A defense attorney for human trafficking suspect Richard Hugh Spain, 46, is arguing that his alleged victim, a 39- or 40-year-old woman who worked as a prostitute at Minot hotels last year, was a willing participant.

Spain pleaded not guilty to the Class A felony human trafficking charge on Tuesday after Judge Stacy Louser found probable cause to let the case move forward.

The state alleges that Spain and his co-defendant, Andrea Beck, 37, forced the woman to prostitute herself to pay for room, board, and drugs in the spring of 2017. Beck allegedly set up the “dates” online at different hotels in the state and booked hotel rooms and Spain transported the woman to and from the hotels and collected the money from her after she returned from an encounter. The alleged victim told authorities that she gave all her money to Spain and was never allowed to keep any of the proceeds.

According to the testimony given by Minot Police Sgt. Krista Mattice at the preliminary hearing, the allegations first came to light when the alleged victim was staying at a domestic violence shelter and filed a report that someone had stolen her EBT card. The investigating officer spoke with her and thought there had been human trafficking going on. The alleged victim told authorities that she used to buy methamphetamine from Beck when they lived in the same city years ago and Beck paid for a bus ticket for the woman to come to North Dakota last year. The alleged victim had talked about applying for a waitress job in the Fargo area but never actually applied for a job. Instead, she, Spain and Beck stayed at hotels and did drugs together. After a few weeks, Spain and Beck allegedly told her she needed to prostitute herself to pay her way.

Spain’s lawyer, Tim Wilhelm, said there is no corroboration for the allegation that Beck and Spain took all of her money outside the statements the alleged victim made to police. The woman had gone to a shelter in Williston once before but returned to Beck and Spain.

Mattice testified that the alleged victim might have done so out of fear, because she had no resources and because she didn’t know anyone else in North Dakota.

Ward County Deputy State’s Attorney Kelly Dillon said the credibility of the alleged victim is for a jury to decide and Louser agreed when she found probable cause for the charge.

Wilhelm also said he continues to object to the language in the charging document, which he said doesn’t specify what actions Spain took. Instead, it merely cites the language from the relevant statute, said Wilhelm. Dillon told him to file a motion for a “bill of particulars” with the court that requires the state’s attorney’s office to provide more detailed information about the charge and Louser also told him to do so.

Louser also refused to lower Spain’s $250,000 bond, which Wilhelm said essentially amounts to “no bond” since his client is indigent. Wilhelm had asked for the bond to be lowered to 10 percent of $5,000, or $500. Dillon objected because of the seriousness of the charge and because she said Spain is a flight risk with no ties to North Dakota and because he had to be extradited back to North Dakota from Oklahoma to face the human trafficking charge.

The next hearing in the case is scheduled for Feb. 27, 2019, before Judge Gary Lee.

Beck is also scheduled to make an appearance on Feb. 27 before Lee.