Overview
- Andrea Leigh Sampson has been charged with 13 counts of promoting prostitution and 13 counts of receiving profits from prostitution and is being held in Hennepin County pending court proceedings.
- Court documents allege Sampson secured apartments used for transactions, owned properties where victims were photographed, and created LLCs that prosecutors say funneled money from the operation.
- Investigators say the group posted women for commercial sex on a site called Minnesota Erotica Personals and that a co-defendant is accused of operating the website that monetized ads and bookings.
- Law enforcement interviewed at least 13 women who reported recruitment, exploitation, assaults, threats including armed intimidation, and requirements to pay fees to managers in the organization.
- The case grew from a Minnesota BCA and Human Trafficking Task Force probe that began in 2021, the Anoka County Attorney’s Office placed Sampson on leave in February and removed her access in March, and authorities continue to analyze seized phones and records as the prosecution moves forward.