A respected name, a Florida home, and shocking allegations of trafficking connections. The Mike Mearan human trafficking scandal continues to rock Southern Ohio. Investigative records reviewed by SCDN show that Mearan wasn’t acting alone — and new names are surfacing of men who allegedly took part in exploiting vulnerable women.
Albert Schaub’s name surfaced in investigative files through the testimony of Victim I and Victim J. They say Schaub, introduced to them by Mike Mearan, had sex with multiple women, even flying them to his summer home in Lehigh Acres, Florida.
Detectives interviewed Schaub in Michigan, and while he admitted to having sex with women Mearan brought around, he denied paying for it directly. Instead, he admitted to sending women money regularly and letting Mearan stay at his Florida property for free. Photos Schaub shared with detectives showed women taken at his Florida home.
That proximity to Southwest Florida International Airport, just 10 miles away, draws chilling comparisons to how Jeffrey Epstein used travel and luxury properties to control victims.
Why it matters: This case shows that trafficking from Southern Ohio wasn’t just a local scandal—it reached across state lines. Money flowed, women were flown out, and men in positions of power were protected.
