Defendant Sentenced to Nearly 24 Years for Forcing Minors and Women Into Prostitution

Used the Internet to Advertise Sexual Services

On June 24, 2010, at the federal courthouse in Brooklyn, Jamali Brockett was sentenced to 287 months’ imprisonment on his convictions for sex trafficking young girls and women and interstate transportation of women for the purposes of prostitution. He was also ordered to comply with sex offender registration. Brockett’s victims ranged in age from 14 to 19 years, and included four minors. The sentencing proceeding was held before United States Senior District Judge Sterling Johnson, Jr.

The sentence was announced by Loretta E. Lynch, United States Attorney for the Eastern District of New York, George C. Venizelos, Acting Assistant Director-in-Charge, Federal Bureau of Investigation, New York Field Office, and Raymond W. Kelly, Commissioner, New York City Police Department.

On November 4, 2008, FBI agents arrested Brockett at a Long Island hotel where he was engaged in the act of prostituting two of his victims, one of whom was a 17-year-old girl. Brockett pleaded guilty to all charges in the indictment on October 16, 2009, and has remained in custody since his arrest.

As detailed in the sentencing letter filed by the government, Brockett used violence, coercion, and intimidation to force his victims to work as prostitutes. Two of the victims, ages 17 and 19, were physically grabbed off of the street by Brockett. To evade detection by law enforcement, Brockett moved his victims every few days between various hotels located in Brooklyn, Queens, and Long Island, and transported some to Washington D.C. and South Carolina for prostitution. Brockett posted sexually explicit ads for each victim under the “erotic services” section on Craigslist, and included his own phone number as the point of contact. Customers were directed to local hotels where Brockett forced his victims to perform sex acts for money and then pocketed all of the proceeds. If his victims attempted to escape, Brockett used violence against the victims and threatened their families. He also had sexual intercourse with his victims, including a 15-year-old girl.

Brockett came to the attention of law enforcement when a 14-year-old girl escaped from a hotel room in Manhattan and reported him to local law enforcement.

In announcing the sentence, Ms. Lynch expressed her grateful appreciation to the FBI and the New York City Police Department, the agencies responsible for conducting the government’s investigation.

The government’s case was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorneys Licha M. Nyiendo, Melissa Marrus, and Lan Nguyen.