BAKERSFIELD, Calif. (KGET) — A 33-year-old man was sentenced to 19 years and seven months in prison for sex trafficking of two minors at the Desert Star Motel in 2019, U.S. Department of Justice officials in Fresno said.
Darnell Bernard Edwards, of Antioch, pleaded guilty to charges in December.
Edwards took two underage girls to the motel and other locations in California and ordered them to make $500 a day through prostitution in April and May 2019, according to US DOJ officials and court filings.
The girls had the letter “D” and a crown tattooed on their bodies, indicating they were being pimped by Edwards, according to documents.
Bakersfield police and federal authorities raided the Desert Star Motel in January 2021 after two years of investigation, officials said. Kern County District Attorney Cynthia Zimmer called the motel “a modern day brothel” following the raid.
Video from previous coverage in the player above.
