A federal judge ordered former Delaware death row inmate Isaiah McCoy to remain in custody Wednesday without the opportunity for release on bail pending his trial in March for sex trafficking.
Federal prosecutors asked U.S. Magistrate Judge Kevin S.C. Chang to deny McCoy release from custody because they said he poses a danger to the community.
A federal grand jury indicted McCoy, 28, and his Schofield Barracks soldier wife Tawana Roberts, 35, with sex trafficking by force, threats of force, fraud and coercion. The charge involves one alleged adult female victim.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Morgan Early told Chang there are two other adult female victims who have talked to law enforcement.
“They say they are terrified of (McCoy) and his associates,” she said.
In her written request to deny McCoy bail, Early said one of the other alleged victims reported to Honolulu police last August that McCoy was her pimp for a few months. The woman told police that during that time McCoy kept her in an apartment in the Hawaiian Ebbtide Hotel in Waikiki where he brought her customers, and that he beat her for not making him happy.
The other alleged victim told police in July last year that McCoy raped her and held her captive at the Ebbtide hotel where he forced her to have sex with men for money until she was able to escape, Early said. The woman also told police that McCoy forced her to watch the other female victim get gang-raped.
Early told Chang that McCoy agreed to speak to law enforcement following his arrest on Jan. 4 during which he referred to himself as a legend; and admitted his gang affiliation, abusing women, including his wife, and threatening witnesses. She also told Chang that McCoy has threatened a witness in a murder case and has been diagnosed with explosive personality disorder.
Honolulu police have linked McCoy’s alleged criminal activity with last September’s fatal shooting outside the Club Alley Cat nightclub on Kuhio Avenue. McCoy’s 18-year-old protege Jordan A. Smith has been charged in state court with murder, attempted murder and other crimes.
Assistant Federal Public Defender Max Mizono told Chang that McCoy referred to himself as a legend for getting off death row and winning acquittal.