2 former NYPD cops, one from Long Island, charged with breaking into Queens brothel, robbing sex worker

Two former NYPD officers, including one from Long Island, have been indicted on federal charges in connection with allegations that they broke into a Queens brothel and robbed and groped a sex worker while on duty in 2024, authorities said Tuesday.

The federal charges against officers Justin McMillan, 26, of Atlantic Beach, and Justin Colon, 24, of Long Island City, came about three months after state charges against the officers connected to the same allegations were dismissed by a Queens judge.

McMillan and Colon were charged in a three-count indictment in federal court in Brooklyn with felony conspiracy against rights and willfully depriving an individual of her constitutional rights while acting under color of law in connection with the July 2024 incident, federal prosecutors said Tuesday.

In a bail letter, Assistant U.S. Attorney Erin Reid asked for the defendants to receive a “substantial, secured bond with stringent conditions of release” when they’re scheduled to be arraigned Tuesday. 

"McMillan physically groped Jane Doe’s naked body for his own pleasure and to leverage his power over her,” Reid wrote. “The evidence further shows that the defendants were committed to maintaining the secrecy of their actions and took efforts to conceal what occurred during this incident.”

Defense attorneys for McMillan, who joined the NYPD in April 2023 and Colon, who joined in July 2023, could not immediately be reached for comment. 

McMillan and Colon, who resigned from the department in March 2025, were arrested Tuesday.

According to federal prosecutors, on July 19, 2024, McMillan and Colin, who were on duty in the 115th Precinct in Queens, responded to a 311 call reporting prostitution inside a residential building on 89th Street near Roosevelt Avenue in Jackson Heights.

The officers wrote in their activity log that the situation had already been resolved and shut off their body-worn cameras and stole a key to the building’s front door from a woman they encountered as she was leaving the building, prosecutors said. They also stole an unspecified amount of cash from the woman’s purse, prosecutors said. They didn’t report their interaction to their supervisors and went back to their shift work. 

About eight hours later, at about 4:50 a.m., McMillan and Colon returned to the building, used the stolen key to unlock the door and “found a woman engaged in sex with a customer,” prosecutors said.

Surveillance video showed the customer running away, prosecutors said, leaving the victim naked and alone in the dark with the defendants. While Colon watched, McMillan stole about $200 from the woman’s purse. The victim was naked as McMillan allegedly stood behind her and “groped her bare buttock and breast,” prosecutors said.

The victim fled, and the officers returned to their patrol and later to their precinct.

“As alleged, the defendants’ response to a 311 complaint about prostitution on their beat was to commit multiple criminal acts that shock the conscience and violated the civil rights of a vulnerable victim,” United States Attorney for the Eastern District of New York Joseph Nocella Jr. said in a statement.

“These defendants will be vigorously prosecuted because the community and their former colleagues in the NYPD deserve nothing less,” Nocella said.

McMillan and Colon were initially arrested last March on charges of burglary, forcible touching and official misconduct and released on their own recognizance after pleading not guilty.

The state case brought by the Queens district attorney was dismissed apparently due to the prosecution's inability to meet certain legal requirements, according to news reports.

NYPD Commissioner Jessica Tisch said the department has "zero tolerance" for the purported conduct by the officers. 

"The alleged actions taken by Justin McMillan and Justin Colon are despicable and a complete violation of the public's trust in the NYPD," Tisch said in a statement. "Let me be perfectly clear: Any officer who violates their oath will be investigated, exposed, and held fully accountable. That standard will never change," she said.

By Nicole Fuller

nicole.fuller@newsday.com@NicoleFuller

Nicole Fuller is Newsday's senior criminal justice reporter. She began working at Newsday in 2012 and previously covered local government.