What Happened at the Howard Johnson
Three weeks ago, in our story on the 2006 Goya heist, we noted that the Bartonsville motel manager quoted in the original coverage was later sent to federal prison, and we promised to come back to it. Here it is.
For most of the last decade, federal prosecutors say, the Howard Johnson at 1779 N. Ninth St. in Bartonsville was "a safe haven for criminal activity."
How It Started. In 2014, the FBI, Stroud Area Regional Police, the Monroe County District Attorney's Office and state police began investigating a street gang called the Black P Stones, which is affiliated with the Bloods. Over six years, that case produced 40 federal convictions, and it led straight to the motel's front desk.
What the Jury Heard. According to the Justice Department, general manager Faizal Bhimani made rooms available to sex traffickers and drug dealers from 2011 to 2019, took payment out of criminal proceeds, traded free or discounted rooms for sex, let guests check in under false names, and warned traffickers and dealers when police were in the building. Dozens of women were forced into prostitution through physical force, threats, false promises and coercion, prosecutors said, and many of them were addicted to heroin or crack cocaine.
The Verdict. On Oct. 23, 2020, a federal jury convicted Bhimani, part-owner Nazim Hassam, the motel's owner company Om Sri Sai Inc., and the Pocono Plaza Inn in Stroudsburg, formerly a Quality Inn. The Justice Department called it the first time in Pennsylvania that a hotel, hotel owner or hotel general manager had been convicted of criminal sex trafficking offenses.
The Sentences. U.S. District Judge Malachy Mannion sentenced Bhimani to 15 years in federal prison in February 2022. Hassam got five years and a $150,000 fine that May. Om Sri Sai was ordered to forfeit $2 million and pay $277,630 in restitution to victims, and the Pocono Plaza Inn was fined $50,000. A federal appeals court upheld Bhimani's conviction in August 2023.
This story covers what happened from 2011 to 2019, as laid out in federal court. It says nothing about who owns or runs any hotel on that site today.
If you or someone you know is being trafficked, the National Human Trafficking Hotline is 1-888-373-7888, or text 233733.
