Man who trafficked women to spend life in prison

PEORIA, Ill. (WAND) - A man who ran a prostitution enterprise out of a Champaign motel will serve multiple life prison terms.

Franshon Stapleton, 48, trafficked young women for sex. He lived at the motel where he ran his prostitution enterprise and used women recruited from Champaign, Sangamon and Peoria counties.

Prosecutors said Stapleton used "degradation and manipulation" in 2017 and 2018 to exploit young women who were desperate and fighting drug addiction and homelessness. He forced them to perform sex acts for money and was the person who arranged the encounters, set a price and collected the money.

Stapleton used violence and threats of violence to force the women to engage in sex with men. With "constant manipulation," prosecutors said he exploited the desperation of his victims and ensured they were "indebted" to him for motel rooms, drugs and food.

Judge James E. Shadid said at sentencing that anything less than life behind bars would ignore the nature of the crimes, the impact on victims, the lack of remorse shown by Stapleton, his prior criminal history and sentencing guidelines.

Stapleton must serve a life sentence for each of the four counts of sex trafficking he faced. The sentences will be served concurrently with additional five-year prison terms for each of the 13 related charges against him.

He had pleaded guilty to all charges on Sept. 28, 2020 as his trial was set to start. Since his May 2018 arrest, he has been in the custody of the U.S. Marshals Service.

U.S. Attorney John Milhiser commended the victims for the strength they showed as critical evidence against Stapleton was provided. He also recognized the sustained efforts of federal and local law enforcement to locate, investigate and prosecute dangerous predators and remove them from the community.

U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement Homeland Security Investigations, Urbana police, the Champaign County Sheriff's office, the Illinois State Police Forensics Laboratory and Champaign police investigated the charges, along with cooperation from Champaign County State's Attorney Julia Reitz.

The government was represented by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Elly M. Peirson and Ryan Finlen in the prosecution.