A Sandy Springs man indicted for human trafficking, imprisonment and other charges said he’s being falsely imprisoned because of his race.
“I sit falsely imprisoned because I’m a black man who had dealings with white women,” Kenndric Roberts, 34, said in a recorded jailhouse statement, which was obtained by Channel 2 Action News on Tuesday.
Roberts has been in jail since March 2017 when Sandy Springs police arrested him after receiving a 911 call from a woman living inside his home that she was being held against her will.
Eight women were removed from the house, six of whom indicated they were being held against their will, police said.
“Bluntly speaking, I'm an African-American man involved in legitimate business endeavors with Caucasian women who are being portrayed as victims,” Roberts said. “Thus, I sit shackled.”
Detectives said the women were forced to dance at local strip clubs, according to a news release. The money they earned was given to Roberts, who his attorney Mike Maloof Sr. referred to as a “poor man’s Hugh Hefner.”
Two weeks after the arrest, a judge dropped most of the serious charges against Roberts because she believed the dispute was likely civil since the women had work contracts with Roberts as models, Channel 2 reported.
However, Fulton County District Attorney Paul Howard recharged Roberts the following day with six counts of trafficking a person for labor servitude, six counts of false imprisonment, two counts of possession of a firearm during commission of/or attempt to commit certain crimes and participation in criminal street gang activity.
Howard would not comment to Channel 2 about Roberts’ allegations or newly released statement. A court hearing for Roberts is scheduled for later this month.
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