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Jolen Michael Ghorbani, also known as “Jay,” 28, formerly of Fairfax, has been indicted by a federal grand jury for bribery of a witness and obstruction of justice, in connection with a criminal trial in which Ghorbani was a witness.
The three-count indictment states that on Feb. 3, 2021, Ghorbani was the victim of a kidnapping, assault, and robbery committed by Tray David Sherman and his co-conspirators.
During the kidnapping, Ghorbani was allegedly transported from Maryland to Washington, DC, where Sherman and his cohorts assaulted and robbed him.
Sherman was indicted and arrested on March 31, 2021, for conspiracy to commit kidnapping.
It is alleged that Ghorbani used a social media account to send a series of direct messages to Sherman, including a message where Ghorbani sent his telephone number to Sherman and said “(C)all me If you want to finesse trial.”
Approximately three weeks before the scheduled start of Sherman’s trial, Ghorbani sent another series of messages to Sherman through his social media account, this time soliciting a payment of $5,000 from Sherman in exchange for Ghorbani’s agreement to testify falsely or to refuse to testify at all at Sherman’s trial.
Prosecutors say that Ghorbani shared the messages he sent to Sherman with another person, boasting that he was “(d)ancing with the devil,” and telling that person, “I’m auctioning off his freedom.”
If convicted, Ghorbani faces a maximum sentence of 15 years in federal prison for bribery and a maximum of 10 years in federal prison for obstruction of justice.
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