UPDATED October 3 with information from Carroll ISD.
A married Southlake mom of three who worked as a substitute teacher in the Carroll Independent School District faces federal sex trafficking charges for luring dozens of women to her then-boss’ New York City “sex dungeon”—a job that paid her millions over the years.
Jennifer Marie Powers, 45, was arrested and charged with sex trafficking and transporting women in interstate commerce to engage in violent sex acts with retired New York financier Howard “Howie” Rubin, now 70 years old.
The two allegedly spent at least $1 million of Rubin’s money operating the sadomasochistic sex trafficking scheme for nearly a decade before Powers and her family relocated to Texas in 2020.
Carroll ISD Communications Director Jeff Brady told Texas Scorecard that Powers was hired in August 2024 and released last month as soon as the charges came to light. Brady said she was a substitute teacher at only one Carroll ISD campus, Old Union Elementary.
Jennifer married DJ Steve Powers in 2012, and the couple began living a lavish lifestyle—portrayed in the press and on their social media accounts—apparently financed by Jennifer’s job procuring sex abuse victims for Rubin.
Jennifer’s still-active X account, @thekittypowers, also documents her affinity for high-stakes poker.
According to a 10-count federal indictment, Powers worked as Rubin’s personal assistant in Manhattan from at least 2011 through 2019 and facilitated his sexual encounters, which involved bondage, sadomasochism, and nonconsensual acts of sexual torture.
Among other things, POWERS recruited women to have commercial sex with RUBIN, arranged travel and accommodations for women to fly to New York to engage in commercial sex acts with RUBIN, secured non-disclosure agreements from women, procured BDSM toys and instruments for RUBIN to use during commercial sex acts with women, paid women after their sexual encounters in amounts directed by RUBIN, and managed the fallout from women’s complaints stemming from the commercial sex acts with RUBIN.
“It’s alleged Rubin directed a sex trafficking enterprise, exploiting women who were transported from across the country to his Manhattan penthouse that was equipped with a soundproof sex room filled with BDSM equipment, including a device used to shock the women,” stated Special Agent Harry T. Chavis Jr. in a press release issued by the U.S. Department of Justice.
“This was not a one-man show,” added Chavis. “While Rubin dehumanized these women with abhorrent sexual acts, Powers is alleged to have run the day-to-day operations of the enterprise and got paid generously for her efforts.”
The indictment states that from at least 2018 until 2023, Rubin spent about $8 million funding “virtually all aspects” of Powers’ life, paying for her Manhattan apartment, her kids’ private schools, her credit card bills and legal fees.
Rubin also paid for Powers’ million-dollar home in an exclusive Southlake neighborhood, which she moved into with her husband and their children in 2020. The home is in the name of Steve Powers Entertainment, a New York company Jennifer’s husband founded in 2005.
Powers was taken into custody in Southlake on September 26 and released Monday with an ankle monitor. She was arraigned in a federal court in New York on Wednesday, where she pleaded not guilty and was released on an $850,000 bond.
Both Jennifer and Steve Powers faced fresh charges in New York for filing joint tax returns that failed to report any of the millions they received from Rubin.
Federal prosecutors also presented messages between Rubin and his then-assistant discussing details of how he tortured the women Powers procured.
Rubin was arrested in Connecticut.
Powers and Rubin face 15 years to life in prison if convicted of sex trafficking, and 10 years for each count of transporting women to engage in commercial sex acts.
Carroll ISD Board President Cam Bryan issued a statement Tuesday that an unnamed “now former substitute teacher” was no longer employed by the district and no longer has access to any campuses or facilities.
Bryan emphasized the district’s strict adherence to state-mandated hiring protocols but said school officials are reviewing their screening practices.
From about 2017 through 2022, Powers was embroiled in a civil lawsuit brought by women sexually abused by Rubin. Powers was cleared in that case, but a New York jury found Rubin liable. It’s not clear if current hiring practices would have revealed this teacher’s connection with a sexual predator.
Communications Director Brady confirmed Bryan’s statement that the district followed all legally required screening processes, including a fingerprint-based national background check, but said the district did not know anything about her involvement in her previous employer’s sex abuse lawsuit.
Bryan also stated that the matter had been reported to the State Board for Educator Certification.
State records show Powers was first certified to teach elementary school from 2002 until 2007. She received a new certificate on August 11, 2025, which is now under review by the Texas Education Agency.
Thousands of Texas school employees have been reported to the TEA for sexual misconduct committed on and off campus.
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