CHICAGO —(ENEWSPF)—February 22, 2018
By: Rosemary Piser
A federal jury has convicted Benjamine Biancofiori, 38 of Naperville of sex trafficking charges for violently forcing women to engage in prostitution between 2007 and 2016.
Biancofiori promised the women financial security in order to get them to perform commercial sex acts on his behalf. He often beat and punched the women, and he kept almost all of the proceeds they earned through prostitution. On one occasion, Biancofiori arranged for a victim to be returned to him at gunpoint after she tried to run away. He ran his sex-trafficking operation primarily out of his residences in the western suburbs of Chicago.
The jury convicted Biancofiori on 14 of the 15 counts against him, including conspiracy to engage in sex trafficking by force, threats of force, fraud, or coercion; engaging in sex trafficking by force, threats of force, fraud, or coercion; and obstructing, attempting to obstruct, or interfering with the enforcement of the sex trafficking statute.
Biancofiori has remained in federal custody since his arrest in May 2016. The conviction carries a minimum sentence of 15 years in prison and a maximum sentence of life in prison. U.S. District Judge Harry D. Leinenweber set sentencing for May 30, 2018, at 9:45 a.m.
Five of the victims testified at trial about their ordeals.
Two co-defendants of Biancofiori pleaded guilty prior to trial. Marcus Willis, 39, of Wheaton, and Nathan Perez, 32, of West Chicago, admitted in written plea agreements that they conspired with Biancofiori to engage in sex trafficking. Willis and Perez sentencing hearings will be scheduled at a later date.
Source: www.defense.gov
