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It’s hard out here for a pimp, literally.

A judge in Manhattan sentenced pimp, Donnell Baines to 62-and-a-half years in prison Monday (April 1) for s*x trafficking, and abuse.

During his trial Baines argued that the women he’s accused of abusing were well aware of what they were doing, but Judge Patricia Nunez saw things much differently. “You picked these damaged women,” she scolded. “You gave them food, housing. They performed prostitutional activities for you. You never gave them a penny … To me this is akin to slavery.”

Authorities accuse Baines of coercing at least four women into prostitution, a business which he ran out of his New York City apartment. In October, he was convicted on several charges including r@pe, s*xual abuse, and unlawful imprisonment. He is believed to have  held a minimum of three women hostage, and forced them to engage in intimate acts, between March 2009 and July 2010.

Upon sentencing, the 39-year-old proclaimed that he would maintain innocence until the very end. “I’m going to assert my innocence till the day I die. The court may not like me. I don’t like. But I didn’t do those things.”

One victim recounted meeting Baines through a faux modeling ad posted online. She planned to work for Baines for less than a week, but was beaten with a rubber mallet, and forced to remain in his possession for much longer.

State DA Cyrus Vance Jr. wrote in a statement that mounting evidence proved damaging to Baines’ defense. “As proven at trial, he even went so far as to beat his victims for the slightest infraction of his rules. This sentence reflects the gravity of the defendant’s actions in using women’s bodies for personal profit.”

Baines will be eligible for parole in 50 years.

Photo: Manhattan District Attorney’s Office