Authorities: N.J. Pimp Enslaved Prostitutes
Allen Brown thought he was a prince. That was his nickname, and officials say they even found a throne in his North Jersey living room.

But New Jersey's Attorney General says Brown's lavish lifestyle was funded on the backs of hundreds or thousands of women he forced to become prostitutes.

Brown, 47, was indicted Friday, facing a range of charges for running what officials say was a sex slavery ring. The attorney general says he enticed young women with drugs, money and promises of a better life, but once they were addicted and under his control, he made them turn tricks every night.

"These women had their identification taken, their cell phones taken and basically that meant they couldn't leave or contact others on the outside," said Anne Milgram, New Jersey's Attorney General. "And then on top of that, these women were locked inside houses and apartments."

Officials say Brown recruited women all across the Garden State, from Camden and Philadelphia, to Atlantic City to Jersey City, where he lived and where the operation was based.

Brown forced the women to bring home a set amount of cash every night, usually $500 to $1,000, authorities say. If the women didn't meet their quota, they were sometimes beaten or denied drugs they were addicted to.

Officials say Brown typically had anywhere from two to 20 women working for him each and every night since 1990.

Six others were indicted with Brown for either helping to run the ring or for laundering money. Some of those indicted were Brown's relatives.

Anthony Evans, 51, of Jersey City; Brown's nephew Arthur Brown, 37, of Jersey City; Jerome Robinson, 30, of Newark; Brown's mother Tecora P. Brown, 72, of Bayonne; his niece, Tecora L. Brown, 35, of Jersey City; and Marlo Taylor, 39, of Newark all face charges in the Attorney General's indictment.

The charges range from human trafficking and racketeering to conspiracy and failure to pay taxes.

An eighth person, Annie Cooper, 40, of Jersey City, pleaded guilty last month to first-degree racketeering. Officials say she acted as the boss of the women – enforcing the house rules Brown laid down. As part of her plea deal, the state will recommend that Cooper be sentenced to five to 10 years in state prison.

Brown was arrested last September when officials served a search warrant on his upscale Jersey City condo. Officials say they waited so long to announce the arrests because they wanted to make sure they had shut down the entire ring.

Reporting
Ben Simmoneau
TRENTON, N.J.

CBS