Des Moines, Iowa – The U-S Attorney’s Office reports 46-year old Marlin Santana Thomas, of Des Moines, was sentenced Monday to life in prison for sex trafficking six victims by force, fraud, and coercion.  Thomas was ordered to pay $600 to the Crime Victims’ Fund and a restitution hearing was set for February 7, 2022.

Thomas pleaded guilty to sex trafficking six adult victims and admitted to trafficking a 14- year-old victim on May 12, 2021. He admitted in his plea agreement to trafficking victims beginning in 2009, and as recently as February 28, 2018, when he was arrested as part of a separate federal drug investigation, for which he is currently serving a term of federal imprisonment.

At sentencing, Des Moines Police Department Sergeant Brady Carney testified that he had interviewed an additional 11 women who Thomas had raped, attempted to sex traffic, and/or physical assaulted. In the plea agreement, Thomas admitted using physical violence against all six adult victims to coerce them to engage in commercial sex acts, including punching one victim in the face and assaulting another in her home after she told Thomas she was done working for him.

Thomas admitted to knowing one victim was a heroin addict and using her addiction to coerce her into engaging in commercial sex acts. Thomas also admitted to arranging for a 14-year-old to engage in commercial sex acts, knowing that she was not yet 18 years old.

He admitted to posting online escort advertisements of victims transporting them to hotels and motels in Iowa as well as Illinois, Missouri, and North Dakota, and keeping the proceeds from the commercial sex acts. Thomas targeted vulnerable women, including approaching women living at residential treatment centers, providing drugs to women struggling with addiction, and feigning romantic interest. He assaulted, raped, and stalked victims who did not comply.

Hotel receipts, police reports, phone records, online escort ads, medical records, photographs, and witnesses verified the victim’s accounts. The United States presented victim impact statements on behalf of six women, recounting the harm inflicted by Thomas and its lasting effects.

Anyone who suspects human trafficking is occurring, be it a minor engaging in paid sex acts, or anyone being coerced into prostitution or labor, is urged to call the National Human Trafficking Hotline at 1-888-373-7888.