William Johnson, who was also known as “Dollar Bill,” was sentenced today to 210 months in prison and five years of supervised release for sex trafficking a minor between August 2010 and September 2010. The sentencing proceeding was held today before United States District Judge Roslynn R. Mauskopf at the U.S. Courthouse in Brooklyn, New York.

The sentence was announced by Loretta E. Lynch, United States Attorney for the Eastern District of New York. The prosecution resulted from a joint investigation conducted by the Federal Bureau of Investigation and New York City Police Department.

On April 14, 2011, the defendant admitted to keeping a 15-year-old female in his home in St. Albans, Queens, and prostituting her to clients in exchange for money. Johnson required his victim to turn over all of her prostitution earnings to him.

As established at the sentencing proceeding, the 15-year-old victim was one of several underage girls and women Johnson prostituted out of his Queens home. Johnson generated customers for his prostitution business by posting advertisements listed under “erotic services” or “escort services” on the Internet websites Craigslist.com and Backpage.com. The advertisements included photographs of the females scantily clad and in suggestive poses. Johnson plied his workers, including the 15-year-old victim, with cocaine and ecstasy so that they would engage in prostitution. In addition, the victim witnessed Johnson choke one of the other females who worked for him for “acting foolishly.” Johnson made numerous videotapes of females at his home engaging in lewd or sexual acts, some with him, at his direction. Some of these videotapes were taken without the females’ knowledge, as indicated by the set-up, angle and location of the camera.

“The defendant made a career of sexually exploiting some of the most vulnerable members of our community for his own personal gain. We will aggressively investigate and prosecute anyone who seeks to profit from human trafficking and exploitation,” stated United States Attorney Lynch. Ms. Lynch extended her grateful appreciation to the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the New York City Police Department for their assistance in this investigation.

The government’s case is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Licha M. Nyiendo.

The Defendant:

Name: WILLIAM JOHNSON
Age: 52

---