A federal jury in Brooklyn has convicted Joel David Forney, also known as “Sirbar,” on charges related to sex trafficking and the coercion and enticement of a minor. The conviction follows a five-day trial before United States District Judge Kiyo A. Matsumoto. Forney was found guilty of using force, fraud, and coercion to compel two women to work as prostitutes at an open-air sex trafficking market along Pennsylvania Avenue in East New York, referred to as the Penn Track. He was also convicted of transporting one woman between New York and other states, including Connecticut and Wisconsin, for the purpose of prostitution.
Forney faces a mandatory minimum sentence of 15 years in prison and could receive up to life imprisonment.
Joseph Nocella, Jr., United States Attorney for the Eastern District of New York; Harmeet K. Dhillon, Assistant Attorney General of the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division; and Christopher G. Raia, Assistant Director in Charge at the FBI’s New York Field Office, announced the verdict.
“The jury found that Forney used violence and threats to compel women to engage in commercial sex acts at the Penn Track for his own profit, and enticed a vulnerable minor into having sex with him” stated United States Attorney Nocella. “Our Office will relentlessly pursue those, like the defendant, who engage in sex trafficking, and I commend the survivors of Forney’s depraved conduct who bravely assisted law enforcement in bringing him to justice.”
Mr. Nocella also thanked the FBI/NYPD Child Exploitation Human Trafficking Task Force for their investigative work on this case.
“The defendant used violence and threats of violence to compel his victims to engage in commercial sex for his profit,” stated Assistant Attorney General Dhillon. “There is no place in a civilized society for the defendant’s inhumane conduct, and the Justice Department is committed to punishing human trafficking and achieving justice for its victims.”
“Joel Forney lured and forced women into commercial sexual acts with multiple individuals for his own profit and personally sought out and sexually abused a minor. Forney mercilessly punished and threatened extreme violence to induce compliance from his trafficked victims. May today’s conviction empower survivors of sexual violence and emphasize the FBI’s intolerance of those who seek to profit from another’s abuse,” stated FBI Assistant Director in Charge Raia.
During trial proceedings it was established that Forney attracted women into his trafficking operation through false promises before forcing them into prostitution while keeping their earnings. If they refused compliance, he resorted to physical abuse or threats—including showing one victim an image on his phone depicting a dismembered woman with a warning about consequences for noncompliance.
The evidence further revealed that Forney met a third victim—a minor—near his home in Queens during June 2014 by sending her romantic messages via text. Their conversations included details about her teenage life such as school experiences and family relationships; Forney repeatedly offered her money before inviting her over where he engaged in sexual activity with her despite being 31 years old while she was no older than 15.
Authorities encourage anyone with information about human trafficking to contact the National Human Trafficking Hotline at 1-888-373-7888 or visit www.humantraffickinghotline.org for more resources on prevention efforts led by organizations such as https://www.justice.gov/humantrafficking.
The prosecution was managed by members of the Office’s Human Trafficking and Civil Rights Section: Assistant United States Attorneys Antoinette N. Rangel, Lauren A. Bowman; Trial Attorney Leah Branch from DOJ’s Civil Rights Division Human Trafficking Prosecution Unit; Paralegal Specialist Chelsea Guzman; Victim Witness Coordinator Huda Abouchaer; and Victim Witness Specialist Kristina Marius.
