Newark Man Admits Role in Organization that Prostituted Minors

CAMDEN, NJ—A Newark man who was the second-in-command of a prostitution enterprise that recruited and prostituted minor girls in several New Jersey cities pleaded guilty today in federal court, U.S. Attorney Paul J. Fishman announced.

Ibn Shabazz, 35, pleaded guilty before U.S. District Judge Joseph H. Rodriguez to a one-count Information that charges him with conspiracy to engage in the sex trafficking of others by force, fraud, and coercion. Judge Rodriguez continued the defendant’s detention pending sentencing, which is scheduled for April 12.

At his plea hearing, Shabazz admitted that he conspired with Kasiem Brown, who was the leader of the prostitution enterprise, and others to recruit, harbor, and transport minor girls and adult women to various cities within New Jersey, including Atlantic City, Elizabeth, Newark, and Irvington.

Shabazz admitted that as pimps, he and Brown, 35, of Newark, organized and managed a prostitution ring that operated from at least as early as June 2005 and continued until October 2006. Shabazz admitted that as part of their enterprise they employed at least three girls who were under the age of 18 and several adult females to work as prostitutes for them.

Shabazz admitted that his role in the enterprise included driving the females to and from various locations in New Jersey so that they could work as prostitutes. According to Shabazz, those locations included such places as strip clubs, sex parties in private homes, and various “tracks,” that is, locations that are known for prostitution activity.

Brown is currently pending trial on related charges. Despite indictment, all defendants are presumed innocent unless proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt.

The charge to which Shabazz pleaded guilty carries a statutory maximum penalty of five years in prison and a fine of $250,000.

In determining an actual sentence, Judge Rodriguez will consult the advisory U.S. Sentencing Guidelines, which provide appropriate sentencing ranges that take into account the severity and characteristics of the offense, the defendant's criminal history, if any, and other factors. The judge, however, is not bound by those guidelines in determining a sentence. Parole has been abolished in the federal system. Defendants who are given custodial terms must serve nearly all that time.

Fishman credited Special Agents with the FBI’s Atlantic City Resident Agency, under the direction of Acting Special Agent in Charge Kevin B. Cruise in Newark, the ATF, under the direction of Special Agent in Charge Matthew W. Horace in Newark, and Police Officers with the Police Departments of Atlantic City and Egg Harbor Township, with the investigation leading to the guilty plea.

The government is represented by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Diana Carrig and Deborah Prisinzano-Mikkelsen of the U.S. Attorney’s Office Criminal Division in Camden.