Carlisle brothel owner who pocketed £146,000 avoids jail

Ana Stefan said she did not realise what she was doing was a criminal offence

A brothel madam who trafficked two friends from Romania to work in the sex industry has avoided prison.

Ana Stefan raked in almost £146,000 from the illegal activity, centred on a Carlisle flat, much of which occurred during Covid restrictions.

Texts showed the mother-of-one was pocketing half of the women's earnings and arranging sex work for others.

Stefan, 30, of Woodrouffe Terrace, was sentenced to 24 months, suspended for two years, at Carlisle Crown Court.

Police uncovered the illegal operation following a welfare check at a rented flat in Greystone Road in late August 2021.

Two women admitted being involved in sex work but one claimed she did not work for anyone else and had arranged her own travel, and the other insisted she travelled of her own free will.

Officers searched the flat, as well as Stefan's own home, where three mobiles belonging to her were found.

Prosecutor Andrew Evans said when the data was extracted and analysed it "showed a clear picture of her role in operating the brothel".

Text messages, translated from Romanian into English, showed Stefan was siphoning off half of what the two women earned.

Thousands of messages also revealed she was organising sex work for several different women at the flat.

They showed Stefan liaising directly with clients to arrange times, prices and payments, while asking "which girl they wanted".

Luggage searched at border

Mr Evans suggested there was evidence to show "at least eight women," worked from the flat at different times during the 20 months, which ran through several lockdowns between 2020 and 2021.

When police trawled through her bank accounts they discovered an income of £184,405.

Mr Evans asserted almost £146,000 represented the proceeds of illegal trade, with Stefan splashing out on holidays, paying off loans and sending more than £71,000 to many named Romanians.

When stopped at the UK border within the Eurotunnel terminal in France on 3 August 2021, Stefan was driving a Mercedes S class in which two sex workers and two men were travelling.

"A search of the luggage belonging to [the two women] revealed that they were bringing in lingerie, sex toys and paraphernalia suggestive of their being sex workers," Mr Evans said.

They were refused entry but days later travelled to Ireland where they separated and all headed to Carlisle.

'Truly remorseful'

Stefan accepted running the brothel, saying the two women named in the trafficking charge were friends working in the sex industry in Romania who had asked her to help them get to the UK.

However, she insisted the operation was "not solely" her responsibility, adding: "I did not realise what I was doing was a criminal offence or the severity at the time."

She denied manipulating or coercing the women, saying they wanted to come to the UK.

She pleaded guilty to controlling prostitution for gain and two charges of modern slavery for arranging or facilitating the travel of another with a view to exploitation.

Defending, Andrew Gurney said the mother-of-one was "truly remorseful".

Sentencing, Judge Nicholas Barker said: "Such activities provide the significant risk of exploitation and typically risk to vulnerable young females.

"They also typically generate significant funds for organised crime groups, these funds generating activity in other criminal enterprises."

He found that Stefan had likely at some stage been a victim herself, that there was a realistic chance of rehabilitation and to mitigate the impact on her child.

She must also work with probation and comply with the strict terms of a five-year slavery and trafficking prevention order.