Wilmington couple convicted of trafficking young woman
RALEIGH, NC (WWAY) – On September 25, 2025, following a four-day trial, a federal jury in Raleigh convicted Dartez Omar Faulk and Rosalind Carol Comfort of three counts of sex trafficking following a four day trial.
“These depraved reprobates preyed on vulnerable young women to make money from their suffering and addiction,” said U.S. Attorney Ellis Boyle. “Mercifully, one woman’s mama bear quickly sprang into action when she could not reach her daughter after a few days and promptly called law enforcement. The FBI and the New Hanover County Sheriff’s Office acted with admirable alacrity and remarkably rescued the daughter before something worse happened. A team of Federal Prosecutors fought hard to serve these miscreants justice for their heinous acts. Now these villains can expect to receive decades in prison they earned at sentencing. All of New Hanover County should sleep more peacefully knowing these two will not prowl the streets for a long time.”
According to court records and evidence presented at trial, Faulk and Comfort lured a 26-year-old woman into commercial sex by preying on her drug addiction and abusive relationship. Between January 22 and 29, 2024, they coerced her into prostitution using violence, threats, drugs, and intimidation. They took all the money, did not let her leave the apartment where they were prostituting her, and hunted her down when she tried to escape. Faulk told Comfort that he would kill the victim at one point, and Comfort told him that they had been seen on camera with her.
On January 28, Faulk sent text messages to the victim’s mother threatening to kill her if her mother did not pay $3,500. The mother called 911 and reported her daughter missing. On January 29, the New Hanover County Sheriff’s Office identified online ads connected to the defendants. Working with the FBI, investigators rescued the victim. Further investigation revealed that Faulk and Comfort had lured a second vulnerable young woman, only 20 years old, into commercial sex, going so far as to advertise her for sex as she lay unconscious from a drug overdose.
“Human traffickers often prey on the vulnerability of their victims, making empty promises for a better life with a stable and loving home. It’s nothing more than a bait-and-switch scheme. Quickly, they force victims into sex or labor trafficking, for personal profit. The FBI and our local law enforcement partners will never stop working to combat trafficking of any kind in our communities,” said James C. Barnacle Jr., the FBI Special Agent in Charge in North Carolina.
Ellis Boyle, U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of North Carolina, made the announcement after U.S. District Judge James C. Dever III accepted the verdict. The FBI, the New Hanover County Sheriff’s Office and Carolina Beach PD investigated the case and Assistant U.S. Attorneys Erin Blondel and Ashley Foxx are prosecuting the case.
