Log In


Reset Password

Ten nabbed in Pocono prostitution ring

The FBI was among 10 law enforcement agencies involved in a prostitution sting operation in Monroe County on Wednesday.

In all, 10 people were charged, including two from the West End.

The most serious charges were filed against a couple accused of transporting a victim of human trafficking.

Tarkira Monasia Bell, 20 of Richmond Va., and Malik Dupree Edwards, 39, of Tobyhanna, were each charged with involuntary servitude, trafficking of individuals, and promoting prostitution.

The victim told police she met them in Virginia about three to four days prior after communicating on a dating website. She said they promised to return her to her family in Tennessee, but later told her that they would use her to make money.

Seven were charged with patronizing a prostitute. Police said they separately traveled to a hotel and paid an undercover officer for sex. In each case, a team of officers entered the room and arrested them just after they agreed upon a price and paid the officer.

Police had set up audio and video surveillance inside the room where the undercover officer was posted.

The men traveled to the hotel after responded to a fake ad placed on the dating section of “backpage.com,” which is known as a site utilized to promote prostitution.

The Monroe County District Attorney’s Office, filed charges of patronizing a prostitute against 30-year-old Matthew Beers of Saylorsburg and 27-year-old Branden Russell of Kunkletown, Jesse Alan Day, 30, of Milford, David Jonathan Hubler, 43, of Elmhurst Township, Aldo Giovanni Mancilla, 53, of Nazareth, Dragan Trajanov, of Willowbrook, Il.

Rachel Slzasa, 34, of East Stroudsburg, was charged with prostitution and possession of drug paraphernalia.

In addition to the FBI and the DA’s office, officers from Wayne County Office of the District Attorney, Monroe County Drug Task Force, Stroud Area Regional Police Department, Bethlehem Township Police Department, Sugarloaf Township Police Department, Monroe County Probation and Parole, Pa. Office of the Attorney General and Pennsylvania State Constables participated in the sting.