HENRICO COUNTY, Va. -- In a jailhouse interview, a Maryland man vigorously denied kidnapping and prostitution charges made by Henrico prosecutors who alleged he traveled between four states, including Virginia, with seven women. The women, prosecutors said, had sex for money and gave Hicks the cash.
“I’m not a pimp… That’s not in my walk of life,” Tyrone Hicks, who is from Bowie, Maryland but was arrested in Henrico, said from inside the Henrico County Jail.
Hicks was arrested in Innsbrook at the Extended Stay America hotel in April, according to court records.
Tyrone Hicks
Records showed Hicks was found inside his Mercedes Benz parked just outside room 311. Court records showed Hicks said he did not have any income.
"I’m blessed," he said when asked how he could afford a luxury vehicle without an income.
Investigators said a man with Hicks at the time of his arrest who was allegedly visiting one of Hicks’ prostitutes advertised on backpage.com.
backpage.com
Among Hicks’ charges are kidnapping and abduction, although prosecutors said the prostitutes initially went with Hicks willingly. But, prosecutors said once the alleged prostitutes worked for Hicks, they could not leave. The court documents showed the alleged prostitute told police Hicks abused her and other prostitutes, and she was scared to leave.
“I’ve never abused anybody, especially not a prostitute cuz I don’t deal with them,” Hicks said.
Hicks said the woman was just a friend of a friend who was driving one of his cars for him, and did not work for him.
He said he “didn’t know” she was a prostitute.
Tyrone Hicks
Police records showed Hicks allegedly recruited prostitutes from inside the Henrico Jail while making jailhouse phone calls.
Those records showws Hicks allegedly referred the woman to his social media pages to see what he looked like.
Hicks said he made calls from the jail to “females that I know of course, but not on any type level that they’re accusing.”
Court documents showed the alleged prostitute found at the Extended Stay America hotel was taken to a shelter for sex trafficking victims for rehabilitation.
Tyrone Hicks and WTVR CBS6 reporter Melissa Hipolit.
