NEW YORK (1010 WINS) — A Brooklyn man who forced multiple women into prostitution and allegedly killed one of his victims was indicted Tuesday in what is believed to be the first use of the federal statute criminalizing murder in the course of sex trafficking, officials announced.
Somorie Moses, who went by several other names including “Somorie Barfield,” “Sugar Bear,” “Bear” and “Daddy,” began pimping women as far back as 2003, according to court documents. Moses would make false promises to women and girls of love and marriage after meeting them in order to have sex only to then force them to work as prostitutes and turn over the money they earned to him.
Moses used violent tactics, including brutal beatings, rape, torture, and threats, to coerce his victims to work as prostitutes in Brooklyn and Queens and to comply with his orders. He even pressured many of the victims to get his first name, “Somorie,” tattooed on their bodies, authorities said.
The violence Moses used manifested in different ways. In one example, when the victim refused to engage in prostitution, Moses used a taser against her until she complied. Another time, Moses slashed a victim’s arms and back with a razor and beat her with a belt before pouring lemon juice on her wounds, leaving her permanently scarred. When another victim did not follow Moses’ orders, he beat her with an extension cord and threatened to rub salt in her wounds. Moses put a shotgun in another victim’s mouth and threatened to kill her and her child when she did not want to work as a prostitute, according to officials.
In one case, the violence was fatal. In January 2017, Moses allegedly murdered Leondra Foster by beating her until she died. The next morning, Moses used a knife and saw to dismember Foster’s body inside of their Brooklyn apartment before taking her torso and limbs to a Bronx sanitation site to discard them four days later, authorities said.
Foster’s head, hands and feet, including a foot with the name “Somorie” tattooed on it, were later found in a deep freezer inside of Moses’ apartment by authorities.
“Words do not adequately convey the depravity of the long list of actions Moses allegedly took to torment and terrorize women so he could traffic them for money,” stated FBI Assistant Director-in-Charge Driscoll. “He's accused of storing a woman's head in his freezer after he killed her. Imagine how hard it is for his victims to come forward - but they have and should be commended for their bravery. They will help us bring Moses to justice for his alleged crimes, and will keep him from harming another human being.”
Moses was arraigned Tuesday afternoon on 10 charges including sex trafficking and murder.
The government’s investigation is ongoing. Anyone with information about crimes perpetrated by Somorie Moses is asked to contact the FBI at 1-800-CALL-FBI, and reference this case.
Related
Related
Related
