Arkansas man charged with pimping in Irvine

Nov. 9, 2015 3:48 PM PT

An Arkansas man arrested in Irvine was charged Monday with pimping and other felonies, according to the Orange County district attorney’s office.

Matthew Alexander Rougely, 37, of Jacksonville, Ark., was charged with one felony count each of pimping, pandering and possession for sale of a controlled substance, according to prosecutors.

Rougely was parked at a Circle K gas station in Irvine about 4 a.m. Nov. 5 when a police officer inspected his vehicle. He was arrested on suspicion of illegally possessing oxycodone pills and on evidence connecting him to pimping and pandering a woman, prosecutors said.

Prosecutors contend that between Oct. 30 and Nov. 5, Rougely published sexually explicit advertisements of the woman on a prostitution website, drove her to locations to meet with sex purchasers and took a portion of her money.

If convicted, Rougely faces a maximum sentence of seven years in state prison. Prosecutors asked Monday that he be held on $100,000 bail.

Bradley Zint

Bradley Zint left Times Community News in 2018. He was a general assignment reporter for the Daily Pilot, where he worked since 2010. At the Pilot, he also was a copy editor, classical music columnist and reporter covering Costa Mesa and Newport Beach. He previously worked in Hermosa Beach, Long Beach, Alaska and Massachusetts. He is a graduate of Cal State Long Beach, where he served as editor-in-chief of its campus newspaper, the Daily 49er.