Source: Office of United States Attorneys
CHICAGO — A federal judge has sentenced a man to 35 years in prison for sex trafficking seven women in the Chicago area, escaping from custody while awaiting trial on those charges, and possessing child pornography.
BRIAN JOHNSON, 59, of Evergreen Park, Ill., used multiple aliases to pose as the male owner or female employee of an art gallery and film production company with purported connections to major magazines, overseas distributors, and film producers. He sought amateurs seeking to start a career in artistic nude modeling and film, enticing his victims with false promises of full-time employment at a lucrative salary, professional connections, and foreign travel. In preparation for what he told the women would be an “audition,” Johnson provided alcohol and encouraged the women to drink it. During the “audition,” he took explicit photos and videos of the victims and had sex with them. Afterward, Johnson claimed that his distributor found the photos and videos unsatisfactory and that the women would need to pose and have sex with him again in a “re-shoot” in order to get paid. In reality, there was no gallery, film company, or distributor.
When victims expressed reluctance to re-shoot the video, Johnson threatened to distribute their images, and did, in fact, distribute their images online. Johnson continued to harass his victims, even years later, by sending them the explicit photos and reminding them of their encounters with him. None of the victims ever received any money from Johnson.
A jury in U.S. District Court in Chicago earlier this year heard testimony from seven of Johnson’s victims before convicting him of sex trafficking and other offenses. Johnson also pleaded guilty prior to trial to an escape charge for failing to return to a federal jail in Chicago after being granted a three-hour furlough to attend his mother’s visitation. After briefly attending the visitation, Johnson returned to his home, packed a suitcase, and fled. Among the possessions he took with him were numerous images of the sex trafficking victims, including images which he knew were child pornography. After a three-day search, the FBI found and arrested Johnson at a restaurant near Midway Airport in Chicago.
U.S. District Judge Rebecca R. Pallmeyer imposed the 35-year prison sentence on Monday in federal court in Chicago.
The sentence was announced by Morris Pasqual, Acting United States Attorney for the Northern District of Illinois, Douglas S. DePodesta, Special Agent-in-Charge of the Chicago Field Office of the FBI, Phillip Arnold, Chief of the Shorewood, Ill. Police Department, and Michael Saunders, Chief of the Evergreen Park, Ill. Police Department. Valuable assistance was provided by the Illinois Secretary of State’s Office and the Cook County Sheriff’s Office. The government was represented by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Elly Moheb and Maureen M. Merin.
If you or someone you know may have been a victim of human trafficking, you are encouraged to contact the National Human Trafficking Hotline by logging on to https://humantraffickinghotline.org or by calling 1-888-373-7888. The service is available 24 hours a day, seven days a week.