Four Involved in Marion, Cedar Rapids Prostitution Sting Plead Guilty

Four of 37 people involved in a prostitution sting in Marion and Cedar Rapids have pleaded guilty.

Those four — Steven R Baker, David R. Collins, Emma L. Beadel and Stephen Baxley — pleaded guilty to prostitution in Linn County Court Wednesday.

Each received a $625 fine, a deferred sentence and unsupervised probation, with the exception of Baxley, who did not receive a fine, according to the Gazette.

The other 33 charged in the case have either pleaded not guilty and are set to stand trial, while others have pleaded guilty as well.

The original incident took place after police posed as prostitutes and 'johns' — prostitute customers — on an undisclosed website — and resulted in a three-day sting that took place in a hotel in Cedar Rapids and another in Marion.

40 arrests were made — 37 of which were for prostitution — by over 20 law enforcement agencies.

The idea for the sting was hatched after police discovered information on a previous sting in Marion.