LYNN — A Lynn man pleaded guilty yesterday to benefitting financially from trafficking two women for sex and knowingly persuading and coercing both women to travel to another state to engage in prostitution.
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. U.S. District Court Judge Richard G. Stearns scheduled sentencing for March 11, 2026. Coleman was indicted by a federal grand jury in April 2024. He remains in federal custody.
Coleman targeted victims who had lost their jobs or homes during the COVID-19 pandemic shutdowns in March through August of 2020. Coleman had his victims move with him 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 his victims to hotels and other places to engage in commercial sex — requiring them to give him all the money they made. Coleman also regularly coerced and forced his victims to have sex with him.
Specifically, in March 2020, Coleman recruited one victim who had lost her job due to the pandemic. The victim would sometimes serve up to 10-16 clients per day, with Coleman taking all the profits. Coleman also took the victim to Florida on multiple occasions and had her engage in commercial sex in Florida. Coleman also physically abused the victim – one time holding the victim underwater and threatening to drown her.
Around March and April 2020, Coleman recruited a second victim, convincing her to come live with him after she was kicked out of her home by a relative following their disagreements around COVID-19 safety practices. The victim was unable to get a job because many businesses were closed due to COVID-19. The victim began engaging in commercial sex for Coleman, and in May 2020, Coleman persuaded the victim to travel to California to engage in commercial sex. When she wanted to leave, Coleman threatened the victim – telling her that if she left, he would hurt her mother and her sibling.
The charges of benefitting financially from trafficking provides 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. Sentences are imposed by a federal district court judge based upon the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and statutes which govern the determination of a sentence in a criminal case.
United States Attorney Leah B. Foley and Michael J. Krol, special agent in charge of Homeland Security Investigations in New England made the announcement Wednesday. 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.
