Former city officer pleads guilty to running prostitution business

Officials: Lamin Manneh, 32, used wife as prostitute 

 BALTIMORE —A former Baltimore City police officer has pleaded guilty Wednesday to operating a prostitution business using two women, one of whom was his wife, to provide services, officials said.

Officials said Lamin Manneh, 32, of Baltimore, pleaded guilty to traveling across state lines and using the telephone and Internet to operate a prostitution business.

U.S. Attorney for the District of Maryland Rod J. Rosenstein; Special Agent in Charge Stephen E. Vogt with the FBI; Col. Marcus L. Brown, superintendent of the Maryland State Police; and Anne Arundel County State's Attorney Anne C. Leitess announced the guilty plea during a hearing on Wednesday.

According to the indictment and information presented at the plea hearing, between Feb. 2013 and May 9, 2013, Manneh operated a prostitution business that serviced more than 300 customers. The business provided prostitution services to customers who came to an agreed location (in-call), as well as at locations specified by the customers (out-call).

Manneh's 19-year-old wife and another 19-year-old woman worked as prostitutes for Manneh. The government alleges that as part of his business, Manneh drafted, paid for and posted more than 50 prostitution advertisements for the two women on Internet websites; rented an apartment and hotel rooms to facilitate "in-call" commercial sex acts with clients who responded to the prostitution advertisements and drove the women to "out-call" commercial sex acts at residences and hotel rooms.

According to the information presented at the plea hearing, Manneh provided the women with cellphones and taught them to use voice over Internet phone services to communicate with prospective clients and with one another. Manneh waited outside the commercial sex act locations and sent the women electronic messages when they were with clients and that Manneh carried his police-issued firearm and agreed to forcibly interrupt a commercial sex interaction if the client was aggressive or non-compliant; and that he supplied both women with synthetic marijuana.

Manneh collected all of his wife's prostitution earnings and a percentage of the other woman's prostitution earnings.

Officials said Manneh faces a maximum sentence of five years in prison, followed by up to lifetime of supervised release, for operating a prostitution business. His sentencing is scheduled for May 8.