NEWS

Human-trafficking victims sue Salisbury hotel

Jeremy Cox
jcox6@dmg.gannett.com
An exterior view of America's Best Value Inn on North Salisbury Boulevard on Wednesday, Feb. 22, 2017.

One by one, they were plucked off the street, and their captors would plunge them, against their will, into the sordid business of prostitution.

The human-trafficking ring's leaders would dress them in lingerie and take their photographs inside rooms at a Salisbury hotel barely three blocks away from a Maryland State Police barrack. The pictures were immediately posted to the internet, advertising the women to would-be johns under pseudonyms such as "Sugar" and "Sunshine."

Business was brisk, but the women held captive were never paid.

The owners of the America's Best Value Inn, which was the site of the 2014 human-trafficking bust, knew or should have known what was happening and tried to stop it, the victims allege in new civil lawsuits. The hotel's local owner denies that anyone had any knowledge of the crimes before police descended on the property, and says she did everything within her power to shield guests from harm.

The four victims in the case filed separate lawsuits Friday in Wicomico County Circuit Court, detailing how they were forced against their will to work as prostitutes. The criminal activity took place at several hotels from June through November 2014, but the America's Best Value Inn at 2625 N. Salisbury Blvd. was the "primary headquarters," according to the lawsuits.

The hotel had a duty to exercise "reasonable and ordinary care" to keep the property safe and protect the victims from an injury "caused by an unreasonable risk," according to the lawsuits.

“These women were truly victimized," said Michael Belsky, the Baltimore attorney representing the women. “The events that were happening were at least highly suspicious if not utterly evident to the owners or the workers at the hotel, and yet they did nothing.”

READ MORE: Arrests made, heroin seized, in OC prostitution ring

The suits name as defendants Subh Properties LLC, the hotel's local owner, and Vantage Hospitality Group, the parent company of the America's Best Value Inn brand.

Kala "Kelly" Patel, the hotel's owner and general manager, said she isn't sure why the victims and their attorneys are singling out her establishment when several other hotels were used as part of the ring. The lawsuits mention that some of the illegal activities took place at another hotel in Salisbury, one in Princess Anne and a third in Dover.

Patel and her staff take pains to report any suspicious activity to authorities, she said.

“I’m glad we caught him because when the official told us at the desk, we were completely shocked," Patel said.

No one affiliated with the hotel itself was ever charged with a crime related to the incident.

Patel said she was especially upset with how the crime and its legal ripple effects might affect her reputation. She and her husband raised their children in a conservative atmosphere that held dating and marriage in grave respect, she said.

She also values hard work. Her work days often start at 8 a.m. and don't end until 11 p.m., she said. She keeps a close eye on the property at all times, she added.

Last September, Red Lion Hotels Corp. acquired the brands once operated by Vantage. The company said Friday it had not seen the lawsuits but that it takes "the issue of fighting human trafficking very seriously" and works to educate independent owners about recognizing the signs of trafficking and reporting it.

Americas Best Value Inn on North Salisbury Boulevard is named in a lawsuit alleging its owners or staff should have taken action against a human-trafficking ring being operated under its roof in 2014.

A struggle with crime

The America's Best Value Inn location has struggled with crime in recent years.

In 2014 and 2015, Salisbury police officers visited the hotel property an average of once every five days, according to a Daily Times analysis of police reports at the time.

Two cases stuck out: the August 2015 shooting death of a Fruitland teenager after a late-night party and the November 2014 human-trafficking bust.

BACKGROUND: The Americas Best Value Inn in Salisbury has been a frequent target of police visits.

MORE BACKGROUND: The Best Value Inn's owner reacts to high-profile crime reports on her premises.

Police charged four men and one woman in connection with the prostitution ring. The acts were so galling that the ringleader, Cornelius Briddell, was sentenced to 145 years in prison. Briddell, now 38, is serving time at Western Correctional Institution in Cumberland, Maryland.

Now, the victims of the crime want to turn the legal spotlight on its setting.

The cases refer to each of the women by the pseudonym "Jane Doe," numbering them 1 to 4, to protect their identity. The Daily Times does not identify victims of sex crimes.

The suits recount much of the harrowing narrative previously outlined in criminal proceedings.

During those five months in 2014, the ring brought its unwilling captives, one by one, mainly two to two rooms at the Americas Best Value Inn, according to the lawsuits. The primary methods for ensuring compliance included drugging the women with heroin and threats of violence.

READ MORE: Salisbury human trafficking event reveals harsh truths

The women say they were forced to wear lingerie for pictures posted to the online classifieds service Backpage.com. Soon, men started showing up to have sex with the women. Afterward, the men would pay a member of the ring, with no money going to the women, according to the lawsuits.

There were several ways the hotel's management or workers should have caught on to what was going on, the lawsuits allege.

Some of the drug and prostitution deals were made in the parking lot not far from the facility's front desk. It also should have been a red flag to staff that the ring would rent rooms for days at a time, refusing housekeeping services all the while, according to the legal complaint. The ring's operators also would only accept towels by "slightly opening" the doors to the rooms they were renting.

Patel disputes the assertion that the group's behavior should have been concerning. It's not uncommon for people to book rooms for extended periods or to refuse maid service, she said.

“We cannot force them" to let staff members inside the room, Patel said.

The lawsuits also point to online comments left by patrons on travel websites in the months and years leading up to the raid that complain of prostitution and drug transactions on its grounds.

"Upon information and belief, despite such notice, no investigations were performed by the defendants, and there was no effort to correct the glaring danger on the premises," Jane Doe No. 1's attorneys said in her lawsuit.

In accordance with Maryland law, the documents don't call for a specific amount of monetary damages.

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On Twitter @Jeremy_Cox