Man accused of running multistate escort service facing federal charges in Lexington

A Lexington man accused of running a multistate prostitution business long enough that he had to update his advertisements from the phone book to Twitter was indicted last week on federal charges.

Michael Comberger is accused of owning and operating Fantasy’s Escort Services and enticing or coercing people to cross state lines to engage in prostitution since 1998, according to court records.

He’s charged with engaging in a conspiracy, four counts of transporting a person across state lines for prostitution, and five counts of coercing or enticing a person across state lines to engage in prostitution, according to his indictment.

Investigators intercepted text messages and calls between Comberger, the women he employed and the people who paid to have sex with the women, according to court records. During calls before each appointment, Comberger would coach the women through a script that lined out the rate for that appointment ($340 for an hour, $640 for two hours and $1,800 for an overnight appointment) and at least once scolded one of the women for being too informal on the phone, according to an affidavit written by an FBI agent investigating the case.

Investigators first became aware of the escort service when they found the website for the business, which was publicly available and required no password or log-in, according to the affidavit. After that, investigators used physical surveillance, a pole camera placed near Comberger’s residence, a GPS device on Comberger’s gold Camaro and intercepts of phone communications to gather evidence, according to the affidavit.

Comberger used a website and Twitter account to advertise upcoming “touring” dates for the women working for him, according to court records. The women described him setting up appointments in Indiana, Ohio, Kentucky, Tennessee, and West Virginia, according to the affidavit.

Comberger would organize appointments and transportation and would drive some of the women to and from their appointments, including taking some across state lines, according to court records. He and the woman involved would split the fee paid by the customer.

Comberger drove women to and from Lexington and other places in Kentucky on multiple occasions, according to an affidavit in his case.

In late April, U.S. Magistrate Judge Matthew Stinnett ordered that Comberger be held in federal custody until his trial, citing a concern for the safety of others. In the order, Stinnett wrote that Comberger had made a public post on social media in which he endorsed “in the abstract” violence against people cooperating with law enforcement.

Before he was aware he was being investigated, Comberger posted an article on social media about an investigation into a human trafficker. Along with the article, Comberger commented that the victims in the case were not actually victims and compared a “snitch informant” to a “child molester and a rapist,” saying that they’d all deserve a “bullet between the eyes.”

“Finally, the court knows little about Comberger’s personal characteristics, beyond his proclivity for threatening and advocating violence,” Stinnett wrote. “Relatedly, Comberger’s satisfaction at the death of his former employee, believed (inaccurately) to be a cooperator, reflects poorly on his character.”

If convicted, Comberger could face up to five years in prison on the first charge, up to 10 years for the counts of transporting a person for prostitution and up to 20 years on the counts of enticing a person across state lines for prostitution, according to his indictment.

Comberger is set to appear in court for an arraignment on Tuesday.