MADISONA Beloit man who used the drug addictions of women and young girls to coerce them into prostitution, was sentenced Friday in federal court in Madison to 20 years in prison and 10 years supervised release.
Cory Hereford, 51, was convicted in a trial earlier this year for sex trafficking a minor and an adult female, conspiring to commit sex trafficking, maintaining a drug house in Janesville and sex trafficking a minor while being a sex offender registrant.
Raised in a stable home by parents who were auto workers, Herefords criminal history began in 1993 with a second-degree sexual assault of a child conviction when he impregnated a 14-year-old girl, according to court records. Although initially sentenced to a year in jail and eight years of probation, continued probation violations kept him in prison or on probation for the next 11 years, said U.S. District Judge William Conley.
Hereford had a sporadic work history and augmented his income by selling crack cocaine, Conley said.
He continued to have sex with minors and even told his probation officer that sex with them should be legal, Slava Kuperstein, a Department of Justice trial attorney, wrote to the court.
Hereford met Tonyiel Partee of Janesville when she was a 19-year-old homeless college student. He suggested she work for him as an escort and he took a share of the proceeds she made from her dates. Hereford allowed her to quit the escort business in exchange for helping him recruit other woman to work as prostitutes.
Together, they were able to exploit other young women, including a 16-year-old, to engage in commercial sex acts for their profit. The girls mother contacted Janesville police to report that her daughter was posting Facebook messages about buying drugs from an adult man. The ensuing investigation revealed she was buying drugs from a man was posting her on websites for commercial sex.
The investigation also led to Partee, now 30, who was arrested, pleaded guilty to conspiring to commit sex trafficking, and was sentenced last fall to three years in prison. She subsequently testified against Hereford at his February trial.
Trial testimony included allegations that Hereford manipulated the girl and women prostitutes by giving or withholding drugs depending on their state of dependency. He forced one unwilling adult victim to have sex on dates without a condom as it made him more money.
At trial, Herefords attorney, Robert Ruth, admitted that his client sold drugs and procured women to work as prostitutes but contended that he didnt have to force or coerce as they were willing participants.
Hereford maintained his innocence throughout and got his August sentencing hearing postponed by staging a hunger strike while detained at the Sauk County Jail. He was recorded on a phone call at the jail saying, Im gonna try to thug it out until two months, a month, until I cant f walk, federal prosecutors wrote the court.
On the date he was to be sentenced, Hereford appeared in court in a wheelchair and pretended not to be able to communicate or understand the proceedings. However, questions by Conley revealed he could understand the proceedings despite his persistence that he couldnt, the prosecutors wrote.
On Friday, Hereford told Conley that he didnt realize the impact his actions had on others lives. He blamed crack cocaine for his action.
If I wasnt selling the crack, none of this would have happened, he said.
Conley said, thats a beginning, although he later said that he wasnt entirely sure of Herefords motivations for the admission.
The judge said he hoped Hereford was at last gaining some insight into his objectifying and manipulating women, especially the most vulnerable ones, for his own interests.
Conley rejected the governments request for a 30-year sentence, citing Herefords age and the need to punish him the same as other similar defendants he has sentenced.
Authorities released statements Friday after sentencing.
This defendant preyed on vulnerable young women, and he cruelly exploited their addictions for his own profit, said Assistant Attorney General Kristen Clarke, of the Justice Departments Civil Rights Division. This conviction shows that the Civil Rights Division is committed to seeking justice for survivors of sex trafficking. We will work tirelessly to hold traffickers accountable for these heinous crimes that erode the safety of our communities.
In Madison, U.S. Attorney Timothy OShea stated that Hereford exploited young and vulnerable women, leveraging drug addiction to force them into prostitution. My office is committed to working with our law enforcement partners to hold such predators accountable for their crimes.
Janesville Police Chief David Moore added that Human trafficking investigations are complex, time consuming and dependent upon earning the trust of our victims. Janesville detectives worked countless hours to bring this case to prosecution. The Janesville Police Department respects the U.S. Attorneys Office for their leadership, perseverance and dedication to the prosecution of the case. Finally, our victims are safe.
