Manhattan District Attorney Alvin L. Bragg, Jr., today announced the guilty plea of WINSTON WILLIAMS, 43, for stalking and trafficking a woman using coercive tactics, including supplying her with drugs and subtracting the price of the drugs from the profits of her commercial sexual acts, leaving her in “debt” and under his control. WILLIAMS pleaded guilty in New York State Supreme Court to one count of Sex Trafficking and one count of Stalking in the First Degree in full satisfaction of an indictment charging him with running a coercive and exploitive prostitution ring. He is expected to be sentenced on June 10, 2025 to the Court’s promised sentence of 5-to-15 years in state prison.

“Winston Williams kept a woman trapped in a cycle of drugs and debts while lining his pockets,” said District Attorney Bragg. “Traffickers target vulnerable New Yorkers all too often, as this defendant did by specifically seeking out someone with substance use disorders. If you or someone you know has information about forced labor, sexual exploitation, or related forms of coercion, please contact our Human Trafficking Unit at 212-335-3400. Help is available.”

According to court documents and statements made on the record, and as admitted in the defendant’s guilty plea, WILLIAMS trafficked the woman from January 1, 2023, to October 31, 2023. WILLIAMS targeted her because she had a substance use disorder and supplied her with drugs. He required her to pay for the drugs by subtracting the price from her profits, causing her to build up “debts” with the defendant that he instructed her to work off by engaging in more commercial sexual acts in Manhattan, Brooklyn, and Queens. WILLIAMS also employed other coercive tactics, including using violence, threatening the use of violence, and controlling the woman’s access to money, food, and her phones and government identification.

Assistant D.A. Jeannie Campbell-Urban is handling the prosecution of this case under the supervision of Assistant D.A.s Courtney Razner (Deputy Chief of the Human Trafficking Unit) and Jonathan Junig (Chief of the Human Trafficking Unit) and Executive Assistant D.A. Justin McNabney (Chief of the Special Victims Division), with the assistance of Senior Investigator Ariela DaSilva, Senior Investigator Sean Ryan, Digital Evidence Analyst Leslie Martinez, and Investigative Analyst Leila Jiadi.

District Attorney Bragg thanked the NYPD’s 104th Precinct.

 

Defendant Information

WINSTON WILLIAMS

Convicted:

• Sex Trafficking, a class B felony, one count
• Stalking in the First Degree, a class D felony, one count

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