Sentencing for an elderly defendant convicted of sexually abusing a minor in 2018 has been postponed by a federal judge. District Court Judge Wilma Lewis accepted the findings from two experts, saying defendant James Phillip is mentally ill.
Phillip was 65 when he was found guilty of sex trafficking and transporting a minor for criminal activity in 2023. He, along with co-defendant Zayvon Acoy, was prosecuted in District Court after Acoy — 27 at the time — was accused of twice selling his then 17-year-old girlfriend to Phillip to commit sex acts.
Acoy received a 10-year sentence in February 2022 after pleading guilty to transporting a minor for criminal purposes. Phillip stood trial and was convicted in May 2023. However, concerns about the defendant’s well-being arose a few months later; Assistant Federal Public Defender Kia Sears filed a motion to delay sentencing and called for a competency hearing.
Two psychological evaluations have taken place since then, including one from Courtney Mills from the Prisoner Federal Detention Center in Englewood, Colorado. “The report observed that Phillip did not have sufficient factual or rational understanding of the legal proceedings against him or an ability to consult with his attorney in his defense,” Mills said.
After receiving a report and recommendations from U.S. Magistrate Judge Emile Henderson III, Lewis ordered on Jan. 2 “that Defendant James Phillip (“Defendant”) be declared incompetent to proceed to sentencing in this matter and be committed to the Attorney General’s custody for treatment in a suitable facility …”
The judge also set an April 28 date for Phillip’s lawyer to file a motion informing the court if the defendant is well enough to appear for sentencing at that time. The penalty for transporting a minor for the purpose of criminal activity ranges from 10 years to life in prison.
