A man from New Jersey accused of forcing women into prostitution, abusing and threatening them, broke into a Manhattan courtroom.
28-year-old Akil Martin, known in the square as “Damion”, cried on Wednesday, when he heard the indictment. The suspect had surrendered last week, believing he would be charged with minor offenses.
But he faces piles of crimes and flirts with the possibility of being sentenced to 25 years in prison.
As he listened to prosecutor Meghan McNulty list his crimes in the Manhattan Supreme Court, Martin could not hold back his tears.
The prosecutor continued, even reading the threatening messages he sent to his victims in 2019 and 2020. He finally cried and they could not help him.
According to the indictment, Martin spent the last two years recruiting women through social media in order to issue them. He beat them, threatened them with a gun and blackmailed them in every way, even keeping their identities.
From February 2019 to February 2021, he put more than $ 50,000 into the bank from his illegal business, while continuing to collect unemployment benefits.
He pleaded not guilty, was given $ 1 million bail and will stand trial in mid-May.
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