Seven people have pleaded guilty to forcing several individuals to sell themselves for sex.
Court documents show that 29-year-old Darren Coleman, 26-year-old Sarina Williams pleaded guilty to sex trafficking and conspiracy charges. The admitted to recruiting women who they then advertised on websites and forced to engage in sex in hotels for money and other items in Iowa and other states.
Also pleading guilty to sex trafficking and related charges in the case are 27-year-old Stephen Cobb; 26-year-old Mark Phillip Carter the second; 21-year-old Julyen Singleton and 26-year-olds Ronzell Williams and Breeanna Brown. They are scheduled to be sentenced in U.S. District Court in January and February 2019.
The seven face sentences ranging from five years in prison all the way to life in prison depending on the crimes. The victims were forced into prostitution in Des Moines and other areas of the Southern District of Iowa and in South Dakota.
The court information details how verbal and physical threats were used after the girls were recruited to get them to agree to engage in commercial sex acts. Here’s more information on the charges:Sex-Trafficking-pleas-PDF