Philly man gets long prison term for sex trafficking

MEDIA COURTHOUSE » A Philadelphia man was sentenced to 40 to 100 months in state prison Monday for attempting to force a woman into prostitution with him as her pimp, bringing a court case that has been going for four and a half years to a close.

Troy Brockington-Winchester, 24, of South Philadelphia, was found guilty on one count of attempted involuntary servitude following a bench trial before Common Pleas Court Judge James Bradley in December. It was Brockington-Winchester’s second trial after the charge was initially dismissed.

The defendant was arrested in January 2016 and charged with human trafficking, attempted involuntary servitude, robbery, theft and terroristic threats after a woman claimed he came to her Upper Darby apartment, stole $2,700 at gunpoint and then told her he would give the money back if she worked for him.

The woman testified at the first trial in March 2017 that B rocking ton Winchester had setup a date with her through an online escort service website called Backpage.com for the afternoon of Jan. 29.

After letting him into her Marshall Road apartment, she said she disrobed and turned around to see Brockington-Winchester pointing a gun at her.

“He sat me down on the bed and he tried to tie me up with plastic ties,” the woman said. “He was telling me he was going to blow my head off.”

When the plastic ties did not work, the woman said he loosely tied her hands behind her back with a headphone cord and stole $2,700.

“He was saying that if I wanted to make my money back, then I had to work for him and that he was going to take me to a hotel later on that night to make my money back,” she said. “He said, ‘If you call the cops, I’m going to come back and kill you.’”

The woman claimed she was able to call police after B rocking ton Winchester left the apartment. Zip ties allegedly used in the robbery were found in the woman’s apartment, along with partial fingerprints, but Detective Matthew Roles testified that the prints were inconclusive.

The woman said Brockington-Winchester called her later that night and told her he was on his way to collect her. He was arrested after pulling up to the apartment in a white Crown Victoria.

Four zip-ties were found inside the vest Brockington-Winchester was wearing, said Roles, and a mask was found inside the car. Also found in the car was a grey Eagles sweatshirt and sweatpants, zip ties and a black BB gun made to look like an authentic pistol.

Brockington-Winchester denied the charges at trial, claiming he previously dated the alleged victim, but they had broken up in early January 2016. When coworkers showed him the Backpage.com ad, he said he set up a meeting to confront the woman because he felt lied to.

Brockington-Winchester testified that an argument broke out in the apartment and he grabbed the woman’s arms to keep her from hitting him, but did not tie her up, take her money or threaten to force her into prostitution. He also said the zipties found in the car were related to his job as a construction worker.

The jury acquitted Brockington-Winchester on the robbery, theft and terroristic threats charges, but was deadlocked on the human trafficking and attempted involuntary servitude charges. A new trial on those two counts was expected to take place, but Judge James Nilon found in August 2017 that they should be dismissed under a theory of collateral estoppel, which bars criminal prosecution on the same issue in more than one trial.

That prompted an appeal by the commonwealth to the Superior Court of Pennsylvania, which remanded the case for trial on the two remaining charges in March 2019. A bench trial was held in December and Judge Bradley found Brockington-Winchester guilty of attempted involuntary servitude, but not human trafficking.

Assistant District Attorney Danielle Gallaher asked the judge for a sentence of 60 to 180 months with five years of consecutive probation. She noted Brockington-Winchester had just been released after spending four years in prison shortly before committing this offense, and employed a weapon and restraints.

Defense attorney Michael Mattson argued for a two- to four-year sentence, saying his client showed significant personal growth in the intervening years, including becoming gainfully employed as a mechanic, enrolling in community college, getting married and having a baby.

Brockington-Winchester, appearing via closed circuit television for Monday’s sentencing hearing, also told the judge that his family is his life now and he is not involved in the streets or any negative situations. He said the man that committed this and other prior crimes is not the same man he is today.

In addition to the prison sentence, Bradley ordered Brocking ton Winchester to serve seven years of consecutive probation. The judge denied Gallaher’s motion for restitution, finding the defendant had already been acquitted on theft and robbery charges, as well as a request that he undergo a psychosexual evaluation.

Brockington-Winchester was given credit for time served from Jan. 30, 2016, to Aug. 14, 2017, and Dec. 9, 2019 to June 15. He is not eligible for early release on good time.