DENVER — A Colorado man was sentenced to 20 years in prison after he was convicted of human trafficking and other charges.
Steven Allen Contee, of Broomfield, was sentenced for the crimes on Tuesday, according to the Federal Bureau of Investigation.
According to the FBI, Contee would lure boys who were vulnerable and homeless to his house to work for his construction business. Contee would offer them drugs and commercially sexually exploit them.
Contee was arrested in March 2020 and was charged with multiple counts of human trafficking of a minor for sexual servitude, human trafficking of a minor for involuntary servitude, distribution of a controlled substance to a minor (Schedule 1), possession of a weapon by a previous offender, and human trafficking of an adult for involuntary servitude.
He pleaded guilty in Adams County District Court on Oct. 25, 2021.
On Tuesday, he was sentenced to 20 years in prison. He will also have to register as a sex offender.
During his sentencing, victims provided the following statements:
- “I saw how he targeted us, he would use drugs to manipulate...he would force us into things that were awful and we all complied because if you don’t do as Steve says, there (are) always violent consequences.”
- “My time with Steven — I genuinely thought I would die soon because everyone Steven put around me, all of it made us feel unsafe. He always kept me high on drugs because he saw he could take advantage of me when I was high and easily control me. I remember one time when he couldn’t control me he dragged me to a field and held a gun to my head, so it became easier to just do what he said. Ideally, I would like three life sentences for the three lives he messed up. I know this isn’t possible, but he deserves it.”
Judge Robert W. Kiesnowski, Jr. told Contee that while he is well-spoken, his personality is sociopathic.
"You caught these victims in your web," Kiesnowski said. "You left a path of wreckage for these people. Only thing I can do is make you pay with years of your life and it still won’t fill the holes for these victims. The public needs to know if someone is going to do this, there will be severe consequences.”
The FBI Denver Division worked with the 17th Judicial District Attorney’s Office to investigate and prosecute the case. The district attorney's office is a member of the Human Trafficking Multidisciplinary Team, which works to identify individuals who are at high risk of being trafficked.