Bond remains set at $100,000 for a 48-year-old California man who has been charged with human trafficking.

Bryan Davis, who appeared via interactive television from the Ward County Jail, represented himself at a bond reduction hearing before Judge Todd Cresap. Davis said he wanted his bond to be lowered to something under $50,000.

“I’d like it to be lower so I can get out,” said Davis.

He said he has a niece living in Minot whom he can stay with while he prepares to fight the human trafficking charges, both Class A felonies. However, Davis could not give Cresap his niece’s street address and was not able to spell her last name.

The prosecuting attorney opposed lowering bond, noting that Davis has a long criminal record dating back to 1984 and is also facing federal drug charges. He also has a history of parole violations and failure to appear at court hearings, according to the state. Davis also had to be extradited back to North Dakota to face the human trafficking charges. She said Davis also does not appear to have close ties to the community.

Cresap declined to lower Davis’s bond.

“That’s crazy!” said Davis, as he stood up to leave.

According to court records, the charges date back to April, when a police officer arrested a woman on outstanding warrants. As he tried to take the woman into the jail, she fled from him but was caught a short distance away. The woman told the officer that she fled out of fear of her life. She told police that she was being forced into prostitution by a man she identified as “Bryan” or “B.”

The woman was interviewed in the Ward County Jail and told officers that she came to Minot from Wisconsin a year earlier, looking for legitimate work. She said she met “B” about a month after her arrival and that he had been “pimping” her in Minot, Williston and Dickinson ever since. She claimed that two other women were also being prostituted by Davis, one of whom had left the lifestyle. Later, she told police that Davis’s girlfriend, Regina Lehman, 43, was also involved. The woman claimed Lehman set up “dates” for the women being prostituted on the website Backpage.com. Lehman allegedly took photos of the women who were used in the Backpage.com ads and paid for the ads with gift cards. The woman said her clients paid $150 for one half hour and $250 for an hour. The woman told police she gave most of the money she received after a “date” to Davis or to Lehman, but was allowed to keep about $30. She said she was expected to make $1,000 per day. The woman claimed she is typically housed at a hotel, usually a Select Inn or Days Inn, but doesn’t pay for a room.

The woman claimed that Davis promised to keep her safe and told her she could not make it without him. When she did not do as he told her or didn’t make enough money, she told police he became physically abusive to her. She told police she sometimes worked in Williston and Dickinson and traveled to those towns with Davis or Lehman in a rental car. The woman also claimed that Davis and Lehman provided her with heroin and meth and she paid them for drugs. The two other women were also supplied with drugs, she said.

According to court records, police obtained hotel records showing that Davis and Lehman had rented hotel rooms several times throughout the last year, using the same Minot address as a home address.

A preliminary hearing and arraignment is scheduled at 9:30 a.m. Sept. 25 before North Central District Judge Doug Mattson.

Charges have been filed against Lehman and an arrest warrant has been issued on the human trafficking charges.

A Class A felony charge carries the possibility of up to 20 years in prison and up to a $10,000 fine.