A 72-year-old criminal defense attorney and former Macedonia Council member was one of two men charged Monday by the Mahoning Valley Human Trafficking Task Force, according to Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost.
Kenneth Martin, of Macedonia, was charged with engaging in prostitution and possessing criminal tools.
Martin was president of Macedonia City Council in 2013.
Police allege Martin agreed to pay $180 on February 22 for sex. Police said Martin responded to an online ad posted by undercover agents.
The ad was posted to a website associated with human trafficking, Yost said. Police alleged Martin showed up at an agreed-upon location with money in hand.
Martin’s law firm lists prostitution and solicitation cases among his legal defense specialties.
“It’s sometimes the people you’d least expect who drive the demand for human trafficking,” Yost said. “A lawyer should know better – don’t buy sex in Ohio.”
Cody Salman, 31, of Youngstown also was charged with engaging in prostitution and possessing criminal tools.
Salman allegedly answered a fictitious online ad and agreed to pay $140 for sex and met at an agreed-upon location, where task force agents were waiting.
Both men received a summons to Columbiana County Municipal Court.
The Mahoning Valley Human Trafficking Task Force, part of the attorney general’s Ohio Organized Crime Investigations Commission, is led by the Mahoning County Sheriff’s Office. The task force is made up of representatives from the Bureau of Criminal Investigation, East Palestine Police Department, Austintown Police Department, Youngstown Police Department, Warren Police Department, Adult Parole Authority, and Ohio Investigative Unit. The Salem Police Department assisted the task force with the sting.
