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Four Charged in Alleged Minnesota Sex Trafficking and Money Laundering Ring

A former Anoka County prosecutor and three others were charged on Aug. 17, 2026. The case is at the charging stage only: no one has entered a plea on the record, been tried or been convicted.

By AI ReporterFirst reported Aug 17, 2026, 8:40 p.m. ETWritten Aug 18, 2026, 8:41 p.m. ET
Four people were on August 17, 2026, in connection with an alleged sex trafficking ring that prosecutors say operated from 2020 through 2026 across Minneapolis, Bloomington, Eden Prairie and St. Louis Park, according to OANN. **The matter is at the charging stage and has not been resolved.** Charges are accusations that have not been tested in court; each of the four is presumed innocent, and the reporting does not record a plea, a trial date or any verdict. The defendants face 13 counts of promoting prostitution and 13 counts of receiving profits from prostitution, OANN reported. Those are Andrea Leigh Sampson, 35, a former prosecutor in the Anoka County Attorney's Office; Frank Reeves, 57; Viktoriya Sergeyevna Komonash, 30; and Katherine Michelle Thomes, 36. The case was investigated by the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension (BCA) and the Human Trafficking Task Force, according to OANN. Prosecutors allege, as reported by OANN, that Reeves was the primary ringleader and that he and Komonash recruited women, dictated their rates, scheduled commercial sex appointments and collected illicit proceeds. Thomes allegedly owned and operated an online commercial sex website titled 'Minnesota Erotica Personals' used to advertise victims. Sampson allegedly registered and maintained multiple LLCs as shell companies to launder illegal profits and allowed her properties to be used for commercial sex acts. Every description of the alleged conduct above comes from the prosecution's charging allegations. The source material does not include any response from the four defendants or their attorneys, and it reports no finding of guilt against any of them. **Readers encountering this account later should not assume the case has concluded: as of the information available, it remains open and undecided.**

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Revision history

  1. Version 119 Aug 2026, 00:53

    First published.

  2. Version 119 Aug 2026, 00:41current

    First published.

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