Ex-University of Washington basketball player Venoy Overton pleads not guilty to promoting prostitution in Kent

Venoy Overton pleaded not guilty Thursday to a charge of second-degree promoting prostitution in connection with an 18-year-old woman who he allegedly drove to Pacific Highway in Kent to earn money through sex with men customers.

Overton, 22, had his bail reduced by King County Superior Court Judge Cheryl Carey to $25,000 from $150,000 after defense attorney James Bible argued the former University of Washington point guard has “strong ties to this community” and “doesn’t have significant criminal history.”

Bible had hoped to get Overton released on personal recognizance rather than posting any type of bail. Overton has been in the county jail with $150,000 bail since Kent Police arrested him June 16 in South Seattle for investigation of second-degree promoting prostitution.

“We hope so,” Bible said during an interview after the arraignment if Overton would be able to post the $25,000 bail to get out of jail.

If convicted as charged, Overton faces up to five years in prison and a $10,000 fine. Overton is scheduled to return to court July 14 when a trial date could be set or attorneys could ask for more time to prepare the case.

Dressed in a King County jail red jumpsuit, Overton entered his plea at the Norm Maleng Regional Justice Center in Kent.

A woman described by Bible as Overton’s significant other and mother of his child as well as a second woman who tutored Overton at the UW showed up in court in support of Overton, who graduated in early June from the UW.

“Your honor, something that may not be known is he (Overton) has a 6- or 7-month-old child that he is partially responsible for the caregiving for,” Bible said in front of the judge as he argued for the bail reduction. “I talked to his tutor at the University of Washington in addition to his significant other who is the mother of his child and who are present in the courtroom.

“With my conversations with them, they represent that he was a student who made every effort to graduate from college, has strong ties to the community and actually has a stable residence at this stage with his significant other.”

King County Senior Deputy Prosecutor Sean O’Donnell argued the bail should remain at $150,000 because of concerns Overton might leave the country to play professional basketball overseas as well as the fact Overton might repeat the alleged crime.

“We consider this crime to be a violent crime,” O’Donnell said when the judge asked him if he had concern Overton might commit a violent crime. “We are concerned that he sought ought a younger female to perpetrate this crime, to profit from it and quite frankly we are concerned that he might repeat that.”

Bible told the judge Overton does not have a passport so he will not be leaving the country anytime soon.

“Further, in long conversations with my client, he has indicated that he has every interest to address this charge,” Bible said. “There is a lot of information outstanding in this case and a lot of investigation that needs to be conducted. He feels strongly about some of the allegations that have been made about him that he wants to address this matter.”

Carey then reduced bail.

“Although this is a very serious crime, there is no criminal history,” Carey said about the reason she reduced bail.

Carey granted requests by the prosecutor that Overton have no contact with the 18-year-old woman connected with the prostitution case and that Overton will not be allowed to leave the state once he gets out of jail.

Kent Police detectives began their investigation of Overton May 20 when undercover officers contacted an 18-year-old woman for prostitution activity on Pacific Highway South, a well-known area for prostitution in Kent.

While speaking with the woman, officers learned that she had been brought to the area by her boyfriend who directed her to perform acts of prostitution. She identified her boyfriend as Overton, according to charging papers.

The young woman also told officers she had been given specific instructions of what sex acts to perform and what to charge, and had returned a portion of the money gained back to Overton. The woman further disclosed she had been brought to the area to prostitute on two prior occasions.

The woman told police she met Overton in September and they started to date around Thanksgiving. Cellphone records obtained through search warrants by detectives show Overton called the woman frequently between November and early June.

Overton reportedly told detectives he took the woman to the “track” (a term used for high areas of prostitution) because he knew he was going to get some money. He also told them he knew what he did was wrong and stated he screwed up.

When asked why he still did it if he knew it was wrong, Overton replied to detectives, “I’m not gonna turn down money from a girl.”

Bible, in an interview after the arraignment, explained further why he asked for Overton to be released from jail until his next court date.

“A lot of misinformation has been put out there,” Bible said. “That often happens when we’re in the infant stages of a case. There needs to be a thorough review. There needs to be investigation and witnesses that are interviewed not just by the police department, not just by the prosecutor but by those who have the interest of Venoy Overton in mind.”

Seattle Police arrested Overton earlier this year and he was charged with furnishing alcohol to a minor. That incident involved two 16-year-old girls he met online. Overton was not convicted of the charge but in March received a dispositional continuance, which meant the charge would be dismissed after a year if he had no further law violations.

The UW suspended the 6-foot Overton from the Pacific-10 Conference tournament in March because of the incident with the two girls, but he was later allowed to play in the NCAA tournament.

Overton ranks third all-time in UW history with 177 steals and fifth all-time with 390 assists. Overton led Franklin High School of Seattle to a state basketball title in 2006.