RAWLINS, Wyo. (AP) - A California couple accused of human trafficking in Wyoming have pleaded not guilty to the charges.

In separate hearings in Carbon County District Court on Monday 38-year-old Lester Tucker, of Oakland, California, and 27-year-old Janice Scott, of Modesto, California, both pleaded not guilty to two charges each of first-degree human trafficking.

Carbon County District Court Judge Wade Waldrip says the cases will be combined and a trial will be scheduled within 180 days.

Tucker and Scott were arrested by Wyoming Highway Patrol in early January. When officers arrived, two young women were taken into protective custody.

According to court documents, the victims said Rucker had planned to make the women prostitutes once they got to California.

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