Michigan Man Charged with Federal Sex Trafficking of a Minor

CHICAGO—A Michigan man is facing a federal detention hearing today after he was arrested late last week for allegedly engaging in sex trafficking of a minor, federal law enforcement officials announced today. The defendant, Fabriel Delaney, was arrested by FBI agents early Friday morning outside a hotel in south suburban Tinley Park where he allegedly brought three females, two of whom were under age 18, from Michigan to engage in prostitution. The charges allege that Delaney believed he was transporting the two youths and a young woman to engage in commercial sex acts at a purported bachelor party at the hotel, but which, in fact, was a sting operation designed to arrest him following a long-term investigation.

Delaney, also known as “Face,” 25, of Kalamazoo, was charged with transporting a minor across state lines for prostitution in a complaint filed in U.S. District Court. He is scheduled to return to court at 11:30 a.m. today for a detention, or bond, hearing before U.S. Magistrate Judge Jeffrey Cole, after an initial appearance before Magistrate Judge Cole on Friday.

The charge carries a mandatory minimum penalty of 10 years and a maximum of life in prison upon conviction. The arrest and charge were announced by Patrick J. Fitzgerald, United States Attorney for the Northern District of Illinois, and Robert D. Grant, Special Agent in Charge of the Chicago Office of the Federal Bureau of Investigation. The investigation is continuing, they said. The Cook County Sheriff’s Police Department, the Illinois State Police, the police departments in Kalamazoo and Battle Creek, Mich., and the Will County State’s Attorney’s Office are assisting in the investigation.

According to the complaint affidavit, late last Thursday and early Friday, Delaney drove the three females from the Kalamazoo area to the Tinley Park hotel, expecting to take them to a bachelor party where they would engages in sexual activity with 10 to 12 men and charge between $150 and $300 per customer for various sex acts. The three females were Victim 1, age 17; Victim 2, age 16; and Individual B, who is Victim’s 1 sister and over age 18. Victim 2 told agents that she met Delaney earlier this month and since then, at his direction, had gone on 20 to 24 calls for commercial sex, providing him with half the money she had received.

The charges detail the investigation, which began in September 2010 when state police made a traffic stop in Will County and found Delaney driving with three female passengers, including Victim 1. The charges allege that Delaney was sex trafficking Victim 1, who was then 16 and later turned 17, at a hotel in the Joliet area. Delaney allegedly used various Internet web sites to advertise prostitution services. Delaney typically met customers in a hotel parking lot to ensure they were not undercover police before sending them to Victim 1’s hotel room and he received a portion of the money she was paid.

The government is represented by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Halley B. Guren and Rajnath Laud.

The public is reminded that a complaint contains only charges and is not evidence of guilt. The defendant is presumed innocent and is entitled to a fair trial at which the United States has the burden of proving guilt beyond a reasonable doubt.