'Catfishing' Man Posed As Nurse, Kidnapped, Abused Westchester Woman

MOUNT VERNON, NY — A New Jersey man who posed as a nurse on dating sites, and kidnapped and abused women in the NYC metro area, including Mount Vernon and the Bronx, will go to prison.

Matthew Podolsky, the Acting U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of NY, announced that 31-year-old Herman Calvin Brightman a/k/a "Nazir Griffiths," a/k/a "Nazir Luckett," was sentenced on Tuesday to 10 years in prison for repeatedly stalking and assaulting several women he met online while posing as a nurse.

He previously pleaded guilty to traveling in interstate commerce to commit a crime of violence and sending interstate threats.

"Herman Brightman preyed on women he met through online dating websites," Podolsky said. "By posing as a nurse, Brightman earned the trust of his victims, and then stalked, assaulted, and threatened them. With today's lengthy prison sentence, Brightman can no longer inflict pain or fear in his victims. I commend the brave women who spoke out against Brightman to ensure that he was held accountable for his crimes."

According to court documents, from January 2022 to September 2023, Brightman used Facebook and the dating application Hinge to meet, and sometimes date, several women under false pretenses. He often used an alias and posed as a nurse or nurse practitioner working at NYC-area hospitals, even sending photos and videos of himself wearing scrubs and lab coats, and creating false IDs for himself.

Soon after he began dating his victims, Brightman began to act violently towards them, especially if they attempted to end the relationship, police said. Between January 2022 and September 2023, he brutalized at least four women, according to law enforcement.

In November 2021, Brightman, through Facebook, enticed a Mount Vernon woman into a romantic relationship. Between January 2022 and July 2022, he assaulted her on multiple occasions during their relationship, according to court documents.

In July 2022, Brightman traveled from New Jersey to Mount Vernon and forced at knifepoint the woman who had recently decided to break up with him and her two-year-old child to travel from Mount Vernon to Brightman's home in New Jersey, prosecutors said. Once they arrived at his residence, Brightman threatened to kill the woman if she "made any problems" and literally held onto her for an entire evening to prevent her from escaping, according to court records.

She eventually did escape the next morning and was able to contact police after she convinced Brightman to let her leave his residence temporarily. Police arrived and were able to rescue both the woman and her child.

In August 2023, Brightman brutally attacked a Queens woman he had been dating in her home and held her at knifepoint, NYPD officials said. During the attack, he threatened to "gut" the woman "like a fish," according to the accusations. Brightman is also accused of binding her hands and attempting to tape her mouth.

Around one week later, the woman ended her relationship with Brightman. Over the next 24 hours, he called the woman over 20 times, including from blocked numbers, police said. On one phone call, Brightman repeatedly threatened the woman, according to the evidence presented.

In September 2023, Brightman traveled from New Jersey to the Bronx, and used his phone to lure a third woman he was dating to his car, police said. While in his car, Brightman forced the Bronx woman to call the Queens woman, prosecutors said in court filings. He then punched the Bronx woman, leaving a bruise on her arm, the documents contend. When she attempted to escape, Brightman chased after her and put her in a choke hold, officials said.

She was able to escape into her building and call the police.

A few days later, Brightman returned to the Bronx to confront the woman at her job. During the confrontation, he repeatedly asked the woman if she had contacted the police. Brightman then followed the woman home where he assaulted her again, pushing her to the ground and throwing a traffic cone at her, according to the federal indictment.

In late September 2023, Brightman again traveled to the Bronx and convinced a fourth woman, who had previously ended their relationship, to allow him into her residence. Inside her home, he assaulted and strangled the woman, leaving her with bruises on her neck, police said. Brightman also repeatedly threatened to kill the woman and attempted to rape her, according to law enforcement.

She was eventually able to escape with the help of a friend.

In addition to his prison term, Brightman was sentenced to three years of supervised release.