American football coach caught in human trafficking operation in Tennessee

Anti-human trafficking operations in Tennessee have resulted in nine arrests this month, including that of a local college football coach.

The Tennessee Bureau of Investigation said it arrested six people in central and western Tennessee and three others in a separate operation in eastern Tennessee.

They also picked up nine potential sex trafficking victims and offered them services through a victim support organization. TBI said the operations focused on “individuals seeking to engage in commercial sex acts with minors.”

Patrick Kugler, 29, an assistant coach at Austin Peay State University and a former University of Michigan player, was arrested. Kugler abruptly resigned from his position on Aug. 18, several days before the TBI announced the arrests. He played for the Wolverines football team from 2013 to 2017, earning All Big 10 honorable mention honors his senior year, according to WDIV.

Kugler was one of six men arrested during the two-day operation that began Aug. 16. He was charged with trafficking for the purpose of sexual slavery and ordered held on $5,000 bail.

Austin Peay released a statement saying he was aware of Kugler’s arrest but had no further comment.

Kugler was arrested in Clarksville, along with Dashaun Ramey (trafficking for sex slavery), James Francis (promoting prostitution), and Anthony Rice (trafficking for sex slavery). Franklin Poe was arrested in Memphis on two counts of trafficking for sex slavery, and Andre Johnson was arrested in Fort Campbell, Kentucky, on multiple charges including solicitation of a minor and trafficking for sex slavery.

In Johnson City, Dwight Rooker was charged with trafficking for a commercial sex act and solicitation of a minor, Joseph Payne was charged with two counts of trafficking for a commercial sex act and Joshua Johnson was charged with one count of trafficking for a commercial sex act.

The Johnson City operation began on August 21 and ended two days later.

In both operations, agents posted “decoy advertisements on websites known to be linked to prostitution and the sex trade.”

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(Featured Image: Patrick Kugler/Austin Peay State University)