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Anthony Coleman, Sex Trafficking, Massachusetts 2026
A Lynn man has pleaded guilty to sex trafficking two women, forcing them to engage in prostitution and coercing them to travel to other states to do so.
Anthony Coleman, 36, pleaded guilty to two counts of benefitting financially from trafficking and one count of knowingly persuading and coercing a person to travel to engage in prostitution. He faces a sentence of up to life in prison, up to five years of supervised release and a fine of up to $250,000.
According to the indictment, Coleman targeted victims who had lost their jobs or homes during the COVID-19 pandemic shutdowns in March through August 2020. He recruited the women and moved them into a house in Lawrence, posted or controlled online commercial sex advertisements for them, provided them scripts to negotiate payment and terms with commercial sex buyers and transported them to hotels and other places to engage in commercial sex. Coleman took all the profits from their earnings, leaving the women with nothing.
One of the victims was taken to Florida on multiple occasions, where she was forced to engage in commercial sex. Coleman physically abused her, holding her underwater and threatening to drown her. The second victim was threatened with harm to her mother and sibling if she tried to leave.
Coleman remains in federal custody and is scheduled to be sentenced on March 11, 2026.
U.S. Attorney Leah B. Foley and Michael J. Krol, Special Agent in Charge of Homeland Security Investigations in New England made the announcement today. Valuable assistance was provided by the Massachusetts State Police and the Revere and Cambridge Police Departments. Assistant U.S. Attorney Torey B. Cummings of the Human Trafficking & Civil Rights Unit is prosecuting the case.
The charges of benefitting financially from trafficking provide for a sentence of up to life in prison, up to five years of supervised release and a fine of up to $250,000. The charge of knowingly persuading and coercing a person to travel to engage in prostitution provides for a sentence of up to 20 years in prison, up to three years of supervised release and a fine of up to $250,000.
Coleman was indicted by a federal grand jury in April 2024, and the case has been ongoing since then.
Key Facts
- State: Massachusetts
- Category: Sex Crimes|Human Trafficking
- Source: DOJ Press Release â†â€â€
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