say when the woman — known only as Jane Doe in court records — arrived at the airport in Oakland, Oliver informed her that she owed him $1,000 and would have to work it off through prostitution.
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That started off a two-day period where, police allege, the Oliver took the woman around areas known for prostitution in Oakland and Richmond and instructed her to walk the streets. When she brought in $360 on the second night he became angry and struck her, and police got involved, according to a probable cause statement filed in court.
Now Oliver has been charged with pimping and pandering the woman. But Oliver has thus far avoided more serious human trafficking charges, which are reserved for scenarios when prosecutors feel they can prove a person was forced or coerced into sex work.
Police say Oliver and the woman met on social media, arranged to meet for a brief “fling” in Las Vegas, and then he convinced her to come to Oakland, where he lives. Oliver is next due in court on June 12 for a preliminary hearing. He was charged in this case on April 25, but his legal problems run deeper.
Oliver is also facing two separate gun cases. One stems from an arrest with two other people for allegedly possessing guns in public in Berkeley. Then, when Oakland police and U.S. Marshals took him into custody last April 23, they allegedly found a loaded gun on Oliver’s waistband during a patdown. That resulted in the second felony gun case.
Oliver has been released from jail on $150,000 bail while the case is pending, records show.
