NONPRECEDENTIAL DISPOSITION To be cited only in accordance with Fed. R. App. P. 32.1 United States Court of Appeals For the Seventh Circuit Chicago, Illinois 60604 Submitted September 15, 2021* Decided February 7, 2022 Before DAVID F. HAMILTON, Circuit Judge MICHAEL Y. SCUDDER, Circuit Judge THOMAS L. KIRSCH II, Circuit Judge No. 18-1919 UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, Appeal from the United States District Plaintiff-Appellee, Court for the Northern District of Illinois, Eastern Division. v. No. 11 CR 497 FABRIEAL DELANEY, Defendant-Appellant. Manish S. Shah, Judge. ORDER A jury convicted Fabrieal Delaney of sex-trafficking three women. Now proceeding pro se, Delaney raises a host of appellate challenges. We affirm. The offenses included trafficking a woman named Olivia by force, threats of force, fraud, or coercion, 18 U.S.C. § 1591(a)(1), (a)(2); trafficking two minors, Casey and * We have agreed to decide the case without oral argument because the briefs and record adequately present the facts and legal arguments, and oral argument would not significantly aid the court. FED. R. APP. P. 34(a)(2)(C). No. 18-1919 Page 2 Caitlin, id.; transporting the minors to engage in commercial sex, id. § 2423(a); and attempting to obstruct the investigation, id. § 1591(d). Delaney’s resulting sentence was 540 months’ imprisonment and 5 years’ supervised release. According to government witnesses, Delaney screened 10 to 15 clients a day for Olivia to meet in Illinois hotels. He kept her earnings. Although Delaney characterized their relationship as romantic, Olivia testified that Delaney “hit” and “punched” her, once held a steam iron near her face until she fainted in fear, and sometimes placed her “on punishment” when she failed to answer calls from clients. In phone calls recorded after his unrelated arrest, Delaney asked Olivia to “work” to raise money for his bond, reminded her of the steam-iron incident, and warned her not to betray him. As for the minors (both age 16 during the scheme), Delaney let them keep half the money clients paid them. But the minors then “pooled” their resources with him for joint purchases—including heroin. Casey testified that she did not want to sell sex, but felt she had to do so to maintain Delaney’s romantic interest in her. And, she told jurors, Delaney was violent: He slapped her in the face after a client underpaid her, pushed her into a wall when she did not want to work, and warned her about the steam-iron incident with Olivia. Caitlin, meanwhile, testified that she prostituted herself as a minor because she loved Delaney and the people around him. Delaney was caught when he drove the two minors from Michigan to Illinois to “work” at a “bachelor party” that turned out to be a police sting aided by Olivia. At trial Delaney testified and argued that all three purported victims prostituted themselves voluntarily, that his relationship with Olivia was principally romantic (if tumultuous), and that any violence was prompted by fears of her infidelity. He characterized Olivia’s father as a pimp and Olivia as the architect of the …
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