Two men have pleaded guilty in Texas for using the now-defunct Backpage.com sex-trafficking site to advertise victims for sale.
Federal prosecutors in Fort Worth say Joshua Glaze pleaded guilty Wednesday to conspiracy to commit sex trafficking through force fraud or coercion. Faizal Sabar pleaded guilty to the same count May 13. Both await sentencing and face up to life in prison.
Investigators say Sabar in 2017 traveled with a victim from Pennsylvania to Texas, where he forced the victim to engage in commercial sex at various local hotels, including inside a room at the Home2Suites hotel in Northlake.
Authorities say Glaze helped Sabar create online ads and rent hotel rooms. They say the two men kept the proceeds.
"Trafficking - people selling other people - is a particularly vile crime," said U.S. Attorney Nealy Cox. "Even though the website in this case has been shut down, others continue to proliferate, and we remain vigilant for signs of trafficking, online and off."
Glaze and Sabar are the latest to plead guilty related to Backpage.com, which was based in Dallas and shut down by law officers in 2018.
If you know someone who may be a victim of trafficking or otherwise believe you have information pertaining to human trafficking, please call the National Human Trafficking Hotline, live 24/7, at 1-888-373-7888.
