The Associated Press
PENNSYLVANIA — A former Pennsylvania state trooper tipped off pimps who ran a prostitution ring in exchange for money and sex, federal prosecutors said Wednesday.
Kevin J. Coleman Sr., 42, agreed to plead guilty to charges of obstruction and impeding the administration of justice, the U.S. attorney’s office said.
He was accused of interfering with a nationwide investigation into a ring that used women and teenagers as prostitutes and of disclosing investigative details, wiretaps and police sweeps.
Coleman’s actions were uncovered after investigators heard that someone in law enforcement was tipping off suspects, said Acting U.S. Attorney Martin Carlson in Harrisburg.
Coleman resigned Jan. 28 after learning he was under investigation, prosecutors said. If convicted, he could face up to 10 years in prison and a fine of up to $250,000.
Prosecutors said Coleman was assigned to anti-prostitution patrols at a truck stop near Harrisburg while pimps _ many from Toledo, Ohio _ were operating there. Investigators said they identified at least 125 women who worked as prostitutes for the ring in the Harrisburg area.
A court document said a pimp let Coleman have sex with a prostitute in exchange for arresting a competitor’s prostitutes. It also claimed the trooper gave his work schedule to a pimp and his prostitutes so they knew when they could work without fear of arrest.
There was no immediate response Wednesday to a call seeking comment from his lawyer, Royce Morris.
A federal indictment in December 2005 described the ring as a “loose confederacy” in which pimps worked together to avoid police and run their business. Women and girls were moved from state to state and “sold” between pimps, it said.
At least nine women were under age 18 when they were forced to work as prostitutes, authorities said, and in one case a 12-year-old girl was forced to engage in prostitution to pay for her grandfather’s crack cocaine.
Alleged pimps were indicted in Pennsylvania, New Jersey and Michigan. Prosecutors have won convictions of 14 pimps and two lead prostitutes, most of whom are awaiting sentencing.