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A federal judge in Newark ordered Amin Sharif, 47, of Newark detained following a brief video conference Wednesday afternoon.
Records show Sharif, formerly of East Orange, was released from federal prison on Jan. 30, 2020 after serving nearly 120 months for sex trafficking.
He'd taken a plea bargain after investigators caught him trafficking underage girls and women, recruiting some of them from out of state on MySpace and other social media platforms, then advertising their services on Craigslist.
Sharif again became a law enforcement target in January 2021, U.S. Attorney for New Jersey Philip R. Sellinger said Wednesday.
Sharif "used several social media platforms and profiles to recruit women and minors to engage in sex acts for money," Sellinger said. "Once in contact with his victims, Sharif used threats to coerce the victims into engaging in commercial sex acts.
"He advertised women and at least one underage girl online for commercial sex acts," the U.S. attorney said. "Sharif also transported at least one underage girl located in another state into New Jersey and attempted to transport a woman located in another state into New Jersey via a commercial airline, in furtherance of his sex trafficking conduct."
At least one of them was from Allentown, PA, he said.
Sellinger credited special agents of the FBI in Newark and Philadelphia and police in Allentown with the investigation leading to the charges. Assistant U.S. Attorney Kimberly Mitchell of Sellinger's Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Force and Narcotics Division in Newark is handling the case.
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