Trafficking

A pimp whose sex worker allegedly advertised on social media that she was willing to be anything from “arm candy” for a party to a “no strings attached girlfriend” has been charged with a slew of criminal charges in Kern County Superior Court.

The alleged pimp, Kevin Mays, was an assistant men’s basketball coach and former player at Cal State Bakersfield.

Mays faces 11 charges, including pimping, possession of automatic firearms and high-capacity magazines, and possession of methamphetamine and marijuana with intent to sell. An investigation by the Bakersfield Police Department also led to separate charges citing Mays for possession of more than 600 images of youth or child pornography and distribution of obscene matter involving someone younger than 18.

Mays, who was arrested in September 2025, is being held without bail. He has pleaded not guilty, and a preliminary hearing is scheduled for March 13 .

The case, first reported by Shwetha Surendran of ESPN, has upended the athletic department at CSU Bakersfield. Longtime basketball coach Rod Barnes and athletic director Kyle Condor have left their jobs, and Condor filed a lawsuit against the school alleging wrongful termination, according to court documents obtained by The Times.

CSU Bakersfield officials said the allegations against Mays did not involve a student. Nevertheless, the school formed a commission to examine the athletic program and recommend changes.

“When CSU Bakersfield received an anonymous report in August of 2025 that a member of our coaching staff was engaged in human trafficking, we took immediate action in notifying university police and the Bakersfield Police Department,” the school wrote in a statement. “Both agencies launched investigations that resulted in an arrest within days. Shortly after, the university terminated the coach.

“But the nature of the allegations devastated our campus community. We seized the opportunity to strengthen education and prevention efforts around human trafficking. To that end, we consulted with a local human trafficking expert and offered training and education focused on awareness and prevention for our campus community.”

Police said the alleged victim is 23. In the advertisement she posted last summer, she stated that she charged $300 for a half hour and $500 for 60 minutes. Authorities conducted a sting operation in September, arranging to meet her in a hotel room that Mays rented.

In an interview with police after the operation, she referred to Mays as her boyfriend and said he paid for her travel accommodations in Oregon, Washington and Nevada in addition to California.

Those locations were listed in an anonymous email to Barnes last fall titled “IMPORTANT MESSAGE 911 911.”

“HE IS TRAFFICKING A GIRL BY THE NAME OF [redacted],” the email read, according to police records. “HE HAS BEEN TRAFFICKING THIS GIRL SINCE MAY.”

Barnes turned over the email to university police, who attempted to contact the sender and received a subsequent email, according to ESPN. The tipster claimed to have known the alleged victim and Mays through previous travel for sex work. The person said Mays presented himself as a professional gambler and allegedly threatened to take away the tipster’s child if the person exposed his activities.

Mays, who was born in Queens, N.Y., attended high school at St. John’s Military Academy in Delafield, Wis., and played at Odessa Community College in Odessa, Texas, before transferring to CSU Bakersfield ahead of the 2014-2015 season.

“We are excited about signing Kevin as he fits our culture,” Barnes said of Mays at the time.

A year later, as a senior forward, Mays helped CSU Bakersfield to a 24-10 record and scored 14 points and grabbed eight rebounds in the Roadrunners’ first-round NCAA tournament loss to Oklahoma. He later returned to the school as a player-development coordinator.

In his application for the player-development position in 2019, Mays wrote that he was motivated by helping players improve on and off the court, according to school records obtained by ESPN.

“I gained lots of experience dealing with learning to lead young men and help them navigate the Division I experience in a successful manner,” Mays wrote. “CSUB helped me tremendously, and I look forward to giving back.”

Barnes was Mays’ coach, and he hired his former player last fall, paying him $3,000 a month. Now, Mays is in jail awaiting trial and Barnes is unemployed.

“The safety and well-being of our students and all CSU Bakersfield community members remain our highest priority,” the school said in its statement. “This work is sustained every day by the dedication of our faculty, staff and students. Their commitment to one another and to our shared values strengthens the culture of care and accountability we strive to build at CSUB.”

Caracas, February 19, 2026 (venezuelanalysis.com) – Venezuelan Acting President Delcy Rodríguez met with US Southern Command (SOUTHCOM) chief General Francis Donovan in Miraflores Palace on Wednesday.

According to the presidential press, the previously unannounced high-level talks also included Venezuela’s interior and defense ministers, Diosdado Cabello and Vladimir Padrino López, respectively.

“During the meeting, both countries agreed to work on a bilateral cooperation agenda to fight against drug trafficking in our region, as well as on terrorism and migration,” a statement released on social media read.

The Venezuelan government argued that the meeting showed that “diplomacy” is the mechanism to address “differences and issues of regional interest.”

Donovan is the latest US high-ranking official to visit Caracas and meet with Rodríguez since the January 3 US military attacks that killed over 100 people and saw special operations forces kidnap Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro and First Lady Cilia Flores.

The acting president held talks with CIA Director John Ratcliffe on January 15 and hosted Energy Secretary Chris Wright last week at the presidential palace. US Chargé d’Affaires Laura Dogu has been in the country since late January, and Rodríguez has recently reported regular “respectful and courteous” communication with Trump and Secretary of State Marco Rubio.

SOUTHCOM confirmed the visit in a press release, disclosing that Donovan was accompanied by Acting Assistant Secretary of War Joseph Humire and stating that the officials expressed the US’ “commitment to a free, safe and prosperous Venezuela.”

The US military command added that discussions focused on “shared security across the Western Hemisphere,” and the Trump administration’s stated “three-phase plan” for the Caribbean nation: “stabilization, economic recovery and reconciliation, and transition.” For her part, Dogu reported Donovan’s visit on social media, calling it a “historic day” to “advance in the objective of having Venezuela aligned with the United States.”

Donovan took over the SOUTHCOM leadership in February after the resignation of Admiral Alvin Holsey over reported disagreements with US Secretary of War Pete Hegseth on the legality of US lethal strikes against boats suspected of carrying drugs.

Since September, through “Operation Southern Spear,” SOUTHCOM has coordinated over 40 bombings of small vessels that have killed more than 130 civilians. The latest strikes, on February 16, targeted two boats in the Eastern Pacific and one in the Caribbean, killing 11 people in total. Neither Donovan nor Rodríguez mentioned the ongoing attacks in their public readouts following the meeting.

SOUTHCOM has also participated in the seizure of oil tankers accused of violating US sanctions by transporting Venezuelan crude. After seizing seven ships in the Caribbean between December and January, US forces have boarded two tankers in the Indian Ocean this month.

In the months leading up to the January 3 operation, Maduro and other Venezuelan officials consistently denounced the US’ military buildup in the Caribbean Sea and the subsequent naval blockade against oil exports.

Venezuelan authorities likewise blasted Washington’s “narcoterrorism” accusations against Caracas, pointing to specialized reports, including from the DEA, that placed Venezuela as a marginal country for global narcotics flows. Venezuelan officials also recalled the history of US agencies’ involvement in drug trafficking.

However, in the weeks after the January 3 strikes, Washington and Caracas have fast-tracked a diplomatic rapprochement with a view toward reopening embassies. President Donald Trump has publicly recognized the acting government but the official change in policy has yet to be confirmed.

The acting Rodríguez administration also prioritized economic reforms to attract foreign investment, including a pro-business overhaul of the country’s Hydrocarbon Law. National Assembly President Jorge Rodríguez said that the government is “adapting” legislation to attract US corporations and aiming for a “free market economy.”

Ghislaine Maxwell, Jeffrey Epstein’s convicted associate and former girlfriend, invoked her Fifth Amendment right and refused to testify before a US congressional committee, with her lawyers saying she would only answer questions if granted clemency.