Luzerne County Man Sentenced To 48 Months In Prison And Lifetime Supervision For His Role In Sex Trafficking Conspiracy

The United States Attorney’s Office for the Middle District of Pennsylvania announced that Randy Coleman, Jr., age 32, Pittston, Pennsylvania, was sentenced today by Senior U.S. District Court Judge Edwin M. Kosik to 48 months in prison for his role in a conspiracy to recruit, harbor, and transport 17-year-old minor females to engage in commercial sex acts for money during the summer of 2013 in Luzerne and Dauphin counties. After serving his prison sentence, Coleman will be under probation supervision for life.

According to United States Attorney Peter Smith, Coleman admitted to participating in a scheme to use minor females to engage in prostitution. Coleman’s co-conspirators, including Gregory Boone, used cell phones to produce and transmit photographs of the females which were posted on a website to facilitate prostitution activities in motels in Luzerne County and in the Harrisburg area of Pennsylvania. Boone was recently sentenced to 72 months in prison for his role in the scheme.

Coleman was indicted by a federal grand jury in December 2013, as a result of an investigation by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), the Pennsylvania State Police, Pittston Police, and the Luzerne County District Attorney’s Office.

Coleman will also have to register as a sex offender and comply with sex offender registration, notification, and association requirements.

The case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Francis P. Sempa.

This case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative launched in May 2006 by the Department of Justice to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse. Led by the United States Attorneys' Offices and the Criminal Division's Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section, Project Safe Childhood marshals federal, state, and local resources to locate, apprehend, and prosecute individuals who sexually exploit children, and to identify and rescue victims. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit www.usdoj.gov/psc for more information about internet safety education, please visit www.usdoj.gov/psc and click on the tab "resources."