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A Gaithersburg man accused of coercing minors to have sex for money, drugging them and threatening them with firearms, could spend the rest of his life in prison after being convicted by a federal jury March 24.

Between April and May of 2007, Lloyd Mack Royal, 29, drove underage girls to hotels in Gaithersburg and Washington, D.C. to have sex with paying clients, Marcia Murphy, spokeswoman for the United States Attorney for the District of Maryland, said last week.

During his two week trial, witnesses testified that Royal and his two co-defendants – who both pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit sex trafficking— gave the girls cocaine, cigarettes dipped in PCP, alcohol and marijuana before getting them to have sex with customers.

Harry Trainor, Royal's lawyer, said Tuesday that he and his client must wait until after sentencing on April 29 before they can consider appealing the case. Trainor, a private lawyer in Annapolis, said he will meet with Royal today.

Royal's lawyer early in the case, Gwyn Hoerauf, said she never thought her client was guilty. Hoerauf said Tuesday that she has not heard from Royal in more than a year, since the time his case was handed to the federal courts. Hoerauf, a private lawyer the Montgomery County Public Defender's Office hired to represent Royal, said he could not afford to retain her once his case was moved to the federal level.

"To be honest, I didn't think he was guilty," Hoerauf said. "I didn't think he was guilty of being the ring leader."

One co-defendant, Paul Raymond Green, 24, of Washington, D.C., was sentenced to 52 months in prison after pleading guilty to conspiracy to commit sex trafficking, Murphy said. Green will have three years of supervised release when he leaves prison, she said. The second co-defendant, Angela Bentolila, 27, of Potomac, will be sentenced April 12 on the same charge.

"This kind of thing occurs in all communities," Rod J. Rosenstein, U.S. Attorney for the District of Maryland, said last week. "I hope this serves as a warning to parents to watch out for their children's safety. I also hope this serves as a warning to others who are involved in this illegal act of what can happen to you when you're caught."

Royal faces 10 years to life in prison for human trafficking of a minor for sex, 15 years to life for forcing minors into sex trafficking, a maximum of five years for sex trafficking conspiracy and seven years for brandishing a firearm, Murphy said. Royal, who also went by "Blyss," "B," and "Furious," will be sentenced April 29. For security reasons, Murphy said she could not disclose where he is being held.

Montgomery County Police Detective Alyson Dupouy was one of the officers who investigated accusations of Royal's prostitution ring. She said the parent of one of his victims contacted police in April of 2007 about her daughter associating with Royal, possibly prostituting for him. During a four week investigation, Dupouy said, police found out Royal was pimping minor girls as prostitutes and were able to name him as their main suspect in the case.

County police arrested Royal on May 18, 2007, Dupouy said. Royal was charged with two counts of first degree assault and one count each of general prostitution, pandering and second degree assault, according to court records.