DENVER—A man whose body was found Monday in a fire-gutted home in the Denver suburb of Englewood was scheduled to be sentenced on a sex crime the same day.
The Arapahoe County coroner’s office on Tuesday identified the man found dead by firefighters as Todd Allen Powell, 45. The cause of death was not released.
The fire started early Monday. Powell was to appear in Denver Court for sentencing later that day after pleading guilty in January to running a pimping operation, The Denver Post reported on its Web site.
Denver district attorney spokeswoman Lynn Kimbrough says Powell was to receive probation in the case as part of a plea agreement.
Powell and two co-defendants—Hong Tang, 28, and Baizhuang Pan, 32—were convicted of running a large prostitution ring in Denver after a two-year investigation by the Denver Police Department vice bureau.
The ring used Web sites to solicit customers and arranged meetings with prostitutes at Denver motels, court records said.
Tang and Pan pleaded guilty to violating the organized crime control act and pimping, and are serving prison sentences, Tang for four years and Pan two years, Kimbrough said. The two are Chinese nationals and will be deported after completing their terms.
Englewood Detective Ace Rowley said there is “no evidence to suggest” that the fire was connected to the pimping case. The blaze remains under investigation.
———
Information from: The Denver Post,
