A woman charged with running an Anchorage-based prostitution ring changed her plea to guilty Monday afternoon as part of a plea deal.
“[Heidi] Ross pled guilty to a felony count of sex trafficking in the third degree and took responsibility for her actions that aided or facilitated the prostitution enterprise,” Assistant Attorney General Adam Alexander said in an email after the hearing.
Ross, 35, and her 47-year-old boyfriend Troy Edward Williams were indicted in March of 2015 for forcing their victims to engage in prostitution. They allegedly beat the women and deprived them of “food and other necessities” if the they did not make enough money for the couple, according to the Alaska Department of Law.
“At sentencing, Ms. Ross will likely receive a sentence of four years with two years suspended and a period of supervised probation of three years, based in part on her prior criminal history,” Alexander said. “The court ordered a full pre-sentence report today, and the sentencing judge will have that information to aid in sentencing in May.”
Ross has pleaded guilty in two unrelated prostitution cases, according to online records, and has other convictions relating to theft and drugs.
Williams’ trial is scheduled to begin in February.
