Joshua Glaze, Sex Trafficking, TX 2023

Joshua Glaze, 30, and Faizal Sabar, 34, stood in federal court this week and admitted to trafficking human beings for sex, using the now-shuttered Backpage.com to advertise their victims like commodities. Their guilty pleas unmasked a sordid operation that moved victims across state lines and exploited them in hotel rooms across North Texas, all for profit.

Glaze pleaded guilty this morning to conspiracy to commit sex trafficking through force, fraud, or coercion in the Northern District of Texas. His co-defendant, Sabar, entered the same plea on May 13. Court documents detail how both men conspired to post explicit ads online, luring buyers while controlling every aspect of the victims’ exploitation. The website, though defunct, served as their digital pimp.

Sabar admitted he transported one victim from Pennsylvania to Texas in 2017, forcing the individual into commercial sex acts at multiple hotels. Among them: a room rented by Glaze at the Home2Suites in Northlake. Inside those walls, the victim was not free — they were directed by Sabar on pricing, schedules, and conduct, with every dollar earned funneled straight into the traffickers’ pockets.

“Trafficking – people selling other people – is a particularly vile crime,” said U.S. Attorney Erin Nealy Cox. “Even though the website in this case has been shut down, others continue to proliferate, and we remain vigilant for signs of trafficking, online and off.” Her office emphasized that dismantling these networks remains a top federal priority.

Both men now face up to life in federal prison. Sabar is scheduled for sentencing on August 26 before Judge Reed C. O’Connor in Fort Worth. Glaze awaits his date before the court. The investigation was spearheaded by Homeland Security Investigations and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms & Explosives. Assistant U.S. Attorney Douglas Allen handled prosecution.

If you suspect human trafficking, call the National Human Trafficking Hotline, live 24/7, at 1-888-373-7888. Tips have broken cases. They can save lives.