A Newark man pleaded guilty today to a first-degree human trafficking charge for trafficking a girl, 16, from New York to New Jersey and making her work as a prostitute in the prostitution ring he ran, which advertised on Backpage.
Glen Bowman Sr. Vinci in Bergen County. Under the plea agreement, the state will recommend that Bowman be sentenced to 13 years in state prison, including five years of parole ineligibility.
Bowman ran the prostitution ring with his wife, Ernestine Bowman, 33, of Orange, N. Ernestine Bowman pleaded guilty in December to second-degree facilitating human trafficking. She is awaiting sentencing and faces a recommended sentence of 10 years in prison, with 39 months of parole ineligibility. Five defendants were indicted in April , and all have pleaded guilty, as a result of an investigation by the Division of Criminal Justice and the South Hackensack Police Department.
The defendants were charged with conspiring to traffic the year-old from Brooklyn, N. Jessica Copeland, 29, of Newark, N. Tokina Williams, 33, of Raleigh, N. Sentencing for Glen Bowman Sr. The other defendants, with the exception of Williams, are scheduled for sentencing on Oct.
I commend the South Hackensack Police and our attorneys for rescuing the victim and bringing those responsible to justice. We will move swiftly to investigate and save victims like the teenage girl in this case.
