A Jamaica man was sentenced to three to nine years in prison for sex trafficking a 25-year-old woman out of the Pomonok Houses, and taking the financial proceeds from her engaging in prostitution.
QNS file photo
A Jamaica man was sentenced to three to nine years in prison for pimping a young woman he kept at the Pomonok Houses in Fresh Meadows.
Leighton Jennings, 36, of 166th Street, pleaded guilty to sex trafficking on the eve of his trial last month, admitting that he intentionally advanced or profited from prostitution by making materially false statements or omissions to induce the woman to continue to engage in prostitution. Jennings told the woman he would provide her housing, supplies for her infant, job training and other necessities in exchange for her proceeds from prostitution.
According to the charges and investigation, Jennings met the 25-year-old victim in July 2024 in what is known as the Penn Track in Brooklyn, where she was engaging in prostitution and living in a temporary shelter. Jennings promised to provide her with housing, necessities and childcare for the woman’s baby, and made other representations in exchange for her financial proceeds from engaging in prostitution. The victim agreed and was to give Jennings $500 to $1,000 each day in cash and by way of electronic transfers. Instead of securing an apartment, as promised, the defendant moved the victim into an apartment he shared with a disabled adult at the Pomonok Houses and later refused to allow her infant to live with them.
Jennings subjected the victim to routine physical abuse and took all the financial proceeds the woman made while engaging in prostitution at a Queens motel between March and May 2025 and in Brooklyn between July 2024 and May 2025.
Jennings was arrested on a strangulation charge on July 11, 2025, after the victim filed a police report.
“This defendant promised to give a young woman a safety net but instead profited from her engaging in prostitution,” Queens District Attorney Melinda Katz said. “Thank you to the brave victim for coming forward, allowing us to hold the defendant accountable.”
Queens Supreme Court Justice Peter Vallone Jr. sentenced Jennings on Thursday to three to nine years in prison, and he must register as a sex offender upon his release.
“If you need assistance, or know of someone who may have been trafficked, call the Human Trafficking Bureau in my office at 718-286-6548,” Katz said.