Convicted Atlantic City sex trafficker sentenced to 60 years

An Atlantic City man who used violence, threats and drugs to force women into sex trafficking was sentenced to 60 years in prison.

Tahir Gregory, 44, was convicted in January for trafficking two women. He received consecutive sentences of 30 years for each victim, with 20 years of parole ineligibility for each.

The investigation began when a woman overdosed and died in his bathroom, the prosecutor in the case said at the time. Two victims came forward during questioning in that death.

Both victims are in recovery and testified during the two-week trial.

Gregory took one of the two victim’s identification, including her birth certificate, as a way to control her.

One victim initially told investigators she saw Gregory “beat other girls as if they were grown men.”

When one of the women tried to leave him, Gregory put a “bounty” on her head, posting on Facebook: “Anybody seen this (expletive)” with dollar signs, Buckley said.

When he did track her down, Gregory allegedly dragged the woman by her hair and locked her in a closet long enough so that she urinated.

“Because of the victims’ strength, they ended Gregory’s reign of trafficking and spared future victims,” Assistant Prosecutor Deirdre Laws said after the guilty verdict.

Gregory must serve at least 40 years before he is eligible for parole.

He has been jailed since September 2017, when the state first filed human-trafficking charges.

That means he still has about 34½ years remaining, meaning he would be 78 by time he is eligible for parole.

This case started as a joint investigation with Detective Christopher Southard of the Atlantic County Prosecutor’s Office, Detective Gregory Engstler of the Atlantic County Sheriff’s Office assigned to the FBI Child Exploitation and Human Trafficking Task Force, and the Atlantic City Police Department into prostitution and drug activity.