PORTSMOUTH, Ohio (WCMH) – A Portsmouth attorney has been charged with 18 counts involving human trafficking over a period of 15 years.
Michael Mearan, 74, faces more than 70 years in prison if convicted.
According to Ohio Attorney General David Yost, the human trafficking happened in southern Ohio from 2003 to 2018 and involved six victims.
Mearan is charged with the following:
- One county of engaging in a pattern of corrupt activity, a first-degree felony
- Three counts of trafficking in persons, a first-degree felony
- Five counts of compelling prostitution, a third-degree felony
- Nine counts of promoting prostitution, a fourth-degree felony
The case was investigated by a human trafficking task force as part of Yost’s Organized Crime Investigations Commission and is being prosecuted as part of the attorney general’s Human Trafficking Initiative and Special Prosecutions Section.
