former Anoka County assistant attorney Andrea Leigh Sampson (Hennepin County Jail)
A former Anoka County assistant attorney who spent years on the public payroll specializing in family and civil law has been charged with 26 felonies for allegedly helping run a sophisticated sex trafficking operation that preyed on women across the Twin Cities.
Andrea Leigh Sampson, 35, of Fridley, was arrested Friday and faces 13 counts of promoting prostitution of an individual and 13 counts of receiving profits from prostitution.
Prosecutors say she secured locations for commercial sex acts, including properties she owned that were used to photograph victims for online ads and host the transactions themselves, while creating and maintaining shell companies to funnel and conceal the dirty money.
She is charged alongside three others: Frank Devon Reeves, 57, of Champlin, described by victims as the “pimp” and ringleader; Viktoriya Sergeyevna Komonash, 30, of Eagan, called the “house mom”; and Katherine Michelle Thomes, 36, who owned and operated the “Minnesota Erotica Personals” website where the women were advertised.
According to the criminal complaint, the operation ran for years, with activity documented from at least 2020/2021 into early 2026, across Minneapolis, Bloomington, Eden Prairie, St. Louis Park, and surrounding areas.
At least 13 women have been identified as victims so far. Many were required to hand over portions of their earnings (often $100 per customer left in envelopes), pay fees for ad postings and “bumps,” and submit to strict control.
Victims told investigators they were threatened, exploited, and assaulted. Several reported that a man with a gun would show up to “keep the victims in line” whenever “management” was displeased.
They were monitored by cameras, told that police worked for the organization and that management was always watching, provided with alcohol and drugs, and subjected to sexual assaults, including by Reeves himself.
One account described Reeves claiming he was there to “look out for the girls” while sexually assaulting them. Another victim who entered the operation at age 18 reported being raped by buyers and then discarded for refusing certain requests.
Sampson’s alleged role was financial and logistical. She provided the properties and, critically, created and maintained limited liability companies that functioned as shell companies to hide and move the profits from the trafficking.
Money collected from the women was allegedly deposited into accounts tied to these entities.
Court documents further indicate that Sampson, Komonash, and Thomes all believed they were in romantic or sexual relationships with Reeves. Sampson herself is alleged to have previously worked as a commercial sex worker for him before becoming more deeply involved.
Throughout much of this period, Sampson was a full-time assistant county attorney in Anoka County’s Family Law and Civil Division. The Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension had been investigating since 2021.
Anoka County Attorney Brad Johnson’s office was notified on February 25, 2026. Sampson was immediately placed on administrative leave; her last day was March 9, 2026. She was arrested on August 14 pursuant to the Hennepin County complaint.
Hennepin County Attorney Mary Moriarty called the scheme’s “level of sophistication and victimization for profit” disturbing. BCA Superintendent Drew Evans described it as a complicated operation “designed not only to exploit the victims… but also structured to hide the money in the proceeds… including building out shell companies.”
The case has already expanded. Charging documents and related investigations link the same network to Medicaid fraud involving assisted living and autism service businesses (including Reva entities) that allegedly billed the state for hundreds of thousands of dollars, in one instance more than $500,000 tied to a former “commercial sex house” converted into an assisted living facility.
Victims of the trafficking operation were allegedly recruited into these businesses as well.
A fifth defendant has been charged in the fraud portion of the overlapping probe.
The post Former Anoka County Prosecutor Charged in Sprawling Sex Trafficking Ring — Used Shell Companies to Hide Profits While Women Were Threatened, Assaulted, and Exploited for Years appeared first on The Gateway Pundit.