‘Poor man’s Hugh Hefner’ faces 205 years in jail

WASHINGTON: An alleged humantrafficker in the US is facing more than 200 years in prison after he was accused of holding eight women captive.

Kenndric Roberts, 33, lured the women online to a rented US$1 million (RM4.4 million) home in Atlanta, Georgia, with the promise of modelling work.

But police said that the alleged gang member instead made the women work at strip clubs while pocketing their earnings – and threatened to kill or mutilate them if they fled.

According to NBC News, police reported a claim by one woman that Kendrick had threatened her on numerous occasions including one instance “where he stated he was going to pay someone to cut her chest open, take out the implants and cut her up”.

Robert’s lawyer, Mike Maloof, told a court his client was a “poor man’s Hugh Hefner” and that the women had not been forced to stay, NBC reported.

“If you felt threatened, why didn’t you leave on such and such a day? One of the women went on vacation with her mother. He gave them US$1,000 to fly out. That’s not somebody being held against their will,” Maloof told reporters.

A judge dismissed a number of charges against Roberts on Thursday but a grand jury chose to indict him the following day.

He faces trafficking, false imprisonment and firearms charges, and a total of 205 years behind bars if convicted.

Police said he made the women, aged from 19 to 22, get gang tattoos.

“I’m in a really bad situation and I need to get out. I was planning on leaving today,” one of the women told a 911 emergency operator.

Her “boss” threatened to kill her, the 20year-old added. – The Independent