A Texas man convicted on human trafficking charges in Colorado could spend the rest of his life in prison, according to court records.
Arapahoe County District Court Judge Joseph Whitfield sentenced Kenneth Noel, 34, on Friday to 36 years to life in prison, according to a news release from the 18th Judicial District Attorney’s Office.
An Arapahoe County jury found Noel guilty in February on four felony charges: attempted human trafficking of a minor, human trafficking of an adult, pimping and child sexual assault, court records show.
Whitfield sentenced Noel to 16 years in the Department of Corrections for attempted human trafficking of a minor, 14 years for human trafficking of an adult to be served consecutively and 12 years for pimping to be served concurrently, 18th Judicial District Attorney Public Information Officer Eric Ross said. Together, that’s 30 years in prison.
The judge also gave Noel an “indeterminate sentence” of 6 years to life for the child sexual assault conviction, which leaves Noel’s release up to a parole board, according to court records.
Noel was arrested in June 2020 when a Colorado State Patrol trooper pulled his car over on Interstate 70 for driving in the left lane with no traffic. In Colorado, drivers on I-70 should stay in the right lane unless passing another car or avoiding a hazard.
Two 14-year-old girls in the car told the trooper they were traveling to Las Vegas to work as strippers, but he noticed they were headed in the wrong direction, the release stated. When the trooper continued to ask questions, one of the girls told him that Noel had sexually assaulted her.
Investigators linked Noel to multiple human trafficking operations, including online sexual advertisements that exploited another woman in the car who was driving at the time of the traffic stop. The sex ads appeared in cities across the country, according to the news release.
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Anyone can report suspected human trafficking to Colorado’s designated hotline by calling 866-455-5075 or texting “HELP” to 720-999-9724.
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