NEW YORK (1010 WINS) - A woman was sentenced to 13 years in prison for repeatedly luring victims for sex last year, then assaulting and robbing them, Queens District Attorney Melinda Katz announced on Friday.
Destiny Lebron, 20, a Brooklyn resident, on Oct. 6, pleaded guilty to sex trafficking, promoting prostitution, assault, kidnapping, robbery, unlawful imprisonment and grand larceny.
Lebron had the help of Gil Iphael, 23, a Long Island resident, authorities said.
On Thursday, she was sentenced Lebron to 13 years in prison to be followed by five years post-release supervision.
According to the charges, in February 2022, Lebron befriended a woman via Instagram. The two exchanged messages of sexual content and photos and engaged in prostitution-related conversations.
In July 2022, Lebron asked her to engage in prostitution, and the victim declined. Lebron continued to call and message the victim over two days and the two agreed to meet.
On July 30, 2022, Lebron and Iphael went to pick the victim up and the three traveled to the Quality Inn hotel located at 153-95 Rockaway Blvd. in Springfield Gardens, where the woman was told that she would have to either help Lebron and Iphael rob victims lured to the hotel by Lebron posing as a prostitute, or she would have to engage in prostitution herself and turn over her profits to them.
When the victim again refused, Lebron and Iphael slapped, punched and threatened her. They then forced the victim to take pictures of herself, and used photos saved in her phone, for online prostitution ads.
That evening, several clients appeared at the hotel and engaged in prostitution activity with the victim. Lebron and Iphael kept all proceeds collected from the clients.
The victim managed to escape on July 31 when she was left unattended in the hotel room, prosecutors said.
On Aug. 6, 2022, a man in his 50s answered a prostitution ad featuring a photo of Lebron.
In a hotel room, after the victim had paid her to have sex and began to undress, Lebron threw bleach in his face then opened the door to let in Iphael, who covered the victim's head with a blanket and began
punching him and demanding money.
Lebron and Iphael restrained the victim and continued assaulting him for several hours.
Iphael reached into a bag and threatened to kill the victim, leading the victim to believe Iphael had a gun, officials said.
The duo took the victim's car keys, phone and wallet. When the victim refused to unlock his phone, Lebron burned him with a curling iron until he complied. They also stole his car.
Lebron and Iphael attempted to transfer the victim's money electronically before making multiple trips to ATM machines to make withdrawals from the victim's account using his bank card.
The also repeatedly threatened to kill the victim's family if he reported the crime to police.
The third incident happened on Aug. 14, 2022, when a man in his 20s, answered a prostitution ad featuring a photo of Lebron and was instructed to meet Lebron at a location in Queens.
Once at the location, after the victim had agreed to pay her to have sex and began to undress, Lebron and Iphael beat the man and threatened to cut off his genitals.
Lebron and Iphael restrained the victim and continued assaulting him, often while holding a pillow over his face.
They took the victim's wallet, debit card, driver's license, money and other personal items and took turns with his debit card and went to a nearby ATM to withdraw money.
The also repeatedly threatened to kill his family if he reported the crime to police.
"Destiny Lebron was the mastermind of a violent criminal enterprise involving sex trafficking and robbery. We have succeeded in getting this ruthless predator off our streets. She will now pay for the brutality she inflicted on her victims," District Attorney Katz said.
The case against Iphael is pending.
