'Manipulative' Elyria woman gets 4 1/2 years in prison for trafficking teen girl for sex

ELYRIA — Despite pleading guilty to two felony charges and taking responsibility, an Elyria woman on Monday got the maximum possible sentence on both charges for her role in trafficking a 15-year-old girl for sex. Breaking with years of his own sentencing policy, Lorain County Common Judge Chris Cook sentenced Emily Andrewski, 20, to the maximum 36 months in prison for promoting prostitution, a third-degree felony, and 18 months for unlawful sexual conduct with a minor, a fourth-degree felony. Those sentences will be served consecutively, meaning Andrewski will spend a total of 54 months, or 4 1/2 years, behind bars. Andrewski got "one heck of a deal" from the Lorain County Prosecutor's Office for agreeing to testify against her co-defendant, Cook said, dismissing felony charges that could have put her in prison for decades. "When I gave you an opportunity to do the very things you just said you wanted to do ... you've had multiple opportunities in front of me to do that, and every one of them has been squandered," Cook said. Cook said he had never before given a criminal defendant the maximum sentence following a voluntary guilty plea. "I always believe that someone who pleads guilty in a crime or crimes deserves some benefit for pleading guilty, for preventing a trial, for preventing the victims from having to testify, for accepting responsibility," he said. "I've never once imposed a maximum sentence on someone who's pled guilty for that reason. "But you have canceled out so much goodwill that you had in your corner that all the positive things I can say, and all the reasons that you should not get the maximum have a counterbalance which drives the maximum in this case: Bad record. Squandered opportunities. No likely success on community control," Cook told Andrewski. Assistant Prosecutor Matt Kern said even after pleading guilty in September, Andrewski didn't stop breaking the rules. Released on bond, she cut off her ankle monitor but was re-arrested in November. Sent to the Lorain-Medina Community Based Correctional Facility for offenders with behavioral and addiction issues, Andrewski was kicked out for starting a fight. Kern said she did that on purpose so she would be sent back to the Lorain County Jail where it was easier to get illegal drugs, Kern said. In jail, Kern said Andrewski manipulated "multiple" men by phone and through the jail's tablet-based messaging system. She led them to believe she would "be with them" after she was released so they would put money in her commissary account, he said. Andrewski is "self-serving, manipulative and will say anything to anyone to get what she wants," Kern said. At the sentencing, Andrewski apologized to the victim, now 17, and the victim's family "for putting her through that and causing everything that's led up to now." "My intention wasn't for our friendship to end up like that," Andrewski said. "I was in a bad situation myself when we became friends. It became out of hand. I take responsibility for putting her in that situation as well because it could've all been prevented." "I was only thinking of myself," she said, adding that she hopes to get her GED and become a better person. Cook said early reform efforts by the county Juvenile Court, where Andrewski has a long record, "were for nothing." Andrewski is entitled to appeal because she got the minimum sentence, and has 30 days to do so. She also will have to register as a Tier I sex offender for 15 years after getting out of prison. Defense attorney Matthew Bobrowski said his client is a young woman who made "grave errors" and has "longstanding issues" with drugs and alcohol. He asked for a lighter sentence that would allow her to get help for those and for her behavior. "Quite honestly, Miss Andrewski is troubled," he said, calling her a victim as well as a victimizer. The victim said her relationship with Andrewski started when she was 15, with messages on social media and grew into something more. "I thought she was a friend," said the victim. Andrewski convinced her to sneak out during a sleepover "to party" with some of Andrewski's friends. That night, she was trafficked for sex. "I was under the impression we were going to party, not sell our bodies," the victim said, but Andrewski "assured me that if I went along with the flow, everything would be okay." The victim later attempted suicide and was hospitalized, but reported the abuse to family and authorities and is now in treatment, she said. Andrewski's mother also wrote an email to the prosecutor's office asking that her daughter not be released from jail for her own safety. Both Kern and Cook said they had never seen that before. Andrewski's co-defendant, Desmond Ross, 48, pleaded guilty in January to charges of compelling prostitution, promoting prostitution and unlawful sexual conduct with a minor. Cook sentenced him to seven years in prison with no possibility of early release, and ordered Ross to turn himself in on Feb. 23 to begin his sentence. Following her statement, Cook praised the victim for her strength. He told her not to let what happened define who she is. Her mother agreed. "She spoke the truth. And I am so proud of her," the victim's mother said in court. Contact Dave O'Brien at (440) 329-7129 or dobrien@chroniclet.com