Columbus man sentenced for human trafficking, causing fatal overdose of 21-year-old woman

Sarah Rene Wilson, 26, said she was living in hell and felt powerless while she was a victim of human trafficking at the hands of Paul Nelson Chiles, a Columbus man whom she knew as Tommy Gunz.

According to the Franklin County Prosecutor's office, Chiles forced vulnerable women into sex work between January 2019 and June 2020 and caused the overdose death in 2020 of a 21-year-old Columbus woman under his control. Now, he's facing at least 14 years behind bars.

At Chiles' sentencing on Monday in Franklin County Common Pleas Court, Wilson described how Chiles physically and emotionally abused her.

“I was never allowed to leave or go anywhere without him,” Wilson said. “He referred to me as his merchandise. He would tell me nobody loved me … He would call me just about every name in the book. He would tell me all these kinds of things so often that I started to believe them.”

Chiles, 38, of Columbus, pleaded guilty in November to one count of trafficking in persons and one count of involuntary manslaughter. Franklin County prosecutors dismissed 17 other charges, including compelling prostitution, trafficking in drugs and abuse of a corpse.

Brian Joslyn, Chiles' attorney, described his client at the sentencing hearing as a good person who was struggling with his own drug addiction.

“I think he's been over-vilified,” Joslyn said.

Common Pleas Judge Karen Phipps sentenced Chiles to at least 14 years in prison with a maximum sentence of 19 years. He is also required to register as a sex offender for 25 years.

Franklin County Assistant Prosecutor Daniel Meyer had asked for a minimum sentence of 20 years and Joslyn had asked for 10 years.

Chiles has spent nearly two and a half years in jail, which will count toward his time served.

The involuntary manslaughter charge relates to the death of 21-year-old Cecilia Riegel on April 9, 2020, which the Franklin County Coroner's office ruled was caused by a fatal dose of fentanyl mixed with methamphetamine. Riegel's body was found on the South Side a few days later on April 11, 2020.

Previous reporting: Mother glad that man charged with causing daughter's death is off the streets

Before sentencing Chiles, Phipps said she was concerned Chiles does not take responsibility for trafficking the young women and pointed out he callously discarded Riegel without trying to get her help.

“She was left as if she was trash and nobody is trash, no matter where they are in their life or what the state of their drug addiction is,” Phipps said.

Chiles apologized to Riegel's family at his sentencing hearing.

“I never intended to hurt Cecilia or Sarah. And I am very aware that things did not go right,” Chiles said. “I truly am so so very sorry for (Riegel's family's) loss, for what happened.”

Josyln said Chiles considered Riegel a friend, and that Chiles is truly remorseful.

Chiles told the judge that he at times would perform sex acts for drugs because of his drug addiction.

At the sentencing hearing, a victim's advocate read statements from multiple members' of Riegel's family and Riegel's aunt spoke.

Riegel's family described ‘Cici' as a kind and loving mother of a son who is now 5 years old. They said Riegel was passionate about the violin and was a great artist.

“She had a heart of gold,” Crystal Italiani, Riegel's aunt, who spoke at the hearing. “Our hopes and our dreams for her were all taken away.”

More court news: Multiple fatal shootings by officers among notable Columbus cases set for 2023

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This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: Columbus man sentenced for human trafficking, involuntary manslaughter