Last fall, PGN reported that two Ventnor City, N.J., men had been indicted on charges of operating an all-male prostitution ring out of one of the suspect’s apartments, and last week both suspects admitted their involvement in the prostitution ring that targeted troubled young men for recruitment.
March Branch, 40, of Ventnor, and Francis Forvour, 48, of Maple Shade, pleaded guilty to second-degree charges of conspiracy to commit human trafficking last Tuesday in Atlantic County Superior Court.
According to John Hoffman, New Jersey acting attorney general, “Branch preyed on vulnerable young men, bringing them under his control through various devious and dangerous methods, including coercion, drugs and prey[ing] upon their lack of social and financial support.”
Forvour admitted to providing financial support for the enterprise and to paying Branch for sex with the prostitutes.
The state will recommend Forvour be ordered to serve four years in state prison.
As a part of Branch’s plea agreement, the state will recommend he receive a five-year prison term.
Both defendants will be sentenced Dec. 12.