Man charged with trafficking in prostitution
COEUR d’ALENE — A Washington man is in jail after police said he brought a woman across state lines for prostitution and threatened her.
Michael R. Svoboda, 60, of Spokane Valley, is charged with trafficking in prostitution and possession of a controlled substance, both felonies.
Deputies with the Kootenai County Sheriff’s Office stopped Svoboda’s vehicle in Post Falls on Sunday night after running the plates and determining that Svoboda was wanted on a warrant for violating the terms of his probation.
Police detained Svoboda and a 28-year-old woman who was a passenger in his car.
The pair indicated they met for the first time that day in Washington, according to court records, and Svoboda allegedly agreed to drive the woman to Idaho so she could meet someone for sex work.
Svoboda denied specific knowledge of why the woman needed a ride to Idaho but acknowledged that he assumed it was for sex work.
A search of Svoboda’s vehicle also allegedly yielded drug paraphernalia and fentanyl, a synthetic opioid. Svoboda told police the items belonged to the woman and warned that if she didn’t claim them, she would “get what was coming to her,” which deputies interpreted as “a blanket threat” toward the woman.
Police arrested Svoboda at the scene. They also arrested the woman, who was charged with possession of a controlled substance and prostitution, both misdemeanors.
Judge James Stow ordered Monday that Svoboda be held on $95,000 bail.