NYC pimps killed rival who tried to lure hooker away from their crew in ‘Penn Track’ turf war: prosecutors

[The Bobster]

NYC pimps killed rival who tried to lure hooker away from their crew in ‘Penn Track’ turf war: prosecutors

The suspects — Omari “Sir Prince” Scott, Michael “Victory” Simmons and Joel David Forney — are all in custody following their indictments, the US Attorney’s Office said.

nypost.com

NYC pimps killed rival who tried to lure hooker away from their crew in ‘Penn Track’ turf war: prosecutors​

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Published April 22, 2024, 4:41 p.m. ET










Two Brooklyn pimps were hit with a murder rap for allegedly killing a rival who tried to recruit one of their sex workers to come work for him, prosecutors said.
Omari “Sir Prince” Scott, 43, and Michael “Victory” Simmons, 42, were hit with a littany of charges related to a deadly turf war in the notorious “Penn Track” open-air sex market — which ended with the shooting of fellow flesh peddler Cleveland Clay to death, according to Breon Peace, US attorney for the Eastern District of New York.
A third man — Joel David Forney, 41, of Kissimmee, Florida — was slapped with three counts of sex trafficking and other related charges for forcing women to work the Penn Track and raping a 14-year-old girl, Peace said in a separate indictment.
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Joel David Forney, also known as “Sirbar,” was charged with three counts of sex trafficking and related crimes. Orange County Florida Jail
Scott, who was arrested Friday, and Simmons, who’s locked up on unrelated charges, are both in custody, Peace said.

Forney, who goes by the alias “Sirbar,” was arrested last Wednesday in Kissimmee.

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All three face between 15 years to life in prison for their crimes, according to prosecutors.
If Scott and Simmons are convicted of the murder charge, they could get the death penalty.
“Human lives are not pawns for criminals to manipulate for their own cruel wishes,” James Smith, the FBI’s assistant director-in-charge, said in a statement.
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The three men’s alleged crimes sprung from their trafficking of women on the Penn Track, a notorious stretch of Pennsylvania Avenue in Brooklyn. For New York Post
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The charges against the three men were announced last week by Breon Peace, the US Attorney for the Eastern District of New York. Getty Images
“Their alleged actions — sexually exploiting women and conspiring to take a life of another individual — show a blatant disregard for humanity,” he continued. “The FBI will continue its efforts to pursue and bring to justice those who prey upon vulnerable populations with violence.”

A Penn Track pimp war​

On Friday, the feds unsealed a seven-count indictment in Brooklyn federal court that claimed Scott and Simmons trafficked women up and down Pennsylvania Avenue, a spot known for years as an open-air sex market.
The pair regularly forced women into the ugly trade, then used threats of violence to control them, Peace said.
For example, Scott warned one victim that he would “knock [her] out for disrespecting me,” the statement said.
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The Penn Track is widely known as an open-air sex market, according to the feds. For New York Post
He was allegedly recorded on a phone call with a friend saying he was “beating this b–ch up tonight” because she didn’t find customers fast enough, prosecutors claim.
Late last April, the violent bully flew into a rage when one of his sex workers tried to wriggle free from his control to instead work for Clay, Peace said.
He “violently punished” the woman, and dragged her by her hair into his car in a caught-on-camera confrontation, the feds said.
“I’m bout to violate that b–ch,” he allegedly said on a recorded call. “I’m about to do her something crazy … I’m not respecting this s–t. I’m about to kill this b–ch.”
Scott and Simmons were caught on camera the next morning, May 1, arguing with Clay, Peace said.
About three hours later, Simmons allegedly shot Clay five times at close range in a parking lot. Clay died later that day.
A laundromat surveillance video caught Simmons telling Scott, “He’s down!” after the shooting, according to the US attorney.
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The defendants face between 15 years to life in prison for their crimes, Peace said. AP

‘Darkest side of the criminal world’​

Forney’s charges — laid out in a Brooklyn federal court indictment unsealed last week — also sprung from his trafficking of women on the Penn Track between 2016 and 2022, according to federal prosecutors.
He also moved women into other states, such as Connecticut and Missouri, according to the statement. And he allegedly raped a teenage girl back in 2014, officials claim.
“The defendant subjected the victims to his total control and forced them to adhere to a list of rules designed to maximize his profits and minimize their resistance,” Peace said in the statement. “When his victims disobeyed his directives, he used physical violence, and sometimes death threats, as a form of punishment.”
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A Post cover after a brothel was uncovered in Queens last summer.
The indictment detailed Forney’s alleged trafficking of three different women, all of whom he allegedly beat if they didn’t follow his rules to the letter.
He punched one of them in the mouth, leaving her with a broken front tooth, according to the statement.
He showed another of his victims a photo of a dismembered woman on his phone, and said that “this is what happens to bi—es who leave their pimps,” according to prosecutors.
In June 2014, the then-31-year-old Forney lured a 14-year-old Queens girl to his home, where he later raped her, the statement said.



“These charges represent the darkest side of the criminal world,” Smith said. “Not only did Joel Forney allegedly force several victims into commercial sex trafficking through repeated violence and death threats, but he also allegedly raped a female minor victim after luring her into his residence.”


Peace echoed this, saying Forney “preyed on vulnerable women to sell their bodies for his own profit.”