SPOKANE, WA — A 55-year-old Spokane man with a lengthy criminal history has been convicted of 11 federal felonies connected to sex trafficking, drug trafficking, and unlawful possession of firearms, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Washington .

Following a three-day jury trial, James Anthony Stinson was found guilty of offenses that prosecutors said stemmed from a multi-agency investigation launched in 2021. Authorities began looking into Stinson after a series of controlled purchases of crack cocaine, some of which occurred inside his Spokane Valley hotel room. A subsequent search warrant led investigators to distribution-level quantities of methamphetamine, cocaine, crack cocaine, and fentanyl pills, along with multiple firearms Stinson was prohibited from possessing.

Investigators also uncovered evidence of sex trafficking. According to trial testimony, digital evidence recovered from Stinson’s phones included videos of him threatening and violently assaulting a commercial sex worker. Messages showed what prosecutors described as Stinson’s pattern of force, fraud, and coercion used to compel multiple victims into sex work while generating significant financial profit from the trafficking and drug operations.

At the time of these offenses, Stinson was on federal supervised release. He previously served 132 months in state prison for a cocaine-delivery conviction and later served 120 months in federal prison for unlawful possession of a firearm as a drug user.

U.S. Attorney Pete Serrano said Stinson “exploited multiple vulnerable women,” calling him “a violent predator with a lengthy criminal history.” FBI Seattle Special Agent in Charge W. Mike Herrington said the investigation revealed “even more crimes, all of them harmful to the public,” noting Stinson’s return to criminal activity following prior convictions.

The case was investigated by the FBI Spokane Child Exploitation/Human Trafficking Task Force, with assistance from the Spokane County Sheriff’s Office and Spokane Police Department. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Rebecca R. Perez and Lisa Cartier-Giroux prosecuted the case.

Stinson’s sentencing date has not yet been announced.