Siblings Sentence For Forced Prostitution

A 27-year-old St. Louis County woman has been sentenced to 10 years in prison in a sex trafficking case in which her brother had already received a similar sentence.

Federal prosecutors say Carla Mathews of Breckenridge Hills and her brother Carl Matthews forced two area women to engage in prostitution, keeping the money paid to the pair while confiscating the victims' food-stamp cards and beating them up as a means to exert control.

Carla Mathews pleaded guilty in October 2013 to conspiracy to commit sex trafficking by force, fraud or coercion and was sentenced on Monday. Her brother also received a 10-year prison sentence in an earlier proceeding.