A man from Rockford, Minn., has been charged with a felony in Chicago for forcing his wife into prostitution, setting up sexual encounters in eight states.

The 32-year-old man was charged with felony pandering by the Cook County, Ill., sheriff's office after being arrested Sunday night at a downtown Chicago hotel. He was arrested when he arrived at the hotel where his wife spent the weekend having sex with strangers, the sheriff's office reported.

He was being held on $150,000 bail Wednesday.

According to the woman's account to investigators, the man threatened to take away or hurt their 3-year-old daughter to force her into having sex.

The man regularly posted ads on Craigslist offering his wife to other men and trafficked her in eight different states. It was not immediately clear if Minnesota was one of those states. When the woman was paid for sex acts, the man demanded that she deposit the payments in his bank account.

State sentencing records show that the man has served jail terms for drug violations, burglary and lottery ticket fraud, most recently in Hennepin County in 2002.

Cook County Sheriff Tom Dart, who announced the charges Wednesday, has long assailed Craigslist as an online enabler of prostitution.

About a year ago, Dart sued Craigslist and asked a federal judge to ban the Internet company from posting its "erotic services" section. At the time, he called the ad service "the single largest source of prostitution in the nation."

The suit was thrown out last October. Craigslist officials have defended the site, saying they routinely cooperate with law enforcement agencies and monitor the site closely to prevent any illegal activity.

Meanwhile, Craigslist CEO Jim Buckmaster wouldn't comment Wednesday on the specifics of the Chicago arrest. But he said Craigslist works with law enforcement when called upon to help solve and prosecute crimes.

He also warns that using Craigslist for criminal purposes "is extremely unwise" because it leads to an electronic trail.