Dorchester man pleads guilty to human trafficking charges
A Dorchester man pleaded guilty on Monday to charges he ran a human trafficking operation with his brother in the Greater Boston area, according to the Attorney General’s office.
Michael Leoney, known as “Pure,’’ 53, pleaded guilty in Suffolk Superior Court to one count of trafficking of persons for sexual servitude, one count of conspiracy to traffic persons for sexual servitude, and three counts of deriving support from prostitution, authorities said.
“This defendant exploited women by recruiting them, transporting them and coercing them to engage in commercial sex for his own personal profit,’’ Attorney General Maura Healey said in a statement.
The Attorney General’s office began its investigation into Leoney in 2012 with the Boston Police Department Human Trafficking Unit.
The joint investigation revealed that Leony coerced women into prostitution, advertised the women on websites, and managed the operation’s finances, authorities said.
His brother, Shaun Leoney, was involved in his own human trafficking operation and their schemes “considerably’’ overlapped, according to authorities. The brothers received daily profits from the women and often threatened them with violence, authorities said.
Michael Leoney was arrested in December 2012 and indicted by a Suffolk County Grand Jury in March 2013. He is expected to be sentenced on February 29.
Shaun Leoney pleaded guilty and was sentenced to seven years in state prison in November 2015.
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