NEWARK, N.J. – A Newark, New Jersey man who ran a prostitution business that operated in Newark, Irvington, Elizabeth, and Atlantic City, New Jersey, pleaded guilty yesterday to sex trafficking and firearms charges, United States Attorney Paul J. Fishman announced.

Kasiem Brown, 36, of Newark, New Jersey pleaded guilty before United States Senior District Judge Joseph H. Rodriguez to two counts of an Indictment: sex trafficking of a minor girl by force, fraud, and coercion (Count Two), and conspiring to deal in firearms without a license (Count 19).

According to documents filed in this case and statements made in court, Brown operated an illegal prostitution business in New Jersey and elsewhere from July 2005 to October 11, 2006. During his plea hearing, Brown admitted to recruiting, enticing, harboring, providing, obtaining, and transporting seven minor girls and nine adult women victims to various cities within New Jersey to engage in prostitution.

Brown transported the girls and women to various venues to engage in prostitution for him, including strip clubs, sex parties in private homes, and various "tracks", locations known for prostitution activity.

Brown also admitted that he forced his victims to engage in prostitution by force – including by hitting, kicking, punching, beating them with belts, and sexual violence. He took the money the girls and women made and in turn, provided them with housing, food, clothing, cell phones, hotel rooms, and all other items necessary to work as prostitutes. Brown also stated that he obtained and provided false and fraudulent identification documents to the girls and women.

Brown said at his plea proceeding that at various times during the period from July 2003 to October 11, 2006, he illegally possessed firearms in order to protect himself, his victims, and the cash proceeds generated from his prostitution business. He also admitted to paying for 13 firearms in Alabama using two different straw purchasers, and transporting the firearms to New Jersey.

At sentencing, Brown faces 20 years in prison, lifetime supervised release, registration as a sex offender, restitution, forfeiture, and the notice to victims of his offense.

Brown is detained pending sentencing, scheduled for September 21, 2010, at 11:00 a.m.

U.S. Attorney Fishman credited special agents of the Federal Bureau of Investigation's Atlantic City Resident Agency, under the direction of Special Agent in Charge Michael B. Ward in Newark, and special agents of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) Newark Field Division, under the direction of Special Agent in Charge Matthew W. Horace, for the investigation leading to today’s guilty plea. He also thanked special agents of the ATF Atlanta Field Division, the ATF Nashville Field Division, and officers from the numerous local police departments who assisted in the investigation – including the Egg Harbor Township Police Department, Atlantic City Police Department, East Orange Police Department, Newark Police Department, Irvington Police Department, and Elizabeth Police Department.

The Government is represented by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Diana Carrig and Deborah Prisinzano Mikkelsen of the United States Attorney's Office Criminal Division in Camden.

NEWARK, N.J. – Maximo Diaz, age 22, of Newark, pleaded guilty on Wednesday to conspiring to defraud the United States Department of the Treasury by filing phony tax returns which generated over $200,000 in fraudulent income tax refund checks for himself and co-conspirators, United States Attorney Paul J. Fishman announced.