Teen brothers are facing a litany of charges after being accused of running an underage prostitution ring out of their mother's house in Spokane, Washington, KHQ reports. Police started their investigation after 17-year-old Thaishaun Hunter was arrested in February in connection with a drive-by shooting outside a grocery store, according to KXLY. KHQ reports police tapped the phones in the juvenile detention center to follow up on a tip and overheard Thaishaun allegedly instructing his 15-year-old brother Dionte how to run a prostitution ring using his girlfriends, one of whom had a child with Thaishaun. According to KXLY, the brothers would allegedly force the girls—some as young as 14—to advertise themselves for $400 "dates" on Backpage.com.
KHQ reports police set up a fake date with some of the girls, who confessed to everything. One girl tells police they gave a quarter of the money to the brothers' mother, who was using it to save up for Thaishaun's bail. The sheriff's office believes Dionte attacked and robbed a john and beat up one of the girls while running the prostitution ring. They also reportedly found nude photos of underage girls on his phone. Not including the prostitution-related charges brought against him Thursday, Dionte has had six felony charges against him this year, according to KXLY. His teachers describe him as "remarkably intelligent," despite the fact that he was allegedly caught extorting money from fellow students. Both Thaishaun and Dionte are being charged as adults. (More Spokane stories.)