'Poor man's Hugh Hefner' claims he was targeted for 'dealings with white women'

SANDY SPRINGS, Ga. — A Sandy Springs man whose lawyer once dubbed him a “Poor Man’s Hugh Hefner” claims prosecutors targeted him because he’s a black man who did business with white women.

Kenndric Roberts remains in the Fulton County Jail without bond awaiting trial on charges he held several women against their will inside a mansion.

Police became aware of the situation after one of them called 911 last spring.

“I'm in a very bad situation and I need to get out,” the woman told police in the call.

Instagram videos depicted Roberts and the women living a lavish lifestyle, but prosecutors and Sandy Springs Police claim Roberts was holding the women against their will and threatening them if they left him.

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“He was going to have somebody cut her implants out of her chest and cut up her sides,” a detective testified last year about allegations Roberts had threatened a girl he sent to the Dominican Republic for a breast augmentation.

"I sit false imprisoned because I'm a black man who had dealings with white women," Roberts said in a recorded jailhouse statement provided by a friend to Channel 2's Mike Petchenik. "Bluntly speaking, as I'm an African-American man involved in legitimate business endeavors with Caucasian women who are being portrayed as victims. Thus I sit shackled."

At a preliminary hearing after his arrest, a judge dropped 11 of the 14 charges he faced, stating she wasn’t clear on whether this was a civil dispute or a criminal endeavor because the women had contracts to model for Roberts’ businesses.

After that hearing, prosecutors sought and obtained an indictment for dozens of charges including false imprisonment, racketeering and human trafficking.

“My case involves civil matters portrayed criminal, overcharging, fake indictments, violations of due process, violation of Georgia Open Records Act, violations of attorney-client privileges, perjury of county officials, violations of Equal Protection Clause, racial discrimination,” Roberts said.

He has a court date scheduled for later this month, but maintains his innocence.

“I’m bused back and forth to court, shackled as if I’m a slave or a pet at the zoo on headline display,” he said in the recording.  “Justice is very elusive.  You can try to blot it out but it keeps coming back. Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere.”

Petchenik reached out to District Attorney Paul Howard about Roberts’ statements, but a spokesman told Petchenik Howard had no comment.

Cox Media Group