Springfield Couple Agrees to Plead Guilty to Sex Trafficking Charges

BOSTON - A Springfield couple has agreed to plead guilty in federal court to operating a prostitution business advertised as “Sinful Innocence.”

Milford Lewis, 36, and Tiana Lewis, 32, agreed to plead guilty to three counts of inducing travel to engage in prostitution, one count of transporting an individual to engage in prostitution and four counts of extortionate threats.  U.S. District Court Judge Mark G. Mastroianni deferred acceptance of the plea until sentencing, which he scheduled for Nov. 16, 2017.

Milford and Tiana Lewis, who are married, purported to be the CEOs of an adult talent agency called Sinful Innocence. Through the internet, the couple enticed young women to work as models, adult entertainers, adult pornography actors, and escorts. The pair convinced the women to come from other states to Springfield, and in one case, they transported a woman from Connecticut to Springfield to work.

The women signed year-long contracts, for which there was a $350 early termination fee. The victims were taken to a house in Springfield and/or to various motels in West Springfield to work as prostitutes, sometimes without receiving any pay. If they wanted to leave, or if they broke the rules of Sinful Innocence, they were subjected to beatings and threats to kill or harm them. The couple also threatened the women with violence when the women were unable to pay the $350 termination fee imposed.

If the plea agreements reached by the parties are accepted by the Court, Milford Lewis will be sentenced to 12 years in prison and five years of supervised release, and Tiana Lewis will be sentenced to six years in prison and five years of supervised release.

Acting United States Attorney William D. Weinreb; Matthew Etre, Special Agent in Charge of Homeland Security Investigations in Boston; Colonel Richard D. McKeon, Superintendent of the Massachusetts State Police; Hampden County District Attorney Anthony D. Gulluni; and West Springfield Police Chief Ronald Campurciani made the announcement today. Assistant U.S. Attorney Alex J. Grant of Weinreb’s Springfield Branch Office is prosecuting the case.

This case is the result of a coordinated investigation led by the Western Massachusetts Human Trafficking Working Group, which was established in August 2015 and includes the United States Attorney’s Office, the Massachusetts Attorney General’s Office, and the Hampden County District Attorney’s Office, as well as other federal, state, and local law enforcement agencies.  The Working Group aims to surge law enforcement resources to cooperatively investigate and prosecute crimes involving commercial sex trafficking.