The man who was convicted of running a large-scale drug trafficking operation out of a Detroit motel was sentenced on Wednesday.
Darrick Bell, 55, was sentenced to 28 years in prison. The trial began in April 2022 and ended in June 2022, and the jury convicted Bell on three drug-related crimes. He was acquitted on one count involving sex trafficking and a jury was unable to reach a verdict on the remaining four counts of sex trafficking.
Bell was arrested in Monroe in 2019 after he was on the run for nearly three years.
Watch our report from 2019 after Bell was arrested below
During the trial, prosecutors say they showed evidence of Bell selling drugs to vulnerable women to control them and keep drug customers coming to the Victory Inn.
Witness testimony alleged that Bell employed drug dealers and used enforces to control the inn, and that there was often no vacancy because the rooms were full of women, victims and drug addicts.
WATCH BELOW: Victory Inn human trafficking trial begins; feds call it a 'drug-fueled brother under one roof'
“Today’s sentencing closes a chapter on the house of horrors that was the Victory Inn. Just as the motel was demolished, so too was the drug network Bell had organized and led for nearly a year. Bell’s rein and control over the women living at the Victory Inn was nothing short of abhorrent,” said U.S. Attorney Dawn Ison said in a statement. “Bell’s attempt at evading justice for over two and a half years failed, and he will now spend the next 35 years in prison for his actions.”
“This sentencing is the culmination of years of hard work from the men and women of HSI Detroit,” said HSI Detroit acting Special Agent in Charge Jared Murphey. “I commend the HSI special agents, law enforcement partners, prosecutors, and support personnel who were relentless in their pursuit of justice. We must remain vigilant moving forward and ensure that similar trafficking organizations are promptly reported and dismantled before they can take root in our communities. Lastly and most importantly, it is my hope that this sentence brings some measure of comfort and resolution to the victims in this case.”
According to prosecutors, the investigation resulted in nine people being charged with various drug and human trafficking offenses.
