(Muir Analytics’ Quick Brief is broadly based on the Pentagon EXSUM briefing method. The aim is to quickly explain an evolving hotel threat issue in about 15 lines in executive summary format. Muir has added a quick analysis of the issue that can help hotels mitigate certain risks.)
Chain of events
- WLOS reports that Asheville, NC, Police, alongside the Cherokee Indian Police, launched a 2023 investigation into drug trafficking, prostitution, and human trafficking at the Econo Lodge Biltmore, which sits on a main street in town, 190 Tunnel Rd, Asheville, NC 28805, along side scores of hotels, restaurants, and retail businesses.
- 828newsNOW confirms that the Econo Lodge, a Choice Hotels brand, was being used as the headquarters for the operation and was under surveillance when police identified Milo Henderson as a key suspect.
- The Citizen Times via Yahoo News says officers staked out three rooms, observing a pattern of suspicious traffic involving a woman going between rooms and multiple visitors staying only briefly.
- WLOS reports that Henderson was later arrested in February 2024 in Spindale, NC, after fleeing Asheville and originally faced charges including human trafficking, sexual servitude, kidnapping, and assault.
- The Citizen Times via Yahoo News says his arrest warrant alleged he “recruited, enticed, and harbored” two women for sexual servitude and strangled one victim so violently that he broke her neck.
- 828newsNOW notes that a search of the rooms revealed trafficking quantities of methamphetamine and crack cocaine confirmed by lab results.
- The Citizen Times via Yahoo News adds that Henderson acted as a manager by arranging, profiting from, and coordinating acts of prostitution at the hotel.
- WLOS confirms that he ultimately pleaded guilty to related charges including promoting and advancing prostitution, assault by strangulation, and multiple drug offenses – the trafficking charges were eventually dropped.
- 828newsNOW says Superior Court Judge Alan Thornburg sentenced Henderson to 53–82 months in prison (max 6.83 years) and ordered him to have no contact with victims and to attend anger management.
- The Citizen Times via Yahoo News reports that the broader investigation also led to the arrest of a former Buncombe County Sheriff’s deputy for solicitation of prostitution.
- This is not the first time Choice Hotels has been associated with drug, prostitution, and human trafficking accusations, says the Keches Law Group – it filed a lawsuit for a Massachusetts trafficking victim that had allegedly been forced into sexual slavery on its properties in 2016-18.
Analytical Takeaways
There are five takeaways. First, the fact that such a criminal enterprise was being run out of an Econo Lodge in a hotel/restaurant/retail area for months on end demonstrates that these kinds of crimes can happen even in what appear to be “good parts of town.”
Second, there is no indication that Econo Lodge management identified or disrupted the trafficking operation on their premises, suggesting either negligence or insufficient training in spotting signs of prostitution and drug activity.
Third, the surveillance tactics used by Asheville and Cherokee law enforcement were effective in exposing a complex operation and real-time behavioral analysis of hotel room criminality.
Fourth, the nearly seven-year sentence, combined with mandatory behavioral programs, reflects a moderately strong legal response, though more severe charges like trafficking and sexual servitude were ultimately dropped.
Fifth, because Choice Hotels has been accused of these kinds of crimes before, it faces risks regarding brand damage, insurance problems, and lawsuits.
Muir Analytics runs the world’s largest, most sophisticated hotel violence database – the SecureHotel Threat Portal – with over 3,600 hotel attacks (and growing). We can provide the hospitality, insurance, and law enforcement/government sectors with intelligence that facilitates full-spectrum risk reduction, which helps hotels protect guests, staff, buildings, brands, and revenues. Contact us for a consultation: 1-833-DATA-444.
Sources and further reading:
“Man pleads guilty to prostitution, drug charges from 2023 human trafficking investigation,” WLOS, 1 April 2025.
“Two men plead guilty after police stakeout uncovers human trafficking ring on Tunnel Road,” Asheville Citizen Times via Yahoo News, 4 April 2025.
“Man sentenced to over 4 years in Asheville trafficking case,” 828newsNOW, 1 April 2025,
“Keches law files lawsuit against Choice Hotels on behalf of sex trafficking victim,” Ketches Law Group website, 14 March 2025.
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