Man who ran prostitution ring gets 12-year sentence

DELAWARE, Ohio — A Columbus man will spend 12 years in prison for forcing drug-addicted women into prostitution, a Delaware County judge has ruled.

David Nelms, 40, pleaded guilty in June to running a prostitution ring and giving the women heroin in exchange for the profits.

Officials say he placed escort-service ads on the Internet and ran a traveling brothel that forced women to have sex for money at upscale hotels in Delaware and Franklin counties.

Nelms was indicted in September on 17 counts that included human trafficking. He pleaded guilty to engaging in a pattern of corrupt activity and possessing heroin; both are second-degree felonies. Common Pleas Judge John Bender sentenced Nelms on Friday.

His charges came after the Central Ohio Human Trafficking Task Force received a tip in 2011 that he had been trafficking women for years.

“Mr. Nelms exploited the addictions of these young women for illegal profit,” said Kyle Rohrer, an assistant prosecutor with the Delaware County prosecutor's office. “He left many lives damaged as a result of his actions.”