Harmeet K. Dhillon, Assistant Attorney General for the Civil Rights Division, U.S. Department of Justice | Official Website
Isaiah McCoy, a 37-year-old resident of Honolulu, Hawaii, has been sentenced to life in prison following his conviction on multiple federal charges related to sex trafficking. A jury found McCoy guilty in April of four counts of sex trafficking—three involving adult women and one involving a minor—as well as two counts of obstructing a sex trafficking investigation, seven counts connected to racketeering activities across state and international lines, and one count of interstate travel for prostitution purposes. In addition to the life sentence, McCoy was ordered by the court to pay $1,017,241.00 in restitution to his victims.
Assistant Attorney General Harmeet K. Dhillon of the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division stated: “The significant sentence imposed by the court reflects the egregiousness of the defendant’s conduct in abusing and preying on multiple women and girls. The defendant targeted each victim’s vulnerabilities and used physical force, threats, sexual violence, and psychological coercion to compel the victims to engage in commercial sex for his own profit. The Justice Department is committed to fully enforcing our federal human trafficking statutes to hold offenders accountable and to seek justice for survivors of these heinous crimes.”
Special Agent in Charge Lucy Cabral-DeArmas of Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) Hawaii said: “The sentencing of Mr. McCoy is a testament to HSI’s zero tolerance for those who engage in sex trafficking in Hawaii. McCoy is a predator who left countless victims in his path while he sought to enrich himself at their expense. HSI will aggressively pursue those, like McCoy, who seek to exploit vulnerable women and girls and mute their voices while believing they will not be held accountable.”
During a 12-day trial earlier this year, evidence showed that between 2019 and 2021 McCoy coerced his victims into performing hundreds of commercial sex acts. He lured women and girls facing challenges such as low self-esteem or financial hardship with false promises about romantic relationships or financial stability. After gaining their trust through emotional manipulation, he became violent if they failed to follow his strict rules or provide enough money.
Court records described repeated acts of violence against victims—including burning them when financial expectations were not met; physically assaulting them by throwing them down or stomping on them; smashing one victim’s head against a car door before carrying her unconscious body through public spaces; and inflicting injuries that required hospital treatment. These actions created an environment where victims felt trapped due to threats that they were constantly being watched.
McCoy also forced his victims to work at all hours regardless of illness or hunger and required them to hand over all earnings from commercial sex work so he could spend it on luxury goods for himself.
The case was investigated by Homeland Security Investigations with help from the Honolulu Police Department. Trial Attorney Elizabeth Hutson and former Trial Attorney Maryam Zhuravitsky from the Civil Rights Division’s Human Trafficking Prosecution Unit prosecuted the case.
Authorities encourage anyone with information about human trafficking cases to contact the National Human Trafficking Hotline at 1-888-373-7888 or visit www.humantraffickinghotline.org for more resources.
