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SALT LAKE CITY — A Bountiful man has pleaded guilty to trafficking two women and forcing or threatening them into prostitution, saying he exploited a situation where the women were dependent on him.
Michael Joe Ricks, 51, pleaded guilty to two counts of aggravated exploitation of prostitution, a second-degree felony, in addition to two counts of drug possession with intent to distribute and one count of aiding prostitution, class A misdemeanors, earlier this month. He was originally charged with 15 felonies and misdemeanors, but many were dismissed as part of a plea deal.
Investigators say Ricks recruited women already working in the commercial sex industry, then manipulated and controlled them once they began working for him, according to charging documents, including providing drugs to the women.
He admitted to leasing an apartment to one of the women so that she could use it for prostitution.
For each of the drug counts, Ricks admitted to intentionally possessing a different drug — heroin, MDMA and marijuana.
Ricks had no employment history for over 10 years before the charges were filed, but he owns a home. His wife told investigators she thought her husband earned money by managing Airbnb locations, the charges state.
The investigation into Ricks began when a victim contacted police. Charging documents list four victims, but said there were a total of 26 commercial sex workers with connections to Ricks, 13 of whom were identified as victims.
According to one woman, Ricks would arrange "dates" for her using adult websites and provide the woman with a place to meet her clients as well as food and transportation, the charges state. In return, the woman was expected to give Ricks 30% of all profits she made. The woman told police Ricks would threaten her to convince her to perform sex acts "even while sick or not wanting to."
In a separate case but as part of the same plea deal, he pleaded guilty to witness tampering, a third-degree felony, and violating a protective order by contacting a victim, a class A misdemeanor. Charging documents said he contacted a victim through a cellmate who encouraged her to get a new email address. Then he sent emails to the woman in the form of a diary and talked about how disappointed he would be if she were to testify against him.
"I gotta admit I would be hella hurt if (the victim) did (testify)," one email said.
As part of the plea deal, additional charges of witness tampering and violation of protective order charges were dismissed, along with six counts of drug possession filed against him in a separate case in the 2nd District Court.
Ricks also agreed to forfeit his electronic devices, cash and bitcoin that were previously seized by police as part of the investigation. He is scheduled to be sentenced on Jan. 5, 2024.
Patrick Kevin Driscoll, a former Salt Lake City IT employee, is facing trial in a related case and has been accused of aiding Ricks' prostitution and human trafficking activities. Charging documents say he used information he had access to through his job to help Ricks avoid being caught. His next hearing is scheduled for Oct. 24.
