A Douglas County district court judge has imposed a human trafficking sentence that is the second-longest in state history.
Judge Theresa Slade ordered Oct. 8 that Chauncey Price, 30, be confined to the state penitentiary for 304 years to life.
“This is not a normal sentence, but this was not a normal crime,” Slade said as she imposed the punishment.
Price was convicted of 10 crimes, including organized crime activities, trafficking a minor for sexual servitude, human trafficking for sexual servitude, and pandering of a child.
Price drew the attention of law enforcement officers in January 2017. He and an associate were identified as counterfeiting suspects. Shortly thereafter a Lone Tree police detective received information that Price was also engaged in forcing adult women and a teenage girl to act as prostitutes against their will at hotels located in Denver and Douglas County. To do this Price used both actual physical violence and a firearm. He also threatened the life of one of the victim’s sisters if she did not sell sex for him.
Among the ways that Price advertised the availability of prostitutes was the placement of ads on the Backpage website, which has since been shut down by the U.S. government as part of an investigation into child sex trafficking.
Prosecutors proved that Price had forced two adult women and one juvenile into prostitution.
In addition to counterfeiting and pimping, Price and his co-conspirators also committed several acts of credit card fraud.
Price is known to authorities as a member of the Denver-based Park Hill Bloods, a criminal gang. He had also previously been convicted of four other felonies, including two burglaries.
Five of Price’s associates were also convicted of a variety of crimes and sentenced to jail time. They include Michael Edward Hughes, who was found guilty of pimping and received a sentence of five years in a Department of Corrections facility. and Jai La Broadus, convicted of pandering and sentenced to one year of imprisonment with a deferred judgment.
George Brauchler, the district attorney in the 18th District, applauded the sentence given to Price.
“Traffickers trade in flesh and destroy souls, by using up their victims to further their criminal enterprises, with no regard whatsoever for the lives of fellow human beings,” he said. “What possible rehabilitation can there be for someone who repeatedly and wantonly engages in this inhuman conduct?”
— Hank Lacey