New York Man and Woman Sentenced for Sex Trafficking of Minors

NORFOLK, Va. – A New York woman was sentenced today to 76 months in prison for sex trafficking of a minor. Her co-defendant, also from New York, was previously sentenced to 30 years in prison for sex trafficking by force, fraud, and coercion.

According to court documents, for at least a decade beginning around 2010, Omel McLean, 54, maintained a group of women and minors based in New York City whom he forced to engage in commercial sex. He controlled them with physical abuse, using a baseball bat and paddles to discipline them, and by providing and restricting their access to illegal controlled substances. McLean commonly required minors he recruited to have sex with him first. He impregnated several of his victims and then further manipulated them by restricting access to their children.

McLean recruited his co-defendant, Antoinette Finklea, 26, when she was herself a minor. Eventually, she supervised the group of women and minors for McLean. She posted advertisements and arranged the commercial sex acts. When she was old enough to travel out of state, she would bring women and minors to the Hampton Roads area, where McLean had a substantial client base.

Jessica D. Aber, U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia; Raymond Villanueva, Special Agent in Charge of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement's Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) Washington, D.C.; Mike Goldsmith, Interim Chief of Norfolk Police; and Paul Neudigate, Chief of Virginia Beach Police, made the announcement after sentencing by U.S. District Judge Raymond A. Jackson.

Assistant U.S. Attorneys Megan Montoya and Rebecca Gantt prosecuted the case.

A copy of this press release is located on the website of the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Eastern District of Virginia. Related court documents and information are located on the website of the District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia or on PACER by searching for Case No. 2:21-cr-50.