An Atlantic City man accused of human trafficking has been sentenced to 15 years on drug charges, Atlantic County Prosecutor Damon Tyner announced.
Tahir Gregory still faces trial on charges he used drugs and violence to force women into prostitution.
He was sentenced Tuesday after a jury found him guilty on drug possession and distribution charges in February.
At his trial, he denied the drugs inside a Tropicana Atlantic City hotel room were his, even though the room where 100 bags of fentanyl and narcotic paraphernalia were found was rented to him.
He testified that he was elsewhere when police arrested him Feb. 3, 2017, and claimed the system is corrupt.
But a jury convicted him, and he was sentenced Tuesday. The 41-year-old must serve at least 7½ years of his sentence before he is eligible for parole.
“This defendant persistently threatened the welfare of women and children in our community for far too long," Tyner said. "He preyed on their weaknesses and vulnerabilities. I want to thank our law enforcement partners for ensuring that he will no longer have the ability to harm victims for the foreseeable future.”
Superior Court Judge Donna Taylor granted the state’s application to sentence Gregory as a persistent offender, Tyner said.
His record includes multiple convictions for drug distribution, resisting arrest, promoting child prostitution, aggravated assault and throwing bodily fluids at a correctional officer.
Gregory still has two pending cases, including for human trafficking.
That investigation was sparked by a fatal drug overdose in Gregory's bathroom, according to information presented at a previous court hearing.
At a detention hearing in October 2017, Senior Assistant Prosecutor Danielle Buckley told the judge that Gregory put a “bounty” on one of the women when she tried to leave.
He posted the woman’s picture on Facebook, writing: “Anybody seen this (expletive)” with dollar signs, Buckley said. That post was saved as evidence.
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.
One alleged victim said she saw Gregory “beat other girls as if they were grown men,” according to an account read in court.
