Geoffrey S. Berman, the United States Attorney for the
Southern District of New York, announced that COREY ROPER was sentenced today
to 13 years in prison for sex trafficking of minor females. ROPER was sentenced by U.S. District Judge
Naomi Reice Buchwald, before whom he previously pled guilty to one count of sex
trafficking minor victims. As part of
his plea, ROPER acknowledged that he trafficked three minor females, and also
trafficked another female by force.
Manhattan U.S. Attorney Geoffrey S. Berman stated: “Self-proclaimed pimp, Corey Roper,
perpetrated awful acts against young women.
Roper subjected his victims – some as young as 13 years old – to what he
called ‘pimp rules,’ and punished them through cruel physical violence and
depriving them of food and sleep if they didn’t comply with his abhorrent
commands. Because of his unconscionable
conduct against these vulnerable victims, Roper now ironically finds himself
subject to a code of conduct that he’s forced to comply with – prison
rules.”
According to the Indictment and other court documents filed
in Manhattan federal court:
The defendants were members of or affiliated with the Snow
Gang, a gang based in Queens, New York, which was engaged in a myriad of
criminal activities, including violence, drug trafficking, credit card fraud,
and sex trafficking of young women.
Between February 2015 and March 2017, the defendants worked together to
traffic minor female victims, using methods of force, fraud, and coercion. Members of this conspiracy used brutal
violence to capture and control their victims, and used firearms to protect
their illegal sex trafficking business.
ROPER was a violent pimp who controlled his victims through
force and intimidation. ROPER’s victims
included minor females as young as 13 years old, who were subjected to ROPER’s
code of “pimp rules,” that, for example, prohibited his victims from speaking
to other men, from keeping any money they earned, and from eating if they did
not make ROPER enough money. If any of
the rules were broken, ROPER punished his victims through violence, including
choking, hitting, punching, and kicking his victims. One victim—identified in court documents as
“Minor Victim-4”—was regularly abused by ROPER, including being beaten with a
cord, being forced to kneel on uncooked rice for hours as a form of punishment,
and being held in a windowless room in Brooklyn where she was physically abused
by ROPER and forced to have sex with customers of his choosing. Another victim—identified in court documents
as “Victim-1”—was beaten by ROPER when she initially refused to work for
him. ROPER responded by slapping her,
refusing to let her leave, and denying her food. When Victim-1 angered Roper by disobeying
him, he disciplined her, including by making her stand in the corner of a room
for hours and depriving her of food and sleep.
*
* *
In addition to his prison sentence, ROPER, 27, was sentenced
to five years of supervised release.
ROPER is the seventh defendant to be sentenced in this case
by Judge Buchwald for his participation in sex trafficking minors. The other defendants in this case—David
Hightower, Nashean Folds, Antwone Washington, Terrell Clarke, Tremain Moore,
and Gregory Luck—pled guilty to and have been sentenced in connection with
various offenses, including participating in a conspiracy to commit sex
trafficking of minors.
Mr. Berman praised the outstanding work of the New York City
Police Department’s Human Trafficking Team and the Federal Bureau of
Investigation. He also thanked the
Georgia Bureau of Investigation, the Department of Homeland Security
Investigations, the Nassau County Police Department, and the Edison New Jersey
Police Department for their support and cooperation in this case.
The prosecution is being handled by the Office’s Violent and
Organized Crime Unit. Assistant U.S.
Attorneys Amanda L. Houle and Lara Pomerantz are in charge of the prosecution.
Posts
No comments:
Post a Comment