Posted by Las Vegas, NV – MTV’s Making The Band competition series ran from 2002 to 2009. Helmed by Diddy, the show led to several acts, including O-Town, Da Band, Danity Kane, Day26 and Donnie Klang. But now, one of the former contestants has reportedly landed in serious trouble.
According to TMZ, Kevin “Chopper” Barnes of Da Band was arrested for sex trafficking in Maryland earlier this month. He’s currently being extradited back to Las Vegas where law enforcement accuses him of being a pimp.
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Chopper was busted after he allegedly direct messaged an undercover vice detective in Nevada posing as a sex worker with an offer to make money through prostitution. The undercover cop says they searched Chopper’s Instagram account and discovered several posts related to prostitution and pimping,
One image features Chopper inside a plane with a phone alongside the caption, “Sending em,” with a money bag and crown emoji.
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The undercover cop explained they launched an investigation into Chopper after “seeing social media evidence of a potential sex trafficking operation.”
Chopper also called them and boasted about frequent traveling and owning seven homes across the country, including one in Sin City. He noted Las Vegas wasn’t a “safe place” to do business though due to law enforcement “cracking down.” Still, he offered to make the undercover cop part of his “team” and “stable.”
Chopper later became “aggressive” with the officer when they were hesitant to fly to Charlotte, North Carolina to join his “stable.” He demanded a $2,000 fee as he tried to “verbally force” the cop to make the trip. After adding up the evidence, the police determined there was then enough evidence to arrest and charge Chopper with felony sex trafficking.