Attorney General Anthony G. Brown announced charges against five individuals for allegedly operating a human and drug trafficking organization in Howard County and surrounding areas, involving the exploitation of vulnerable women and distribution of illegal drugs.
Per the news release distributed on Friday, April 18: “Attorney General Anthony G. Brown today announced that charges have been brought against five individuals for their roles in a human trafficking and drug trafficking organization operating primarily out of hotels and motels along the Route 1 corridor of Jessup in Howard County, Maryland, and its neighboring jurisdictions since at least the spring of 2023.
Members of the group have been charged with their various roles in the trafficking of approximately 17 women and trafficking large quantities of drugs to individuals within the organization, female sex trafficking victims, and others in the local community. The investigation revealed that these women all were recruited by the organization because of their drug dependency. The organization would facilitate commercial sex “dates” on behalf of the women and reap the profits of these dates in exchange for providing free housing at the motels and access to drugs for the women.
The indictment alleges that the organization would purposely keep the women in unsurmountable amounts of arbitrary debt to entice and induce them to keep committing acts of prostitution. The organization would do this by “fronting” the women a room at a motel and drugs. When the women were non-compliant or accumulating an arbitrary unacceptable amount of debt, they would be intimidated, threatened, beaten, and prevented from accessing drugs, causing severe sickness due to withdrawal symptoms in order to force them to continue performing commercial sex dates.
To fund the organization, in addition to taking the profits of the coerced and illegal sex work, the organization would purchase drugs from drug distributors and redistribute drugs at a higher price in the community. The organization would also use these drugs to manipulate and control the female victims. Two of these drug suppliers are also charged and their cases are pending in Anne Arundel County.
Isaiah Robinson, known as “Zay,” is alleged to have been particularly violent toward the victims. Robinson is alleged to have “lined” up multiple victims along a wall and then beat them with his fists and other objects. He is also alleged to have lit a female victim’s hair on fire. On one occasion, Robinson bragged to one victim about stomping on another victim’s head, then showed a bloody shoe to the victim in order to intimidate her. Robinson frequently withheld drugs from the victims and threatened them with violence, including guns, or would demand that the victims perform sex acts on himself or others in order to repay past drug-related debts.
In addition to acts of violence and other coercion tied to the human trafficking, the organization is alleged to be responsible for at least one fatal drug overdose. In July 2024, an individual who purchased drugs from this organization was found deceased mere hours later, the cause of death being acute intoxication from fentanyl and para-fluro-fentanyl. In addition to this overdose, individuals associated with the organization, including victims, overdosed, sometimes fatally, on at least ten occasions.
Search warrants served in this case resulted in significant seizures. In all, seven firearms were seized, over $150,000 in U.S. currency, as well as the following large quantity of drugs:
• Over 1 kilogram of fentanyl
• Over 3 kilograms of heroin
• Over 5 kilograms of cocaine
The indicted individuals include:
• Isaiah Robinson – of Columbia, Maryland – Charged with 117 counts
• Julian Thigpen – of Jessup, Maryland – Charged with 100 counts
• Tamara Johnson – of Columbia, Maryland – Charged with 12 counts
• Denney Stomer – of Hanover, Maryland – Charged with 34 counts
• Terrill Furbush – of Glen Burnie, Maryland – Charged with 64 counts
The investigation included the Organized Crime Unit of the Maryland Office of the Attorney General and the Howard County Police Department, the Baltimore Police Department, the Anne Arundel County Police Department, and the Prince George’s County Police Department.
“This violent criminal organization exploited vulnerable women through addiction, used threats and violence to control them, and distributed deadly drugs that claimed at least one Marylander’s life,” said Attorney General Brown. “These indictments, which include over 300 combined counts, reflect our unwavering commitment to working alongside our law enforcement partners to dismantle these criminal enterprises. We’re equally committed to supporting the victims with the services they need to rebuild their lives.”
“This was an intensive case that spanned months and required thousands of investigative hours, and as a result we’ve removed dangerous people and illegal drugs and guns from the streets,” said Howard County Police Chief Gregory Der. “I want to commend our detectives who worked tirelessly to put this case together, and share my thanks to the Maryland Office of the Attorney General and our law enforcement partners for their collaboration and resources. Howard County and the surrounding areas are a safer place because of these charges.”
“Drug and sex trafficking will not be tolerated in Howard County,” said Howard County Executive Calvin Ball. “It is only because of the partnership of Attorney General Anthony G. Brown, Howard County Police Chief Gregory Der, State’s Attorney Rich Gibson, Sheriff Marcus Harris, and all other public safety partners that there has been major progress to help our community be safe and feel safe. I applaud them for their efforts to curtail human and drug trafficking in our community. We must continue to unite against these grave injustices that affect individuals regardless of race, age, gender, or nationality.”
The defendants’ cases will be prosecuted in Howard County and Anne Arundel County.
In making today’s announcement, Attorney General Brown thanked the attorneys in his Criminal Division, specifically Division Chief Katie Dorian, Deputy Division Chief Jared Albert, Organized Crime Unit Chief Paul Halliday, and Assistant Attorneys General Jacey Smith and Samuel Dechter, who are prosecuting this case. Attorney General Brown also thanked the Howard County Police Department, the Baltimore Police Department, the Prince George’s County Police Department, and the Anne Arundel County Police Department, who worked on this investigation, and the State’s Attorney for Baltimore City Ivan Bates and the State’s Attorney for Anne Arundel County Anne Colt Leitess for their offices’ assistance in this investigation. Attorney General Brown also thanked the State’s Attorney for Howard County Rich Gibson and Assistant State’s Attorney Dillon Yeung for their work on this investigation.
Significant efforts have been made to work with all victims, who have been offered assistance through housing, treatment, transportation, and other services.
A criminal indictment is merely an accusation of wrongdoing, and a defendant is presumed innocent until the State proves the defendant guilty beyond a reasonable doubt.”