Witness sentenced to prison for soliciting a bribe from his own kidnapper

A witness in a federal criminal trial — his own kidnapping — was sentenced to 18 months in prison and three years of parole afterward for soliciting a bribe from the defendant, the Justice Department announced Friday.

On Feb. 3, 2021, Jolen Ghorbani, formerly of Fairfax, Virginia, was kidnapped by Tray Sherman and co-conspirators. 

Sherman and the others met Ghorbani at an unspecified Maryland hotel and casino, promising to get Ghorbani money and women if Ghorbani acquired cocaine and accompanied them to Southeast D.C.

After leaving the casino at around 7:30 a.m., Ghorbani, Sherman, and co-conspirator Anthony Hebron arrived at a location in D.C. at around 7:54 a.m., where Ghorbani bought some cocaine. 

From there, Sherman drove the vehicle to Southeast D.C., where, at 8:30 a.m., two more co-conspirators got into the vehicle and proceeded to rob Ghorbani of his cocaine, cellphone, wallet, watch, and hotel key.

Ghorbani initially refused to provide the thieves with the code to the safe in his hotel room, but complied after being pistol-whipped by Hebron. 

Sherman and Hebron drove back to the hotel to loot the safe, as Ghorbani was taken inside an apartment building by the other co-conspirators and further interrogated for his ATM PIN number, as well as info on what was in the room, relayed back to Sherman and Hebron.

Hebron and Sherman would take a gaming system, $1,500 in casino chips, and $6,000 in cash.

It did not take long for law enforcement to arrest Sherman and his co-conspirators; a search warrant was executed at Sherman’s residence on Feb. 8, 2021, and he was arrested on March 31, 2021.

On April 15, 2022, Ghorbani was subpoenaed, requiring his testimony at Sherman’s trial set to begin on July 11, 2022.

Starting on June 5, 2022, Ghorbani began sending threats to Sherman, including one with Ghorbani’s phone number and a message to “call me If you want to finesse trial.”

Another exchange via social media, around three weeks before Sherman’s trial, solicited a $5,000 payment in exchange for a refusal to testify or false testimony from Ghorbani on the stand.

In subsequent messages to another individual, Ghorbani noted he was “dancing with the devil,” and bragged that “I’m auctioning off his freedom.”