A Milwaukee man convicted of forcing a woman into commercial sex and then firebombing the home of someone who tried to help her escape has been sentenced to 30 years in federal prison. Bobby McNeil, 46, was sentenced by U.S. District Court Judge Lynn Adelman on Tuesday, followed by five years of supervised release and an order to pay restitution.
According to the Milwaukee Police Department, McNeil was convicted of five federal felony counts in the Eastern District of Wisconsin. Federal Bureau of Investigation Special Agent in Charge Jeffrey Norman said of the case, “No one should have to endure the abuse and exploitation suffered in this case.” Judge Adelman found McNeil guilty on all five counts on October 28, 2024, following a two-day bench trial in Milwaukee that had concluded two weeks earlier, according to the U.S. Department of Justice. The trial was heard by a judge rather than a jury.
Charges Detail Trafficking and a Retaliatory Firebombing
McNeil was convicted under federal Case No. 22-CR-224 on five counts: sex trafficking by force, fraud, or coercion; arson in furtherance of a federal felony; arson of a building used in interstate commerce; interstate transportation for prostitution; and felon in possession of a firearm, per court records from the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Wisconsin. The superseding indictment was prosecuted under Title 18 of the U.S. Code.
Trial evidence established that on February 1, 2022, McNeil committed a retaliatory act of arson by throwing a Molotov cocktail into the home of an adult who had tried to help the trafficking victim escape, the same court record shows. The device shattered a window and scorched an interior door near where sleeping children were located inside the home.
Judge Cites a Pattern of Violence Against Women
At sentencing, Judge Adelman described McNeil's abuse of the victim as “extreme and borderline sadistic” and said his criminal history was “rife with violence, especially against women,” the Department of Justice reported. Adelman emphasized that the 30-year term was necessary to protect the public from predatory behavior.
Evidence at trial showed that between 2021 and 2022, McNeil forced the victim to perform commercial sex on Milwaukee's south side and induced her to travel from Florida back to Wisconsin for prostitution, according to the same court filing. The court rejected McNeil's assertion that the victim had returned to Wisconsin voluntarily.
Digital Evidence Undercut Denials at Trial
Prosecutors secured the conviction in part with digital evidence — text messages, Facebook messages, and recorded audio sent by McNeil — that corroborated the victim's testimony and detailed his plans for what he called “payback,” according to WTMJ. At trial, McNeil claimed those references to payback were unrelated to the victim, a defense the court did not accept.
The lengthy sentence stems partly from federal statute 18 U.S.C. § 844(h), which mandates that arson committed in furtherance of a federal felony carries a 10-year prison term that must run consecutively to any other sentence, according to the Federal Register. Congress amended the statute to require that consecutive term for felony-related arson.
Multi-Agency Investigation Led to Prosecution
The case was investigated jointly by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives, the Federal Bureau of Investigation, and the Milwaukee Police Department, with ATF providing specialized fire and explosive investigation resources tied to the Molotov cocktail attack. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Abbey M. Marzick and Porchia S. Lewand prosecuted the case for the Department of Justice.
The prosecution fits into a broader pattern of trafficking cases moving through Milwaukee's federal court. In 2024, Wisconsin recorded 277 signals to the National Human Trafficking Hotline, which identified 111 cases involving 181 victims statewide, Hoodline has previously reported. National hotline data indicates private residences and hotels remain common venues for sex trafficking.
The McNeil case is one of several recent Milwaukee-area trafficking prosecutions to draw lengthy federal sentences, following a February case that ended in a 262-month sentence and an April trial local media dubbed a Milwaukee “house of horror” case.
