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UTAH STATE PRISON — A man who pleaded guilty to human trafficking earlier this year has now told the Utah Board of Pardons and Parole that he is innocent.
“It just didn’t happen,” Travis Gentry, 47, said in a recording of the Sept. 10 hearing.
In December 2017, Gentry got into a dispute with a woman who allegedly owed him money, according to charging documents.
Starting on Dec. 12, Gentry held the woman “against her will” for two days and during that time threatened her by saying he “would force her to engage in commercial sex in order to make money for him,” the charges state.
The woman was raped in Cedar City and Salt Lake City, the charges state. She was able to escape when Gentry fell asleep, police say.
In January, Gentry agreed to a plea deal, pleading guilty to human trafficking, a second-degree felony, and aggravated exploitation of a prostitute, a third-degree felony. He was sentenced to a term of one to 15 years in the Utah State Prison on the human trafficking conviction. He was also sentenced to one year in jail for the second charge but was given credit for the year he had already served in custody. But because of the conviction of aggravated exploitation of a prostitution, Gentry will be required to become a registered sex offender.
A parole hearing is typically a time when convicted offenders acknowledge their mistakes to the pardons board and talk about what they’ve been doing while incarcerated to prepare themselves to become a contributing member of society again.
But Gentry’s hearing turned into an almost trial-like atmosphere with Gentry and his victim giving completely opposite accounts of the same incident. Several times, hearing officer Jim Hatch had to remind Gentry that he wasn't there to relitigate the case.
“This isn’t court. You’ve already been convicted,” Hatch said at one point.
Still, Gentry insisted that most of what is in his reports that the board is given when considering whether to grant a person parole is wrong.
“I don’t feel that’s painting a true picture of me. ... All of that has proven not to be true. If all of that was true, I would not be sitting here in front of you for one felony. I believe that there would probably be a whole bunch more,” he argued. “I’m guilty of making vulgar threats to her about her stealing my money and trying to get my money back. Nowhere in any of that time was anyone ever kidnapped.
“There’s a whole other part of this story that hasn’t been brought up to this point,” Gentry continued. “I think there was a ton of evidence to support that the story wasn’t true, physical evidence that should have been there that wasn’t there. It just simply did not happen, period. ... There was no kidnapping. There was certainly no sexual assaults.”
Gentry said he was in a dark place and under a lot of pressure to take the plea deal, and at the time felt that prison would be a more positive atmosphere for him than the Salt Lake County Jail.
When asked if he has any empathy at all for the victim, Gentry said he did, but then turned the conversation back to himself.
“I feel terrible for her and our situation. It makes me sick. It takes my breath sometimes when I let myself realize that I’m in here again — in freakin’ prison again over, I don’t even know what, honestly. I mean, honestly.”
I’m guilty of making vulgar threats to her about her stealing my money and trying to get my money back. Nowhere in any of that time was anyone ever kidnapped.
Gentry further stated that was was “stunned” when he read his report and learned he would become a registered sex offender.
“I don’t feel like I’m a sex offender,” he said.
The woman, whom KSL has chosen not to name, also spoke to the board.
Both Gentry and the woman actually agreed that they would both like the parole board to have additional information about the case. But while he believes additional information will exonerate him, the victim believes it will show that the plea deal was not harsh enough.
“I feel like the only charge Travis did not commit was the one he was convicted on. The rest of the charges, I’m still baffled that we didn’t go to trial because there was plenty of evidence and I feel he absolutely should have been convicted by a jury,” the woman said.
If someone can’t even acknowledge what they’ve done wrong, then there’s not really any hope for them.
“I didn’t deserve what happened and he absolutely did take me against my will. He absolutely sexually assaulted me. … He tortured me. He spit food in my face. He tormented me for those days. He threatened to rape and kill my grandkids over and over. It’s by far the most horrific thing I’ve ever been through in my life. It’s changed me forever. The only way to describe it is I feel like my soul has been damaged,” she continued. “If someone can’t even acknowledge what they’ve done wrong, then there’s not really any hope for them.”
The woman claimed Gentry has said he would seek revenge if he is released. She ended her comments by telling the board that if they let him out, “You are signing my death certificate.”
When asked if he had any response to her comments, Gentry again denied the woman’s claims.
“I just feel like it was one-sided. I’m not comfortable with her still taking that position,” he said.
The full five-member board will now vote on whether to grant Gentry a parole date.
