Federal court handed down a 27-year prison sentence to Linwood Barnhill, a former D.C. police officer and registered sex offender, for recruiting and exploiting minor girls in commercial sex between 2024 and 2025.
Linwood Barnhill, 59, was sentenced in U.S. District Court today after pleading guilty to sex trafficking of a minor, according to the announcement from U.S. Attorney Jeanine Ferris Pirro. The judge imposed a 27-year prison term, a lifetime of supervised release, and $10,000 in restitution. Barnhill was previously convicted in 2014 and served seven years, but federal prosecutors say he returned to trafficking after his release.
Court records state that between April 2024 and April 2025 Barnhill recruited girls under 18 to engage in commercial sex and collected more than $10,000 from at least one victim. Prosecutors allege he used victims to find additional minors to exploit, effectively turning them into reluctant recruiters for his network. The case details show a pattern of coercion that crossed both street-based and club-based venues.
Investigators describe one incident in April 2024 in which Barnhill recruited a 15-year-old runaway, had her audition using a stripper pole he installed in his basement, and promised money for dancing and private encounters in VIP rooms at a Prince George’s County strip club. He transported her to and from the club multiple times a week, according to the filings. That same pattern repeats in other reports, where young victims were moved and controlled to generate income for Barnhill.
In the fall of 2024, Barnhill allegedly paid another 15-year-old to recruit more underage girls to work for him, and that girl brought minors to her home where Barnhill would pick them up and take them to areas known for commercial sex activity. His iCloud account, prosecutors say, contained text messages discussing at least 10 other identified minor girls and references to “the club” and “VIP rooms.” These messages formed part of the digital evidence used in the case.
Barnhill had a prior federal sentence in October 2014 after pleading guilty to pandering a minor and possession of child pornography tied to recruiting two children for commercial sex. By 2024, prosecutors assert, he resumed trafficking under the alias “Nico,” returning to the same abusive conduct that previously earned him prison time. That history was central to the arguments supporting a lengthy federal sentence this time around.
U.S. Attorney Jeanine Ferris Pirro commented on the case, saying, “This former officer trafficked children on the streets of D.C. and at a strip club in Maryland. Then, after serving a seven-year sentence in prison, he resumed sex trafficking teen girls,” said U.S. Attorney Pirro. “Barnhill now has 27 years to think over what he did, and we won’t have to worry about his sex trafficking again.” The statement underscores the prosecution’s view that Barnhill posed an ongoing danger to vulnerable youth.
The FBI’s involvement came through its Child Exploitation and Human Trafficking Task Force, and FBI Special Agent in Charge Reid Davis also addressed Barnhill’s conduct. “While serving as a police officer over a decade ago, Barnhill preyed on underage girls. He took explicit photos of them and even forced one victim to work as a prostitute,” said the FBI’s Davis. “Upon his release from prison, he resumed trafficking minors for sex. He also forced his victims to find other vulnerable girls for him to exploit. As today’s sentencing demonstrates, the FBI will use every tool at our disposal to put habitual child predators in prison where they belong.”
The case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Caroline Burrell and brought as part of the Department of Justice initiative aimed at protecting children from online and offline exploitation. That initiative coordinates federal, state, and local resources to identify and prosecute individuals who exploit children while working to rescue and support victims. Officials noted the collaborative nature of the investigation and the role of digital and human intelligence in building the prosecution.
The sentence makes Barnhill subject to a lengthy custodial period and strict supervision afterward, reflecting the court’s response to repeated offenses against minors. Restitution and lifetime supervision aim to address both financial and public-safety elements of the judgment. The convictions and sentence close this chapter of prosecution while keeping the focus on protecting victims and preventing further abuse.
