Cranston Police Officer Receives U.S. Investigative Excellence Award

CRANSTON, RI — A Cranston police officer received a national honor from the U.S. Attorney's Office for his work that led to the prosecution of a Woonsocket man on sex trafficking charges.

Det. Michael Iacone earned the Investigative Excellence Award which recognizes an individual whose actions led directly to the arrest of a dangerous person or exposes a significant criminal conspiracy.

The case, U.S. v. Ronald Hall, was a joint investigation with the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, Massachusetts State Police and Cranston police. The joint investigation led to the successful prosecution of Hall, 49, on four counts of sex trafficking by force, fraud or coercion and one count of transportation of an individual with intent to engage in prostitution.

Hall pleaded guilty to the charges in August 2022 in federal court in Boston.

From 2010 through 2019, Hall used force, threats and coercion to traffic women between Massachusetts, Rhode Island, Connecticut, New Jersey, New York, Florida, and Nevada to engage in prostitution, prosecutors said. He regularly scheduled the victims to engage in prostitution — as much as several times per day, every day of the week — and took almost all the proceeds for himself, using starvation, regular threats of injury, physical abuse, forced intercourse, violent assaults with weapons including knives, belts and bats to maintain control, federal prosecutors said.

Hall targeted women who suffered from substance use disorder and used their drug addictions to coerce them into engaging in prostitution in exchange for drugs, prosecutors said.

Prosecutors said Hall punished victims who did not meet the quotas he set for them by withholding drugs or through violence. He also made some of the victims brand themselves with a tattoo of his nickname, according to prosecutors.

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