An indictment was unsealed yesterday in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Kentucky charging Cleoretta Allen, 41, of Louisville, Kentucky, with two counts of sex trafficking by force, fraud, or coercion and one count of interstate transportation for prostitution, announced Assistant Attorney General Eric Dreiband for the Department of Justice’s Civil Rights Division, U.S. Attorney Russell M. Coleman of the Western District of Kentucky, and Special Agent in Charge James Robert Brown Jr. of the FBI’s Louisville Division.

According to the indictment, between September 2017 and October 2017, the defendant used force, fraud, and coercion to cause two women to engage in commercial sex acts in Kentucky. The defendant also transported the two women from Kentucky to Georgia to engage in prostitution.

An indictment is merely an allegation, and the defendant is presumed innocent until proven guilty. If convicted of sex trafficking, the defendant faces a minimum sentence of 15 years in prison and a maximum sentence of life, as well as mandatory restitution and a $250,000 fine. The interstate transportation for prostitution charge carries a maximum sentence of 10 years in prison, as well as a $250,000 fine.

This case is being investigated by the FBI in Louisville, Kentucky, the Louisville Metro Police Department, and the Jefferson County Sheriff’s Office. The case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Amanda E. Gregory of the Western District of Kentucky and Special Litigation Counsel William E. Nolan and Trial Attorney Kate Alexander of the Civil Rights Division’s Human Trafficking Prosecution Unit.