A man whose body was found in a burned-out Englewood home Monday was scheduled to be in Denver court the same day to be sentenced on a sex crime.
The body of Todd Allen Powell, 45, was found in a fire-gutted home at 3750 S. Cherokee St. by Englewood firefighters.
The fire started at about 1:45 a.m. and Powell, who pleaded guilty in January to running a pimping operation, a felony, was to appear in Denver Court to be sentenced.
As part of a plea agreement with Denver prosecutors, Powell was to receive probation in the case, said Lynn Kimbrough, a spokeswoman with the Denver District Attorney’s Office.
“He was not facing a prison sentence,” Kimbrough said.
Powell and two co-defendants were convicted of running a large prostitution ring, which used more than 50 prostitutes, some of whom were children, after a two-year investigation by the Denver Police Department Vice Bureau.
Hong Tang, 28, and Baizhuang Pan, 32, also pleaded guilty in the prostitution case and are serving prison sentences, Tang for four years and Pan two years, Kimbrough said.
The pair, Chinese nationals, pleaded guilty to violating the organized crime control act and pimping. They’ll be deported after serving their sentence.
The Arapahoe County Coroner’s Office on Tuesday identified Powell as the man found in the fire; Englewood authorities investigating the fire confirmed he’s the same man who was convicted in the Denver pimping case.
“There’s no evidence to suggest the cases in any way are connected,” said Englewood Det. Ace Rowley.
The fire remains under investigation, Rowley said, and Englewood authorities did not disclose how the blaze started.
The coroner’s office would not say how Powell died, whether the fire caused his death or if he had died in some other manner.
Powell assisted Tang and Pan, who ran a Denver prostitution ring under the names BDG Enterprises, Blue Diamond Girls, and Denver Sexy, according to court documents.
The ring used several Internet websites to solicit customers, the indictment in the case said, and customers called posted phone numbers to arrange meetings with prostitutes at various Denver motels.
Kieran Nicholson: 303-954-1822 or knicholson@denverpost.com.
