DENVER — One of the longest — if not the longest — sentences for a human trafficking conviction in the United States was handed down in Colorado on Thursday afternoon.
Robert Earl Hawkins, 44, of Denver, was sentenced to 448 years in prison for the series of charges against him involving human trafficking of both adults and juveniles. Encompassed within that 448-year sentence are the charges that he will serve concurrently with other charges, which is roughly an extra 200 years.
Denver Chief Deputy District Attorney Lara Mullin said she believes this is the longest sentence for human trafficking in not just Colorado, but the United States.
“This case has been a long journey. It's taken so many years, since originally in 2019 when it started," Mullin said. "I am so impressed with the bravery of the victims involved in this case and their ability to hang in there with us during continuances and pauses in the case. They showed up for trial. They all endured hours of cross-examination and, frankly, accusations that they were liars, that they deserved this, that they liked it, and they walked out of that courtroom with their heads held high, and importantly, the jury believed them, and resoundingly believed them, which is what brought us to this sentencing today.”
A jury found Hawkins guilty in late March on more than a dozen counts, five of which were human trafficking charges. Prosecutors with the Denver District Attorney's Office said the verdict was a long time coming and the charges spanned from 2018 to 2021.
Mullin, the lead prosecutor of the case, said Hawkins was tried for three different but interrelated cases, which consisted of seven victims. All of them testified in court during the trial.
The victims related to trafficking were four adult women and two minors — one of which was 13 years old when she first met Hawkins. The seventh victim, a man, was a sex buyer who was shot after dropping off one of the victims.
In a probable cause statement, one of the victims described Hawkins as "her master" in an interview with investigators. She said, "The girls had to serve Hawkins by doing things like making him meals and making money for him through commercial sex acts." In at least one recorded instance, a victim tried to escape and Hawkins physically assaulted her, the document reads.
"They were also required to make a $5,000 quota to gain Hawkins’ trust. This quota was intended to help pay for a fake identification and birth certificate in order for the girls to travel to and perform sex work in California," the probable cause statement reads.
Authorities began to investigate Hawkins in December 2019. He was arrested on Nov. 9, 2021, in Colorado.
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During Hawkins' 15-day trial, expert witnesses explained the dynamics of human trafficking to inform the jury about power and control and how trauma can make it difficult for victims to leave. After the conviction, Mullin said this case could "end up with the longest human trafficking sentence in the country's history" because Hawkins is a habitual offender.
Hawkins' sentencing began Thursday afternoon and included testimony from victims and their families, as well as final arguments from both the defense and the prosecution.
The defense said they did not have any witnesses to call and asked the court to impose the minimum legal sentence in this case as well as credit for time served. They argued that the victims were "sanitized" and "made to be pure victims."
“They were educated to use the right sociological terms to demonize Mr. Hawkins, the individual solely responsible for their plight…" the defense said. "The truth was a lot more nuanced and grayer.”
The defense said because Hawkins plans to appeal, he would not make a statement in court on Thursday.
Before the trial, prosecutors said Hawkins was offered a deal of 40 years in prison, but he did not accept it. Mullin said in court that the deal was "far less than what Hawkins deserves." She explained that the offer was made to try and help the survivors avoid a trial.
The prosecution stressed that between 1997 and 2023, Hawkins was arrested, cited or detained for investigation of 57 offenses in 22 matters. But they were all dismissed because the alleged victims didn't appear or file charges. Therefore, Hawkins learned he could get away with it, prosecutors said, adding that that cycle has come to an end.
Eight survivors spoke during the sentencing hearing Thursday.
"Being raped daily affects who you are," one victim said. "It affects your body image. It affects your mental capacity to love, to understand what love is… It affects what you see marriage as — whether or not you think you’re worthy of that."
“The problem with predators is they see your innocence, your decency, your child-likeness and they prey upon it," she continued.
Parents of victims also spoke. One mother said her daughter was a smart, successful and ambitious girl when she met Hawkins, and he tried to rip their entire family apart. She said she still does not believe he understands the gravity of his actions.
One victim, who was a young girl when she met Hawkins, said in her written statement that he knew what he was doing. She needed guidance and he took advantage of that. She is still discovering how it has impacted her today.
“I am not broken," she wrote.
Multiple witnesses addressed why they didn't run away from Hawkins. They recalled the threat of violence — including unexpected assaults — that kept them close to him and obeying his demands.
One juvenile victim said she knew it was wrong and that she did not like Hawkins but did not believe she had any other options.
An adult victim said she remembers Hawkins and his associates "made it clear" that he wasn't one to mess with, so she did not try to escape. She was in Denver trying to get home to California to see her sick father and children but didn't have the money. Hawkins picked her up and entrapped her, she said. She said she once worked for 77 days straight, making about $15,000 but only seeing a few hundred dollars.
One of the victims met Hawkins at a party and said he wouldn't let her, and other young women, leave. She said she learned she "was his property now." Every time she tried to run away, she was beaten.
Another woman, who was 19 when she met Hawkins, said she dated him for barely a month before he started to regularly assault her. Under the impression that he loved her, she endured it, she said.
She also recalled the abuse that came when she tried to escape. In one instance, she fled to Houston but somebody Hawkins knew spotted her and alerted him, and he traveled to the city. He managed to find her, snatched her off the sidewalk, dragged her to a hotel room and beat her for hours, she said.
“Eventually you stop trying (to escape) because the beatings were not worth it anymore," she said.
The woman said she did not feel safe to report the crimes until he was in jail and couldn't come for her.
"He’s barely human," she said. "Hearing a guilty verdict felt like freedom.”
One woman said she came forward not because she was vengeful or angry, but because she had learned Hawkins had trapped juveniles the same way he trapped her.
“How dare they have to fight so much just to live?" she said. "That’s not right. I did this for justice and freedom. Nothing more and nothing less... My testimony is I am worthy. And no man gets to touch me or take from me that which I do not give freely.”
A mother of a victim, who was just 13 years old when she disappeared, remembers reuniting with her daughter and how they held each other and cried for hours. The mother told the court that she, and other witnesses, could hear Hawkins' soft remarks that he made during the trial when victims and their family members were on the stand.
A victim said she was forced to work consecutive days until she could barely stand, and then was beaten, starved and degraded. It's only fair for him to have a lengthy consecutive sentence, she said, only he has nowhere to run and nobody to blame but himself.
"That will be his legacy," she said.
The women also reflected on how far they had come since they were freed. One is graduating college and hopes to open a nonprofit to help other human trafficking survivors. Another is an honors student who is working to obtain her master's degree in social work and become a lawyer.
Following a brief recess, Judge Kandace Gerdes imposed the sentence, which she grouped by victims as she read it out loud. Across all of the counts, the total was 448 years in prison. Restitution was not ordered in any of the three cases.
Shortly after the sentencing, Denver District Attorney Beth McCann and others discussed the historic sentencing and answered questions. In the press conference, prosecutors said a 472-year prison sentence out of the 18th Judicial District was reduced, making Hawkins' sentence the assumed longest sentence related to human trafficking in the country.
Watch that press conference below.
Between fiscal year 2020-2021 and 2022-2023, four people were convicted and sentenced for human trafficking - involuntary servitude in Colorado. During that same time frame, 17 people were convicted and sentenced for human trafficking - sexual servitude.
At the time of Hawkins' March conviction, Senate Bill 24-035 had cleared both the Senate and House of Representatives and was in the Senate awaiting consideration of amendments made while in the House. That bill was signed into law by Colorado Gov. Jared Polis on April 11.
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Bipartisan bill seeks minimum mandatory sentences for human trafficking
The law adds human trafficking for involuntary servitude and human trafficking for sexual servitude to the list of crimes of violence and increases the statute of limitations for prosecuting these types of offenses to 20 years. In addition, it extends the statute of limitations for adult human trafficking survivors.
If you or someone you know needs help, you are not alone. You can call Colorado’s Human Trafficking Hotline at 866-455-5075 or text 720-999-9724.
