Nicolas Brown, 30, a New York man who went by the nickname "Breezy," has been sentenced to 180 months in federal prison and 10 years of supervised release for sexually exploiting teens from a Connecticut group home. U.S. District Judge Robert N. Chatigny handed down the sentence in Hartford on Wednesday after Brown admitted using rideshare trips to bring teenagers from a state facility to hotels and malls, where he sexually exploited at least one minor. Brown has been in custody since his arrest on March 20, 2024.
According to a press release from the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Connecticut, Brown set up multiple Uber rides in March 2024 to pick up groups of one to three teenage girls from a state run group home in West Hartford. Prosecutors said the girls were taken to hotels, shopping malls and other locations, where Brown engaged in sexual conduct with a minor. On at least one occasion, they said, he arranged for two minors to be driven by Uber to the Bridgeport train station, met them there, traveled with them to Manhattan and then went on to a hotel in South Hackensack, New Jersey.
Local reporting indicated that two of the girls were 15 and 16, and a third had recently turned 18, and that investigators discovered child sexual abuse videos on Brown’s iPhone, including footage he recorded of himself with a minor, according to the CT Post. Federal prosecutors had asked for a much stiffer sentence, about 292 months, according to the Stamford Advocate.
Sentencing and charges
Brown pleaded guilty on Dec. 20, 2024, to one count of production of child pornography and one count of possessing and accessing with intent to view child pornography. Those charges carry significant mandatory minimum penalties and gave prosecutors room to seek a lengthy term of imprisonment. Judge Chatigny ultimately imposed 180 months in custody, followed by 10 years of supervised release, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office.
How the case unfolded
Authorities said the investigation brought together the FBI, the West Hartford and Danbury police departments and the Connecticut Department of Children and Families. Prosecutors described the case as part of the Department of Justice’s Project Safe Childhood initiative to target child exploitation offenses. Regional outlets, including News12 New Jersey, followed the case as it moved through state and federal court proceedings.
Defense attorneys told the court that Brown has long struggled with mental health issues and that he has expressed a willingness to participate in sex offender treatment, details reported by the CT Post. Even with those arguments, the prison term the judge settled on was still well below the punishment federal prosecutors had pushed for, according to court coverage.
Officials are urging anyone with information about possible child sexual exploitation to contact the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children through its CyberTipline. Federal authorities say Brown’s case highlights continued efforts under Project Safe Childhood to find and prosecute people who prey on children.
