Ohio Resident Pleads Guilty to Sex Trafficking of Minor and Coercing Adult Female to Engage in Commercial Sex

PITTSBURGH, Pa. – A resident of Euclid, Ohio, pleaded guilty in federal court on April 14, 2025, to charges of sex trafficking of a child and coercion and enticement of an adult with the intent that they engage in commercial sex, Acting United States Attorney Troy Rivetti announced today.

Donte Lashawn Cole, 40, pleaded guilty to the two counts before United States District Judge William S. Stickman IV.

In connection with the guilty plea, the Court was advised that Cole transported the minor and an adult from Ohio to a hotel in Monroeville, Pennsylvania, to engage in commercial sex. Investigators located condoms, lubrication, cleaning wipes, pregnancy tests, and only a few pieces of clothing in the room used by the minor and similar items in the room used by the adult.

The investigation determined that Cole used online advertisements to market the victims for commercial sex services in Western Pennsylvania and elsewhere from April 2023 to October of 2023. Cole directed the victims to engage in these acts and then, immediately afterwards, report all amounts of money earned to him. Cole also controlled access to food, refusing to provide the minor anything beyond fast food if she did not earn him enough money.

Judge Stickman scheduled sentencing for August 18, 2025. The law provides for a total sentence of not less than 10 years and up to life in prison, a fine of up to $250,000, or both. Under the federal Sentencing Guidelines, the actual sentence imposed is based upon the seriousness of the offenses and the prior criminal history, if any, of the defendant.

Assistant United States Attorney Robert Schupansky and Special Assistant United States Attorney Summer Carroll (Assistant Chief Deputy Attorney General) are prosecuting this case on behalf of the government.

This case was investigated by the Pennsylvania Office of Attorney General’s Human Trafficking Section and Homeland Security Investigations-Pittsburgh, with valuable assistance also provided by the Monroeville Police Department and Northeast Ohio Human Trafficking Task Force.

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 (CEOS), 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.justice.gov/psc.

If you are the victim of human trafficking or may have information about a potential trafficking situation, please call the FBI, local law enforcement, or the National Human Trafficking Resource Center (NHTRC) at 1-888-373-7888. NHTRC is a national, toll-free hotline, with specialists available to answer calls from anywhere in the country 24 hours a day, seven days a week, every day of the year related to potential trafficking victims, suspicious behaviors, and/or locations where trafficking is suspected to occur. To submit a tip to the NHTRC online, please visit https://humantraffickinghotline.org/report-trafficking.