QUEENS, N.Y. (PIX11) – A Brooklyn woman, described as a “ruthless predator,” would pose as a prostitute and violently rob men she lured for sex, the Queens district attorney said. She also forced a woman she befriended online into prostitution, according to authorities.
Destiny Lebron, 20, was sentenced Thursday to 13 years in prison on sex trafficking, kidnapping, assault and robbery charges for three incidents in which she lured victims for sex, then assaulted and robbed them with the help of an accomplice, according to the Queens District Attorney’s Office.
“Destiny Lebron was the mastermind of a violent criminal enterprise involving sex trafficking and robbery. We have succeeded in getting this ruthless predator off our streets. She will now pay for the brutality she inflicted on her victims,” Queens District Attorney Melinda Katz said in a statement.
The case is pending against Lebron’s alleged accomplice, 23-year-old Gil Iphael of Valley Stream, according to the Queens District Attorney’s Office.
Lebron befriended a woman on Instagram in February 2022, and they agreed to meet the following July after Lebron promised an intimate relationship with her, authorities said.
Lebron and Iphael picked up the woman and took her to a hotel in Queens, where they then told her she would either have to help them rob victims they lured to the hotel through Lebron’s prostitution ads, or she would have to engage in prostitution herself and then give them the profits, authorities said.
When the woman refused both options, Lebron and Iphael slapped, punched and threatened her, according to authorities. They forced the woman to use photos of herself for online prostitution ads, and later that evening, several clients came to the hotel and engaged in prostitution with the victim, according to the Queens District Attorney’s Office. Lebron
and Iphael kept all the money collected from the clients.
The victim escaped the next day when she was left unattended in the hotel room, authorities said.
In another incident the next month, Lebron lured a man in his 50s to a hotel after he answered her prostitution ad. When the man started undressing, Lebron threw bleach in his face and then let in Iphael, who covered the victim’s head with a blanket and began punching him and demanding money, according to the Queens District Attorney’s Office.
Lebron and Iphael assaulted the man for several hours, and Iphael threatened to kill him, authorities said.
Lebron and Iphael stole the man’s car keys, wallet and phone, then burned him with a curling iron until he unlocked his phone, according to the Queens District Attorney’s Office. Lebron and Iphael also stole the victim’s car and withdrew money from ATM machines using his bank card, authorities said.
Later that same month, Lebron lured a man in his 20s to a location in Queens after he answered her prostitution ad, authorities said. After the man started undressing, Lebron and
Iphael beat him and threatened to cut off his genitals, according to the Queens District Attorney’s Office.
Lebron and Iphael stole the man’s debit card and withdrew money from a nearby ATM, authorities said. They also stole the victim’s wallet and driver’s license, and they threatened to kill his family if he reported the crime to police, according to authorities.
Lebron pleaded guilty on Oct. 6 to sex trafficking, promoting prostitution, assault, kidnapping, robbery and more, authorities said.
In addition to her 13-year prison sentence, Lebron will have five years of post-release supervision.
Finn Hoogensen is a digital journalist who has covered local news for more than five years. He has been with PIX11 News since 2022. See more of his work here.
