Indiana – from www.journalgazette.net – A Warsaw man snagged in a prostitution sting pleaded guilty Tuesday in Allen Superior Court, admitting to his role in running an Internet escort ring.

Aaron W. Prater, 26, was charged in September with a felony count of promoting prostitution, one of 90 people netted in a six-month, five-state investigation into online prostitution by the Fort Wayne Police Department.

Fort Wayne’s investigation was done in conjunction with a similar federal project that resulted in 900 arrests. About half of the women arrested by Fort Wayne police are from the city, and the rest included women from Ohio, Illinois, Kentucky, Michigan and Texas, police said.

According to court documents, when an undercover officer called the phone number in an Internet escort ad, Prater answered. He told the undercover officer he coordinated the woman’s schedule of clients, driving them to the appointments and remaining close by in case there was some kind of trouble.

The woman told police that Prater came up with the idea for the Internet prostitution service as a way for them to make money. The woman said she lived in Michigan but would stay with Prater when she made appointments.

According to terms of a plea agreement Prater made with Allen County prosecutors, he will receive a sentence of no more than two years, which could be served in work release or Community Corrections.