A former Anoka County attorney has been charged with 26 felony counts in connection with a sprawling sex trafficking ring involving three other people and at least 13 victims, authorities announced Monday.

Andrea Leigh Sampson, 35, of Fridley, and the other three defendants — Frank Reeves, 57, of Champlin; Viktoriya Komonash, 30, of Eagan; and Katherine Thomes, 36, Hutchinson — were taken into custody on Friday, according to the Hennepin County Attorney’s Office and the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension.

Frank Reeves, 57, of Champlin; Andrea Leigh Sampson, 35, of Fridley; Viktoriya Komonash, 30, of Eagan, and Katherine Thomes, 36, Hutchinson, were charged Monday, Aug. 17, 2026, in connection with a sex trafficking ring involving at least 13 victims. (Courtesy of the Hennepin County sheriff's office)

The criminal complaint said that, based on phone records and journal and diary entries, the three women thought they were in a romantic and sexual relationship with Reeves. The complaint describes Reeves as the leader of the commercial sex trafficking scheme.

“Each of these four individuals played a significant role in the operation of this sex trafficking scheme and caused significant harm to the 13 victims identified in this complaint,” said Hennepin County Attorney Mary Moriarty during a Monday press conference..

The four were charged with 26 felony counts each in the operation that spanned several cities including Minneapolis, Bloomington, Eden Prairie and St. Louis Park.

Moriarty laid out the roles each of the accused allegedly played in the operation:

• Reeves and Komonash recruited and posted commercial sex advertisements for the victims, setting the rates charged and collecting payment.
• Thomes owned and operated an online commercial sex website that advertised the victims and collected money from them.
• Sampson secured and provided locations for the sex trafficking activities as well as helped set up and maintain shell companies to funnel and hide profits. In addition, the criminal complaint said that she owned two properties in Minneapolis where photographs of victims were taken for advertisements and where sex transactions occurred.

“The level of sophistication and victimization for profit is disturbing,” Moriarty said.

According to the criminal complaint, the investigation spanned activity from January 2022 to February 2026.

Moriarty’s office described Sampson as a former attorney in the Anoka County Attorney’s Office but confirmed she worked there through the period of the investigation.

The Anoka County Attorney’s Office said Sampson was an Assistant Anoka County Attorney assigned to the office’s Family Law and Civil Divisions. She was placed on administrative leave on Feb. 25 after BCA investigators met with leaders at the office and told them about the investigation into Sampson. Her last day of employment was March 9.

Moriarty thanked the victims for coming forward and working with investigators.

“No one wants to be involved in a sex trafficking ring,” she said. “It is something that happens to you. The 13 victims … suffered great harm from being forced to be in the sex trafficking ring. And so I want to recognize the courage of the victims to work with the BCA and our office to help prosecute these cases. We recognize the trust you have placed in us to hold these defendants accountable.”

The criminal complaint said several of the victims reported that if they did something to displease management or broke any rules, a man with a gun would show up to threaten them. In addition, several victims alleged that Reeves sexually assaulted them.

The sex trafficking operation was a complicated scheme “designed not only to exploit the victims in these cases, take advantage of them, but also structured to hide the money in the proceeds that was done with multiple individuals, including building out shell companies,” BCA Superintendent Drew Evans said

The criminal complaint alleged that Reeves, Sampson and Komonash “currently also have been operating assisted-living and/or autism sites and are collecting money from those sites in addition to the commercial sex operation itself.” They are under investigation for potential Medicaid fraud while a St. Paul man has been charged.