A Florida man has been sentenced to more than 33 years in prison for his involvement in a sex trafficking conspiracy with ties in Pennsylvania.
According to a release from the Department of Justice, John Golom, 57, has officially been sentenced to 405 months prison time by United States District Court Judge Robert D. Mariani on Oct. 14, 2022, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Middle District of Pennsylvania announced Monday.
U.S. Attorney Gerard M. Karam stated Golom had previously pleaded guilty to trafficking two women as prostitutes through the use of force, threats, and coercion from 2014 through 2018. Golom recruited women to engage in commercial sex acts, advertising them on websites to attract customers, and transporting them between Florida and Pennsylvania to conduct his prostitution business.
Golom kept all proceeds of the operation and used physical violence, threats, and false promises to keep the women working as prostitutes. During sentencing, the court found Golom had preyed upon his victims despite knowing that at least one of them was especially vulnerable due to severe mental illnesses and homelessness.
The court also found Golom had attempted to obstruct justice by making false statements to the Federal Bureau of Investigation and trying to tamper with his victims’ testimony.
“The United States Attorney’s Office is grateful to the victims in this case for making the truth known,” Karam said. “The women who bravely came forward to hold this trafficker accountable made this successful prosecution possible. They are survivors, who, despite the horrific trauma they suffered at Golom’s hands for years, made it possible for justice to be done here. I am sure that they have spared other potential victims from the same horrors.”
In accordance with the Trafficking Victims Protection Act, the court ordered Golom to pay over $300,000 in restitution. After serving his sentence, Golom will be subject to a 10-year term of supervised release, and must comply with sex offender registration requirements as applicable through federal, state, and local law.
The case was investigated by the FBI, the Monroe County Detectives Office, Stroud Regional Police Department, and the Monroe County District Attorney’s Office. Assistant U.S. Attorney Sean A. Camoni prosecuted the case.
According to the Human Trafficking Hotline, 221 cases of human trafficking were reported in Pennsylvania in 2020, with 177 of those cases listed as sex trafficking.
The Unified Judicial System of Pennsylvania notes “Over the last five years since Pennsylvania’s first comprehensive human-trafficking law (Act 105) took effect, 784 human-trafficking offenses were filed.”
Monroe County is one of the 10 counties with the highest reported human trafficking offenses filed in the commonwealth at 5% of the total figure.
To make a report to the Human Trafficking Hotline, call 1-888-373-7888, or text 233733.
This article originally appeared on Pocono Record: Florida man sentenced 405 months for sex trafficking conspiracy in PA
