FORMER PENNSYLVANIA STATE POLICE TROOPER FEDERALLY CHARGED

PRESS RELEASE - FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: March 12, 2008
CONTACT: Martin C. Carlson, Acting U.S. Attorney (717) 221-4482

Martin C. Carlson, Acting United States Attorney for the Middle District of Pennsylvania, Jeffrey B. Miller, Commissioner of the Pennsylvania State Police and Janice K. Fedarcyk, Special Agent in Charge of the Philadelphia Division announced todaythat as a result of a joint investigation spearheaded by the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Pennsylvania State Police, criminal charges were filed against Kevin J. Coleman, age 42, of Harrisburg, formerly a trooper in the Pennsylvania State Police. Mr. Coleman was charged with obstructing and impeding the due administration of justice while serving in the Pennsylvania State Police, an offense carrying up to 10 years imprisonment and a fine of up to $250,000.

The Information charges that Mr. Coleman was a trooper for the Pennsylvania State Police, stationed at Troop H, in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. One of his duties as a trooper was to conduct anti-prostitution patrols at the Gables Truck Stop in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania.

In March 2004, the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the Pennsylvania State Police and the Department of the Treasury commenced a grand jury investigation, code-named "Precious Cargo," into the nationwide prostitution of minors and adult young women. The "Precious Cargo" investigation identified numerous pimps, primarily from Toledo, Ohio, who were running a nationwide prostitution ring out of the Gables Truck Stop, in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, and elsewhere.

The criminal information charges that, both prior to and during the course of the investigation, Mr. Coleman, in exchange for sexual favors from young women being prostituted by the Toledo pimps, would warn those involved in prostitution about undercover law enforcement activity, law enforcement wiretaps and law enforcement sweeps and arrests at the Gables Truck Stop. Both prior to and during the course of the investigation, the defendant, under color of the authority of his position as a member of the Pennsylvania State Police, took money from young women being prostituted at the Gables Truck Stop into custody.

As the direct result of the defendant's actions in warning prostitutes and pimps of undercover operations, law enforcement sweeps and of law enforcement wiretaps, the defendant corruptly impeded the due administration of justice and obstructed the investigation into a nationwide prostitution ring. The 14 pimps and two chief prostitutes ultimately named in that indictment were convicted and are awaiting sentencing. Upon being notified that he was the target of the corruption investigation, Mr. Coleman resigned from the Pennsylvania State Police.

The case was investigated by the Harrisburg office of the Federal Bureau of Investigation and by the Internal Affairs Division of the Pennsylvania State Police. Acting United States Attorney Carlson praised the close working relationship between the State Police and the Federal Bureau of Investigation, noting that agents and troopers aggressively followed up every lead in order to successfully complete the investigation. Mr. Carlson stated, "The rule of law can only be a vital principle in a society when those entrusted with its enforcement govern their own lives by that rule. The recent outstanding efforts of the Pennsylvania State Police and the FBI to resolve these allegations of police misconduct are just the latest example of these two agencies' commitment to excellence in law enforcement. The public is well-served by these exceptional law enforcement professionals"

"The Pennsylvania State Police are committed to investigating any wrongdoing by its officers and to working in full cooperation with other law enforcement agencies," said State Police Commissioner Jeffrey B. Miller. Assistant U.S. Attorney Gordon Zubrod has been assigned to prosecute the case.

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An Indictment or Information is not evidence of guilt but simply a description of the charge made by the Grand Jury and/or United States Attorney against a defendant. A charged Defendant is presumed innocent until a jury returns a unanimous finding that the United States has proven the defendant's guilt beyond a reasonable doubt or until the defendant has pled guilty to the charges.