Prosecutors said victims were recruited online, then forced to sell sex at area hotels.
PLANO, TX — A North Texas man and woman were convicted on federal sex trafficking charges after a jury heard testimony about a yearslong operation that investigators say ended with an FBI raid on a Plano rental home in late 2023. William McKinnley Garland and Anastasiya Claire Lyons now face sentencing in federal court.
Federal prosecutors and local investigators said the case matters because it combined a long investigation, detailed victim testimony, and a broad set of allegations about force and intimidation. The convictions also mark the latest step in a wider case that included five defendants and multiple guilty pleas. Authorities said the operation targeted young women online, then used threats and violence to keep them under control. A sentencing date has not been announced, and both defendants could face life in prison.
Garland, 43, of Plano, was found guilty of coercion and enticement and conspiracy to commit sex trafficking. Lyons, 34, also of Plano, was found guilty of conspiracy to commit sex trafficking after a seven-day trial before U.S. District Judge Sean D. Jordan. Prosecutors said jurors heard from victims who described being drawn in by promises of modeling or escort work and high earnings, then pushed into prostitution at hotels around Collin County. United States Attorney Jay R. Combs said the two “preyed on vulnerable young women” and used physical abuse and psychological pressure to make money for themselves and others. “They exploited women into selling their bodies,” Combs said in a statement after the verdict.
Investigators said the trafficking operation ran in Plano from 2020 through December 2023. Evidence presented at trial described a recruiter who contacted young women through social media platforms. Victims told jurors they believed they were being offered legal work connected to modeling or escorting. Prosecutors said the women instead were directed to engage in commercial sex at hotels in the area. Authorities said the women were kept in line through force and fear. Trial testimony and evidence described beatings, the use of tasers, shock collars, frigid showers, unwanted tattoos, and humiliation. Prosecutors said victims also described threats aimed at them and, in some cases, their family members. Several details about the full scope of the group’s finances and the total number of victims were not publicly released in the verdict announcement.
The investigation became visible to many residents in mid-December 2023, when law enforcement raided a rental home in a neighborhood near Coit and Parker roads in Plano. Fox 4 reported that images from a helicopter showed agents raiding a home on Sowerby Drive as part of the case. Police said three people were arrested around that time: Garland, then 40, along with Jalen Alexander Bobo and Robberta Marie Khan. Investigators said all three were suspected of recruiting young women to work as escorts, and the FBI said those women were often violently forced to work. Plano police said at the time that the arrests were the result of a yearslong investigation and that more people could be involved. Authorities later said a federal grand jury returned indictments that expanded the case to five defendants, including Lyons and Selena Rose McCombs.
Officials framed the verdict as a message about accountability and a recognition of the victims who testified. Plano Police Chief Ed Drain said the convictions reflected years of work by detectives, the FBI, and federal prosecutors, including high-risk operations and the review of large amounts of evidence. Drain said the investigation was “long, complex, and emotionally difficult,” but he said it stopped dangerous offenders and gave survivors a chance to move forward. FBI Dallas Special Agent in Charge R. Joseph Rothrock said trafficking can operate in plain sight for months or years. He said the victims in this case were deceived by promises of well-paying jobs and instead were abused and forced into commercial sex work. Rothrock said the FBI would continue working with partners to assist victims and hold traffickers accountable.
By the time the case reached trial, three other defendants had already pleaded guilty and were waiting for sentencing. Robberta Marie Khan, 29, of Euless, pleaded guilty in May 2025 to coercion and enticement and faces up to 20 years in federal prison. Jalen Alexander Bobo, 26, of Dallas, pleaded guilty in May 2025 to conspiracy to commit sex trafficking and faces up to life in prison. Selena Rose McCombs, 25, who authorities said is from North Carolina, pleaded guilty in December 2025 to conspiracy to commit sex trafficking and also faces up to life in prison. Those guilty pleas narrowed the case heading into the January 2026 trial, but prosecutors still had to convince jurors that Garland and Lyons played leading roles and that force, fraud, or coercion was used to make victims engage in commercial sex.
Prosecutors said the trial focused on what victims experienced and what the defendants did behind the scenes to keep money flowing. Authorities said the women were sent to hotels around Collin County to meet buyers, and investigators built the case using victim statements and other evidence. In court, the government described a system that began with recruiting messages online and ended with control through fear. The government also described tactics meant to isolate victims and reduce the chance they would seek help, though officials did not publicly detail every investigative method used. Defense arguments were not described in the public conviction announcement, and the record released after the verdict did not include a full rundown of witness lists or exhibits. Still, prosecutors and police said the jury’s decision reflected the strength of the evidence and the credibility of victim testimony.
Sentencing will be scheduled after the completion of presentence investigations by the U.S. Probation Office, a standard step that can take weeks or months and includes interviews, records checks, and guideline calculations. Garland and Lyons each face up to life in federal prison, though the final sentence will be set by the judge using advisory sentencing guidelines and other factors required by law. Prosecutors said the case was investigated by the Plano Police Department and the FBI’s Dallas Division. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Marisa Miller and Chalana Oliver prosecuted the case. Court filings and future hearings are expected to set out more detail about recommended sentences, any victim impact statements, and whether prosecutors will seek additional penalties such as restitution.
For many residents, the case has been tied to a quiet neighborhood image that was interrupted by flashing lights and federal agents in December 2023. The raid and later indictments drew attention to how trafficking cases can involve ordinary-looking homes and online recruitment rather than a single public location. Officials said the victims in this case were young women who were searching for income and opportunity and ended up trapped by threats and violence. Combs credited victims who came forward, saying their willingness to testify helped expose what prosecutors called a web of exploitation. Investigators said the work required coordination across agencies and long stretches of evidence review, and they emphasized that the guilty verdicts were only one part of a broader case that still includes multiple sentencings.
The case now moves from verdict to punishment. Garland and Lyons remain convicted and await sentencing dates that have not yet been announced, while the three co-defendants who pleaded guilty are also waiting for their own hearings. The next major milestone will be the filing of sentencing recommendations and the scheduling of court dates once probation reports are completed.
Author note: Last updated February 10, 2026.