Update, Sept. 2, 2025: Charges have been “nolle” dismissed and expunged for one of the six defendants. The article has been updated to remove his name.
Update, Aug. 27, 2025: One of the defendants in the case has been sentenced. Patrick Kugler pleaded guilty to solicitation of a minor/aggravated statutory rape, according to Montgomery County court records. He was sentenced to four years of judicial diversion and has been added to the sex offender registry.
Previously:
CLARKSVILLE, TN (CLARKSVILLE NOW) – Six men were arrested in Clarksville during an undercover TBI human trafficking investigation, which included a former assistant coach with the Austin Peay State University football team.
Over a two-day period, with the undercover operation starting on Aug. 16, which aimed to address human trafficking in the Montgomery County area, officers placed several decoy advertisements on websites known to be linked to prostitution and commercial sex.
“The focus of the operation was to identify individuals seeking to engage in commercial sex acts with minors,” said a Tennessee Bureau of Investigation news release. As a result of the operation, six men were arrested and booked into the Montgomery County Jail:
- Patrick Kugler, 29, Clarksville. Charges: One count Trafficking for Sexual Servitude. Kugler had been the co-offensive coordinator for the APSU Govs. He has resigned his position.
- Dashuan Ramey, 32, Clarksville. Charges: One count Trafficking for Sexual Servitude.
- 43-year-old man, Clarksville. Charges: One count Promoting Prostitution.
- Anthony Rice, 32, Clarksville. Charges: Two counts Trafficking for Sexual Servitude.
- Andre Johnson, 34, Fort Campbell. Charges: One count each Possession of Firearm during Commission of Dangerous Felony, Solicitation of a Minor, Trafficking for Sexual Servitude.
- Franklin Poe, 25, Memphis. Charges: Two counts Trafficking for Sexual Servitude.
In addition, another part of the operation was an effort to identify human trafficking victims, and law enforcement officials did so by reaching out to the ads that had been placed on websites linked to prostitution and commercial sex ads. Seven potential victims of human trafficking were uncovered and were offered services through an HT victim service organization, according to the news release.
The following law enforcement agencies were involved in the undercover operation, which included special agents with the TBI’s Human Trafficking Unit, along with the Tennessee Human Trafficking Task Force, Homeland Security, the Clarksville Police Department and the Office of the 19th Judicial District Attorney, Robert Nash. For more on human trafficking, go to www.ITHasToStop.com.
