Wisconsin Man Sentenced to 20 Years in Prison for Sex Trafficking of an Adult and a Minor

WASHINGTON – A federal judge in the Western District of Wisconsin sentenced Cory Hereford, 51, to 20 years in prison for sex trafficking and related charges. Hereford was convicted after a four-day trial in February 2022 of sex trafficking, conspiracy to commit sex trafficking, maintaining a property for the purposes of distributing and using controlled substances and of having committed sex trafficking of a minor while being a person previously convicted of a crime that required registering as a sex offender. The court additionally imposed 20 years of supervised release.

The government presented evidence at trial that Hereford conspired with co-defendant, Tonyiel Partee of Janesville, Wisconsin, to recruit an adult victim struggling with drug addiction, to engage in commercial sex. He also enticed a minor victim, who was 16 years old at the time, with access to drugs. In some instances, he threatened to withhold the heroin to induce withdrawal sickness as a means of compelling the victims to engage in prostitution for his profit.

“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 Department’s 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.”

“Hereford exploited young and vulnerable women, leveraging drug addiction to force them into prostitution,” said U.S. Attorney Timothy M. O’Shea for the Western District of Wisconsin. “My office is committed to working with our law enforcement partners to hold such predators accountable for their crimes.”

“Human trafficking investigations are complex, time consuming and dependent upon earning the trust of our victims,” said Chief David Moore for the Janesville Police Department. “Janesville detectives worked countless hours to bring this case to prosecution. The Janesville Police Department respects the U.S. Attorney’s Office for their leadership, perseverance and dedication to the prosecution of the case. Finally, our victims are safe.”

The case was investigated by Janesville Police Department, with the assistance of Wisconsin Department of Justice, Division of Criminal Investigation and the Rock County Sheriff’s Office. Assistant U.S. Attorney Julie Pfluger for the Western District of Wisconsin and Trial Attorney Slava Kuperstein of the Civil Rights Division’s Human Trafficking Prosecution Unit prosecuted the case.

Anyone who has information about human trafficking should report that information to the National Human Trafficking Hotline toll-free at 1-888-373-7888, which is available 24 hours a day, seven days a week. For more information about human trafficking, please visit www.humantraffickinghotline.org.

NOTE: This press release was submitted to Urban Milwaukee and was not written by an Urban Milwaukee writer. It has not been verified for its accuracy or completeness.