Boston Man Sentenced to Almost Four Years for Interstate Travel to Promote Prostitution

Contact: Gail Fisk Malone
Assistant United States Attorney
Tel: (207) 945-0373

Portland, Maine:  United States Attorney Thomas E. Delahanty II announced that Fritz Blanchard, 28, of Boston, Massachusetts, was sentenced today in U.S. District Court by Judge Nancy Torresen to 46 months in prison and three years of supervised release for aiding and abetting the transportation of women in interstate commerce for prostitution.  On August 28, 2014, following a four-day jury trial, a jury found him guilty of the charge.

According to the indictment and trial evidence, on March 27, 2013, Blanchard and Samuel Gravely caused a Presque Isle woman and a Portland woman to work as prostitutes at a Portland hotel, advertising their services on backpage.com.  On March 28, Blanchard and Gravely drove the two women, and another Portland woman, from Portland to Boston intending that the three work as prostitutes there.  When they arrived in Boston, Blanchard took two of the women to a downtown street and told them how to attract customers and engage in prostitution.  One of the two women, upon learning what was expected of her, feigned illness, separated herself, and contacted the police.

U.S. Attorney Delahanty commended the cooperation of federal, state and local law enforcement agencies in Maine and Massachusetts that lead to the rescue of these women and the successful prosecution and conviction of the defendant.

The case was investigated by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Homeland Security Investigations, with assistance from the Boston Police Department; the Federal Bureau of Investigation; the Portland, Presque Isle, Old Town, Brunswick and Saco Police Departments; the Maine Drug Enforcement Agency; and Cumberland County Sheriff’s Office.