Man who sex trafficked girlfriend in St. Paul, Vadnais Heights, sentenced to three years in prison

Kristi Belcamino, Pioneer Press
·4 min read

After his victim slipped a note to hotel staff pleading for help, a man who authorities say sex trafficked his girlfriend at several Minnesota hotels was sentenced to more than three years in prison this week.

Larry Eddie Konah Jr., 26, was sentenced in Ramsey County District Court Thursday to 41 months in prison.

On July 14, 2022, authorities were called to the Comfort Inn and Suites in Vadnais Heights after a woman passed a note to hotel staff saying she was a sex trafficking victim and needed help.

The criminal complaint gave the following details:

The two met at a party in Atlanta and began dating in December of 2021. At first, the relationship was good, the woman told investigators. A little more than a year later, in February 2022, the couple moved into an apartment together in Atlanta. Shortly after, Konah assaulted her, “destroyed” their apartment and bleached her clothes.

A month later, the alleged sex trafficking started when Konah began forcing her, through manipulation and physical assaulting her, to have sex with other men for money. She said he was “very controlling” and would not let her have her phone, money, or ID. When she made calls, they had to be on a speaker phone.

He also forced her to get his name tattooed under her eye “so she would be reminded she belonged to him.”

To find men to pay to have sex with her, he posted sex ads on sites such as Megapersonals and Seeking Arrangements. He used both her phone number and his in the ads and had control of the phones when people responded to the ads. He occasionally would post pictures of himself in the ads advertising a “threesome”

He charged $300 for 30 minutes with her, $600 for an hour and $200 for a “threesome.”

He always kept all the money.

Each day, she was forced to have sex with three to four people a day until she had made between $600 and $1,000 a day.

At first, the trafficking occurred in Atlanta and Los Angeles, but then he began using hotels in Minnesota for the meetups including Motel 6’s in St. Paul and Roseville, the Fairfield Inn and the Comfort Inn, both in Vadnais Heights.

During their time together, the woman said Konah frequently hit her and even choked her.

Investigators found police reports with her name showing that on May 29, 2022 police were called to the Motel 6 in Roseville because a man was beating a woman with a belt and she was screaming for help. She told police at the time she was too afraid to speak to police about the beating. Authorities also reviewed a video she had sent to a friend documenting her injuries from the beating.

At one point, at the Comfort Inn in Vadnais Heights, she tried to leave Konah. He agreed but when she tried to get her ID, he beat her again and choked her.

She convinced him she would stay and he forced her to have sex with several men on July 13, 2022. When she told him she didn’t want to have any more sex that day, he forced himself on her. The next morning, he woke and hit her, saying he had a dream she was trying to leave.

She wrote two notes asking for help. The first she put in a bottom drawer in the hotel room and another one in her back pocket.

When she and Konah stopped at the front desk to pay for the room, she pushed the note toward a hotel staff member when Konah was not looking.

The pair then walked to Walmart. When they returned the police were waiting.

When confronted, Konah told authorities that the woman was engaging in prostitution on her own and that he acted as security. He denied posting the sex ads but investigators found his cell phone number connected to ads posted from July 8, 2022 through July 13, 2022.

Konah was sentenced in Ramsey County District Court on Thursday to 41 months in prison.

“We applaud the victim for her brave attempt to alert hotel staff that she needed help,” BCA Superintendent Drew Evans said. “We also applaud hotel staff for recognizing the situation and acting quickly to alert law enforcement. We all must work together to bring an end to this terrible crime.”

The sex trafficking was investigated by the Minnesota Human Trafficking Investigators Task Force and the Ramsey County Sheriff’s Office. Sex trafficking victims can call the task force hotline at 888-373-7888 or text HELP to 233733. In addition, if someone is in danger of being trafficked, authorities ask them to call 911. If a trafficking situation is suspected people call also call the BCA at 877-996-6222 or email bca.tips@state.mn.us.

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