(KRON) — A 37-year-old man is facing a potential life prison sentence for trafficking women on “The Blade,” a stretch of International Boulevard in Oakland plagued by nightly prostitution.
Michael Simon, of Oakland, pleaded guilty in federal court Thursday to conspiracy to commit human trafficking by force, fraud, or coercion, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office Northern District of California.
Prosecutors said Simon admitted to engaging in a conspiracy to commit human trafficking on The Blade and other locations between June 2023 and September 2025.
“Simon conspired with others to recruit, entice, harbor, maintain, obtain, transport, provide, and advertise Victim 1 and Victim 2, and other victims,” the U.S. Attorney’s Office wrote.
Victim 1, Victim 2, and other victims, were advertised online to solicit customers for commercial sex acts. Simon and his co-conspirators booked and used hotel rooms where the women and clients met, prosecutors said, and Simon used cellphone text messages to arrange the encounters.
The victims were not allowed to keep money paid to them by clients.
“The victims were expected to engage in commercial sex work when they were told, and did not have any say in their hours, their fees, or the location in which they were to perform commercial sex acts. When a victim refused to engage in commercial sex work as instructed or failed to hand over money received for sex work, Simon would physically punish them for non-compliance by physically assaulting them, including by hitting them in their head and face,” prosecutors wrote.
Simon will be sentenced on October 1 by U.S. District Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers. He faces a maximum penalty of life imprisonment and a $250,000 fine, the U.S. Attorney’s Office said.
Copyright 2026 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to KRON4.