OAN Staff Brooke Mallory
5:25 PM – Monday, August 17, 2026
A former Anoka County Assistant Attorney and three accomplices have been charged in connection with a multi-year sex trafficking network that operated across the Minneapolis metropolitan area.
The charges were detailed by Hennepin County Attorney Mary Moriarty alongside officials from the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension (BCA) and the Human Trafficking Task Force following the arrests. Prosecutors condemned the operation's elaborate scope and nature, describing it as a deeply disturbing scheme of criminal exploitation for profit.
The main defendants in the case include 35-year-old Andrea Leigh Sampson, a former prosecutor in the Anoka County Attorney's Office family law and civil divisions, and 57-year-old Frank Reeves, both pictured above. Investigators identified Reeves as the primary "ringleader."
Also named in the criminal complaint are 30-year-old Viktoriya Sergeyevna Komonash, who victims referred to as a "house mom," and 36-year-old Katherine Michelle Thomes. Charging documents reveal that all four defendants were allegedly involved in a polyamorous relationship while co-managing the enterprise.
Each faces 26 felony counts, including 13 counts of promoting prostitution and 13 counts of receiving profits from prostitution.
According to law enforcement, the trafficking ring operated continuously from 2020 through 2026 across several Twin Cities suburbs, including Minneapolis, Bloomington, Eden Prairie, and St. Louis Park. Investigators say that Reeves and Komonash actively recruited women and dictated their rates, scheduled commercial sex appointments, and collected illicit proceeds.
Thomes reportedly owned and operated an online commercial sex website titled "Minnesota Erotica Personals," which was utilized to advertise the victims and collect fee boosts for promotional placement.
Prosecutors highlighted Sampson's critical role in providing legal and administrative infrastructure to shield the ring's financial gains. Leveraging her position as an attorney, Sampson purportedly registered and maintained multiple LLCs that served as shell companies to launder and funnel illegal profits into centralized bank accounts.
Authorities also maintain that properties owned by Sampson were used directly by the operation to conduct commercial sex acts and photograph victims for online ad listings.
Anoka County Attorney Brad Johnson confirmed that state authorities alerted his office to the ongoing BCA probe earlier in the year. Sampson was placed on administrative leave on February 25th and officially terminated from her post on March 9th.
Following their arrests, Sampson, Reeves, Komonash and Thomes were booked into the Hennepin County Jail, with bail set at $1 million each. County Attorney Moriarty emphasized that the investigation remains active and urged any additional victims to come forward as prosecutors work to hold all four individuals fully accountable.
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