FROM: U.S. DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE
Thursday, April 18, 2013
Florida Man Indicted on Drug Conspiracy and Sex Trafficking Charges
A federal grand jury returned an indictment today charging Andrew Blane Fields, 62, of Lutz, Fla., with conspiracy to possess with the intent to distribute controlled substances, namely Oxycodone, Dilaudid and Morphine; three counts of sex trafficking by force, fraud and coercion; and two counts of possession with intent to distribute controlled substances. If convicted on all counts, Fields faces a maximum of life in federal prison.
According to allegations in the indictment and criminal complaint, at least as early as 2008 through the end of 2012, Fields engaged in the sex trafficking of three different victims for commercial gain, who are identified in the indictment by their initials. Fields coerced and controlled the victims by, among other methods, supplying them on a daily basis with a large number of highly addictive prescription drugs. During the execution of a federal search warrant, law enforcement recovered thousands of prescription pills from Fields’ residence. Fields was previously charged by criminal complaint on March 20, 2013.
An indictment is merely a formal charge that a defendant has committed a violation of the federal criminal laws, and every defendant is presumed innocent until proven guilty.
This case was investigated by the Department of Homeland Security – Homeland Security Investigations with the assistance of the Clearwater, Fla., Police Department and members of the Clearwater Area Human Trafficking Task Force. It will be prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Josephine W. Thomas and Trial Attorney William E. Nolan with the Department of Justice Civil Rights Division’s Human Trafficking Prosecution Unit.
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