Steven Tucker, Sex Trafficking of a Minor, NH 2024

Steven Tucker, 31, of Manchester, N.H., stands accused of turning human lives into commodities — selling heroin from his home while forcing women and a minor girl into prostitution across state lines. Indicted on January 25 in the District of New Hampshire, Tucker faces federal charges of sex trafficking of a minor, use of a facility of interstate commerce to operate a prostitution enterprise, and maintaining a drug-involved premises.

According to the indictment, Tucker ran a sordid criminal operation out of his residence, using the internet, cell phones, and prepaid debit cards to advertise and coordinate the commercial sexual exploitation of women and a child. The enterprise crossed state lines, funneling profits back into Tucker’s pocket while deepening the trauma of his victims. Authorities allege the operation was both systematic and coldly calculated, blending drug trafficking with sexual exploitation.

Tucker profited from both vices — the sale of heroin and the sale of vulnerable people. The indictment lays bare a dual operation: one where addiction and desperation were exploited in tandem. His residence wasn’t just a home — prosecutors say it was a hub for illegal activity, functioning as both a drug den and a trafficking site under federal law.

He was arraigned Wednesday in U.S. District Court in Concord, New Hampshire, where the charges were formally read. Tucker remains presumed innocent until proven guilty in a court of law. No bail conditions or prior criminal history were disclosed in the initial filings, but the stakes are high: a conviction on sex trafficking of a minor carries a mandatory minimum of 10 years in prison.

The additional charges amplify the severity. Maintaining a drug-involved premises could land Tucker up to 20 years behind bars; using interstate communications to promote unlawful activity adds another 5-year maximum. With a trial date set for March 21, 2017, federal prosecutors are building a case that ties digital tools to physical abuse and financial gain.

The investigation was led by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Homeland Security Investigations and the Manchester Police Department. Prosecution is being handled by Assistant U.S. Attorney Arnold Huftalen and Trial Attorney Vasantha Rao of the Civil Rights Division’s Human Trafficking Prosecution Unit — a team with a track record of taking down organized exploitation networks. This case underscores the dark intersection of drugs, technology, and human trafficking in America’s backroads and cities alike.

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