Essex County Man Sentenced For Sex Trafficking
Monday, April 21, 2025, 6:45 A.M. ET. 2 Minute Read, By Art Fletcher: Englebrook Independent News,
TRENTON, NJ.- A 50-year-old Newark, New Jersey, man and convicted pimp will be spending nearly the next two decades in federal prison after being sentenced for sex trafficking women, including a minor.
On Thursday, April 17, 2025, Amin Sharif, 50, of Newark, New Jersey, appeared in the U.S. District Court for the District of New Jersey and was sentenced by U.S.District Court Judge Michael A. Shipp to 210 months in federal prison, to be followed by twenty years of supervised release for his July 2024, conviction of multiple federal sex trafficking offenses.
According To U.S. Attorney Alina Habba
According to U.S. Attorney Alina Habba, following an eight-day trial in Federal Court in Trenton, New Jersey, a jury found Shariff guilty of one count of Attempted Transportation of a Victim with Intent to Engage in Prostitution; one count of Sex Trafficking of a Minor; one count of Use of an Interstate Facility to Promote Unlawful Activity; and one count of Coercing of Presuding a Victim to Travel to Engage in Prosecution.
According to documents filed with the District Court and evidence presented at trial, in January 2021, the Federal Bureau of Investigation began investigating Shariff for sex trafficking crimes. Shariff recruited four victims, including a minor, from states across the country, New York, Pennsylvania, Idaho, and Utah.
During his recruitment, Shariff utilized multiple social media accounts and assumed aliases and false identities to entice and persuade his victims. He made promises of housing stability, bill payment, and living expenses, and promised that the victims could earn up to thousands of dollars per day by working for him. Shariff advertised the minor victim online, offering her for 32 sexual services.
Shariff was previously convicted of transporting a minor to engage in prostitution in Federal Court and served a ten year federal prison term.
“Amin Shariff is a dangerous sex offender who has repeatedly preyed on vulnerable young women and minors in our society. The Court’s sentence will prevent Shariff from harming additional victims and will send a strong signal to would-be traffickers that sex trafficking will not be tolerated in the District of New Jersey and will result in serious sentences,” said U.S. Attorney Alina Habba.
U.S. Attorney Habba commended the investigative work of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Newark Field Office, the Federal Bureau of Investigation Rochester, New York Field Office, and the Danville Police Department for the investigation that led to the successful prosecution of Shariff.
