If you have ever read any of my blog articles or my book, then you are aware of my feelings towards the MBI, but I'm not so sure that anyone understands how I view the agency or the former agents. The feelings range from anger to disgust. The main reason that I feel this way is that I abhor injustice, and every single case investigated by the MBI that I have examined, including my own, involves some level of injustice. In most situations the agency also criminally harasses its targets.
The injustice could be something simple like the abuse of state funds for self-gratification as in the Rachel's Men's Club case – agents passed out thousands of dollars to watch sexual girl-on-girl shows on several occasions, as if dancers could not be arrested for anything less. The MBI spent close to $200,000.00 investigating the club. One agent was on tape as stating his intent to have sex with a dancer.
It could also be more complicated, like hounding an escort repeatedly at her workplace where she worked as a leasing agent for an apartment complex and threatening to make sure that her children were taken away if she didn't provide the statement that the agents demanded, as with "Maria" in my case. They never sought the facts or the truth, and that in itself is injustice permeated upon each and every defendant investigated by the agency and each and every coerced witness.
This still does not reveal how I really view the agency as feelings and viewpoint are two different topics. The first descriptive thought that comes to mind is con artists, and the second is bullies, but while the MBI is capable of shaking me up, they have never scared me. Many people in the adult business, from dancers to escorts to business owners, have told me stories of various acts of misconduct on the part of MBI agents, and each came across as petrified of the agency. For me the answer was simple: Clarify the threat at the time that it is stated.
If an agent repeatedly visited my workplace in attempt to embarrass me in front of fellow employees with the goal of coercing a false statement, I would not hide or be afraid as "Maria" was, and instead I'd make sure that I had witnesses to the agent's statements and actions. Write down contact information for each witness. "Maria" was fired by her employer and should have sued Agent Rose and his supervisors, not feared him. As she sat on the stand in my trial, she looked scared and frozen. You can never fear the bully; it's counterproductive.
To summarize my viewpoint of the MBI, I do not consider them scary at all. Any of these many petrified defendants and/or MBI victims could have simply invoked their right to counsel. There are many great defense attorneys out there, and not all charge exorbitant fees. In many of the situations described, simply invoking the right to counsel and the right to remain silent would have resulted in being tossed out the door. These are bullies, and what they do is bluff. Face it, if they already had a solid case, as they claim in most situations, they wouldn't need to talk to you. They would simply arrest you, because that is what they do. The threat game is precisely that – a game. They are not there to help you or to hear your version of the story – they could not care less on either point.
From my view, the agents involved in my own case, the (now former) director, Bill Lutz, and the members of the MBI Governing Board are not scary. Each is a con artist that sells the public their version, but only the weak or the ignorant would help them do so. In the United States we do have rights, but what no one mentions is that you must fight for those rights till your dying breath. No one informs you of your rights and it is your own responsibility to enlighten yourself. Finally, no one will ever hand you those rights on a silver platter – you must demand each right.
Sunday, June 28, 2009
Saturday, June 27, 2009
After Arrest: A Story
Today when referring to an event in the past it is always categorized as before arrest or after arrest, as the day that I was arrested everything in my life changed, and it changed forever. This is an after arrest story. It transpired when I was awaiting trial, in November of 2002.
In June 2002, the sale of my house went through and I moved my son, Alex, to South Texas. His father flew in, rented a U-Haul, and Alex and Robert, his father, drove with all of our household belongings to Corpus Christi. I stayed in the house for the last couple of weeks with only the few things that I intended to move to my mother's. By early July I was living in Brevard County at mom's place and Alex had settled into life in South Texas. I had to have some income, so I tried one job and then another. The first was driving a taxi in Brevard County, and that lasted all of 2 weeks – it's another story for another day. By early November, due to lack of choices in Brevard County, I responded to a newspaper advertisement for "sandwich makers" at a Subway in Cocoa Beach. The owner, Caroline, scheduled me for an interview.
I'll be honest – I didn't even know that people applying for fast-food minimum wage jobs had interviews. I thought that a person would just walk-in and be hired if they looked decent, but Caroline ran a tight ship. The application that I filled out asked if I had ever been convicted of a felony, and of course I checked the no box. During the interview Caroline asked me if I had ever been arrested – now this is actually illegal; regardless, I needed the job, so I answered. She asked questions about the case and I told her about what the Metropolitan Bureau of Investigation (MBI) had done to me. Caroline was silent for a moment and then informed me that I must have a second interview with her manager, Rob. I was puzzled because I had never heard of two interviews for such a job, but I agreed and she told me to return at 4pm the following day.
I arrived at Subway a few minutes early and Rob directed me to wait at a table. About ten minutes later he joined me and asked a few questions that led to more questions in relation to my arrest. When I first stated "MBI" this guy looked as if his world fell apart. He immediately stood-up, began pulling me out the front door, and spoke like a man in a panic, "Let's talk outside."
Rob and I walked to his vehicle and he explained a bit of his own story. He looked as if he was flipping-out, with eyes wide and mouth open – as if I'd walked into the place and pointed a gun in his face or something similar. Rob informed me that his father had died in Cape Canaveral Hospital six months earlier, just after his release from prison. He also stated that he was still, more than a decade later, on probation from the case. It all happened in the late-1980s. The conversation turned to particular agents and then the director of the MBI, William Lutz. When I said Lutz, Rob looked totally and absolutely horrified. Rob was pacing and talking at the same time. I don't believe that I have ever seen anyone look that scared in the course of any conversation. Rob told me a story:
"I was working as a bank manager at a bank in Orlando back then. My father was involved in smuggling drugs out at the port [Port Canaveral] and they accused me of laundering money for him. Bill Lutz was an agent back then. They took me to their offices and started drilling me about my father, but I just kept repeating that I didn't know anything about his business, money laundering, or drugs. Then out of nowhere, Lutz pulls out his gun and points it at my forehead – the barrel was less than an inch away! He screams: "NOW TELL US ABOUT YOUR FATHER OR I'LL BLOW YOUR BRAINS OUT HERE AND NOW!" I closed my eyes. I really believed that he would do it. I thought I was going to die. With my eyes closed I stated again that I didn't know anything about my father and drugs. I flinched and opened my eyes. The gun wasn't at my forehead anymore. He didn't shoot, but I thought I was as good as dead. I really thought he was going to do it. He's nuts."
I informed Rob that I was taking my case to trial, but I'm not sure that he believed me. He gave me the job, though I only worked there for a couple of weeks as my son called me wanting to come back, and days later got on a Greyhound bus with several extra large boxes filled with his personal stuff. The bus had mechanical trouble and Alex and his boxes were transferred to a different bus that terminated in Jacksonville. So here it was the day before Thanksgiving 2002, and my son was stranded in Jacksonville. I was at work when Alex called, and told Caroline the problem, but she didn't care and stated that I had to work as scheduled and could not leave. I quit the Subway job and drove to Jacksonville to pick-up Alex.
After my acquittal in the case I went back to Subway to see Rob. I tried to get a sworn (notarized) statement from him, but his fear took-over and I never did receive it. I wanted his help to finally do something about the MBI, but the fact that Lutz was now (at that point) director, petrified Rob beyond description. I have just never seen anyone that horrified. Months later Rob was back in jail in Brevard County for a Violation of Probation. I was told that he developed a serious drug problem after the MBI mess with his father and his encounter with Lutz. Apparently Caroline had been dragging him to Church with her several times a week, but as he recalled that horrifying day at the MBI offices, the gun at his head, and the real fear (at least to him) that it could happen again, he regressed. I am sorry that I reminded Rob of his nightmare experience. If I could locate him I would help him.
In June 2002, the sale of my house went through and I moved my son, Alex, to South Texas. His father flew in, rented a U-Haul, and Alex and Robert, his father, drove with all of our household belongings to Corpus Christi. I stayed in the house for the last couple of weeks with only the few things that I intended to move to my mother's. By early July I was living in Brevard County at mom's place and Alex had settled into life in South Texas. I had to have some income, so I tried one job and then another. The first was driving a taxi in Brevard County, and that lasted all of 2 weeks – it's another story for another day. By early November, due to lack of choices in Brevard County, I responded to a newspaper advertisement for "sandwich makers" at a Subway in Cocoa Beach. The owner, Caroline, scheduled me for an interview.
I'll be honest – I didn't even know that people applying for fast-food minimum wage jobs had interviews. I thought that a person would just walk-in and be hired if they looked decent, but Caroline ran a tight ship. The application that I filled out asked if I had ever been convicted of a felony, and of course I checked the no box. During the interview Caroline asked me if I had ever been arrested – now this is actually illegal; regardless, I needed the job, so I answered. She asked questions about the case and I told her about what the Metropolitan Bureau of Investigation (MBI) had done to me. Caroline was silent for a moment and then informed me that I must have a second interview with her manager, Rob. I was puzzled because I had never heard of two interviews for such a job, but I agreed and she told me to return at 4pm the following day.
I arrived at Subway a few minutes early and Rob directed me to wait at a table. About ten minutes later he joined me and asked a few questions that led to more questions in relation to my arrest. When I first stated "MBI" this guy looked as if his world fell apart. He immediately stood-up, began pulling me out the front door, and spoke like a man in a panic, "Let's talk outside."
Rob and I walked to his vehicle and he explained a bit of his own story. He looked as if he was flipping-out, with eyes wide and mouth open – as if I'd walked into the place and pointed a gun in his face or something similar. Rob informed me that his father had died in Cape Canaveral Hospital six months earlier, just after his release from prison. He also stated that he was still, more than a decade later, on probation from the case. It all happened in the late-1980s. The conversation turned to particular agents and then the director of the MBI, William Lutz. When I said Lutz, Rob looked totally and absolutely horrified. Rob was pacing and talking at the same time. I don't believe that I have ever seen anyone look that scared in the course of any conversation. Rob told me a story:
"I was working as a bank manager at a bank in Orlando back then. My father was involved in smuggling drugs out at the port [Port Canaveral] and they accused me of laundering money for him. Bill Lutz was an agent back then. They took me to their offices and started drilling me about my father, but I just kept repeating that I didn't know anything about his business, money laundering, or drugs. Then out of nowhere, Lutz pulls out his gun and points it at my forehead – the barrel was less than an inch away! He screams: "NOW TELL US ABOUT YOUR FATHER OR I'LL BLOW YOUR BRAINS OUT HERE AND NOW!" I closed my eyes. I really believed that he would do it. I thought I was going to die. With my eyes closed I stated again that I didn't know anything about my father and drugs. I flinched and opened my eyes. The gun wasn't at my forehead anymore. He didn't shoot, but I thought I was as good as dead. I really thought he was going to do it. He's nuts."
I informed Rob that I was taking my case to trial, but I'm not sure that he believed me. He gave me the job, though I only worked there for a couple of weeks as my son called me wanting to come back, and days later got on a Greyhound bus with several extra large boxes filled with his personal stuff. The bus had mechanical trouble and Alex and his boxes were transferred to a different bus that terminated in Jacksonville. So here it was the day before Thanksgiving 2002, and my son was stranded in Jacksonville. I was at work when Alex called, and told Caroline the problem, but she didn't care and stated that I had to work as scheduled and could not leave. I quit the Subway job and drove to Jacksonville to pick-up Alex.
After my acquittal in the case I went back to Subway to see Rob. I tried to get a sworn (notarized) statement from him, but his fear took-over and I never did receive it. I wanted his help to finally do something about the MBI, but the fact that Lutz was now (at that point) director, petrified Rob beyond description. I have just never seen anyone that horrified. Months later Rob was back in jail in Brevard County for a Violation of Probation. I was told that he developed a serious drug problem after the MBI mess with his father and his encounter with Lutz. Apparently Caroline had been dragging him to Church with her several times a week, but as he recalled that horrifying day at the MBI offices, the gun at his head, and the real fear (at least to him) that it could happen again, he regressed. I am sorry that I reminded Rob of his nightmare experience. If I could locate him I would help him.
Wednesday, June 24, 2009
Defining Escort and Escort Service
What is an Escort Service?
In the course of my research for a second book that's in progress, a situation of great importance, at least in the adult business world, has come to my attention. I believe that what is transpiring can easily be attributed to law enforcement continuously labeling hookers as "escorts" and brothels and in-call operations as "escort services" – it is as I stated it in Memoirs of an Accused Madam – the general population listens to these police agencies and believes what they state, and after it is stated repeatedly on various forums over a length of time, it becomes factual, at least in the mind.
Definition of "escort" from two sources:
Oxford University Press Dictionary & Thesaurus (2002 version):
noun (1) – entourage, attendants, bodyguard, protector, convoy, defender, contingent.
(2) – partner, companion, gigolo, hostess, geisha; informal date; dated beau.
verb (1) – accompany, guide, conduct, lead, usher, guard, protect, safeguard, defend.
(2) – partner, accompany, take out, go out with, attend on.
Cambridge University Press (2009 online version)
noun (social companion) (1) – a person who goes with another person, usually someone of the opposite sex, to a social event. (2) – someone, often a young woman, who is paid to go out to social events with another person: He hired an escort girl to go to dinner with him.
verb (formal) – to go to a social event with someone, especially a person of the opposite sex: Who will be escorting her to the ball?
Nowhere in either definition does this describe "prostitute," as a geisha is not a prostitute. Only in the U.S., thanks to overzealous law enforcement agencies, is "escort" defined as "prostitute." It must be noted that both Oxford and Cambridge are universities in the UK, so one may find "escort" defined as "prostitute" in a recent US dictionary – this is the trend lately, and not the proper English definition.
Definition of "escort service" or "escort agency":
Cambridge states: a business which supplies people who work as escorts.
Oxford online nor my 2002 version list these terms. Merriam-Webster also does not list it, so I'll go with the above stated Cambridge definition.
Now that we've straightened that out I'll get back to the problem at hand. I met two ladies a couple of days ago and each told me they had worked as an "escort" recently; however, both described an incall/brothel situation, and not at all an escort service. According to their stories, the business operator set them up in an apartment, scheduled 15 minute appointments, and sent in men. This could never be described as an "escort service" – it's clearly an incall operation, and if sex was involved, a brothel situation. Neither stated whether sex was involved or not and I didn't ask, as it falls in the category of none of my business. It simply infuriates me that a business operator would present such an operation as an escort service and these ladies had the audacity to refer to themselves as escorts! But then, I'm sure they interpreted it to be exactly that from listening to local law enforcement rhetoric that is now embedded in the minds of the general population.
An escort service sends escort out, and the escort and client go out to dinner, to a club, or tour the area. They do meet in the client's hotel room, but only to take care of business matters as this is not done publicly. An escort service can also operate as an entertainment business. An entertainer can entertain a client in the privacy of his home or hotel, and by "entertain" I mean offer a non-therapeutic body rub, a private dance, or a lingerie show. Certainly there will always be greedy and/or in-need escorts that will accept additional money (in the form of tips) for illegal services, but escorts are paid for time and company, not prostitution services. I have not yet encountered a real escort agency that takes any part of these tips, and few promote this type of service – why would they? While any escort service operator would hope that the ladies are tipped, at the same time none would expect it to be at their expense or for prostitution services.
These days every prostitute in the country is referred to as an escort, from the street hookers to the online hookers found on BigDoggie.net, Backpage, Craigslist, in Village Voice ads, or on The Erotic Review. The ads clearly reflect prostitution services, not escort services. There is a difference in services just as there is a difference in ad content. Skip the inappropriate labels, please.
In the course of my research for a second book that's in progress, a situation of great importance, at least in the adult business world, has come to my attention. I believe that what is transpiring can easily be attributed to law enforcement continuously labeling hookers as "escorts" and brothels and in-call operations as "escort services" – it is as I stated it in Memoirs of an Accused Madam – the general population listens to these police agencies and believes what they state, and after it is stated repeatedly on various forums over a length of time, it becomes factual, at least in the mind.
Definition of "escort" from two sources:
Oxford University Press Dictionary & Thesaurus (2002 version):
noun (1) – entourage, attendants, bodyguard, protector, convoy, defender, contingent.
(2) – partner, companion, gigolo, hostess, geisha; informal date; dated beau.
verb (1) – accompany, guide, conduct, lead, usher, guard, protect, safeguard, defend.
(2) – partner, accompany, take out, go out with, attend on.
Cambridge University Press (2009 online version)
noun (social companion) (1) – a person who goes with another person, usually someone of the opposite sex, to a social event. (2) – someone, often a young woman, who is paid to go out to social events with another person: He hired an escort girl to go to dinner with him.
verb (formal) – to go to a social event with someone, especially a person of the opposite sex: Who will be escorting her to the ball?
Nowhere in either definition does this describe "prostitute," as a geisha is not a prostitute. Only in the U.S., thanks to overzealous law enforcement agencies, is "escort" defined as "prostitute." It must be noted that both Oxford and Cambridge are universities in the UK, so one may find "escort" defined as "prostitute" in a recent US dictionary – this is the trend lately, and not the proper English definition.
Definition of "escort service" or "escort agency":
Cambridge states: a business which supplies people who work as escorts.
Oxford online nor my 2002 version list these terms. Merriam-Webster also does not list it, so I'll go with the above stated Cambridge definition.
Now that we've straightened that out I'll get back to the problem at hand. I met two ladies a couple of days ago and each told me they had worked as an "escort" recently; however, both described an incall/brothel situation, and not at all an escort service. According to their stories, the business operator set them up in an apartment, scheduled 15 minute appointments, and sent in men. This could never be described as an "escort service" – it's clearly an incall operation, and if sex was involved, a brothel situation. Neither stated whether sex was involved or not and I didn't ask, as it falls in the category of none of my business. It simply infuriates me that a business operator would present such an operation as an escort service and these ladies had the audacity to refer to themselves as escorts! But then, I'm sure they interpreted it to be exactly that from listening to local law enforcement rhetoric that is now embedded in the minds of the general population.
An escort service sends escort out, and the escort and client go out to dinner, to a club, or tour the area. They do meet in the client's hotel room, but only to take care of business matters as this is not done publicly. An escort service can also operate as an entertainment business. An entertainer can entertain a client in the privacy of his home or hotel, and by "entertain" I mean offer a non-therapeutic body rub, a private dance, or a lingerie show. Certainly there will always be greedy and/or in-need escorts that will accept additional money (in the form of tips) for illegal services, but escorts are paid for time and company, not prostitution services. I have not yet encountered a real escort agency that takes any part of these tips, and few promote this type of service – why would they? While any escort service operator would hope that the ladies are tipped, at the same time none would expect it to be at their expense or for prostitution services.
These days every prostitute in the country is referred to as an escort, from the street hookers to the online hookers found on BigDoggie.net, Backpage, Craigslist, in Village Voice ads, or on The Erotic Review. The ads clearly reflect prostitution services, not escort services. There is a difference in services just as there is a difference in ad content. Skip the inappropriate labels, please.
Sunday, June 21, 2009
Investigating Sex
I read an Associated Press article today that caught me by surprise, believe it or not. The article concerned the extensive investigation conducted by the FBI of the pornographic movie, Deep Throat. My surprise was not that there was such an investigation, but that two professors are quoted as stating that today this does not happen and investigations of this type are a reflection of times past. Ha! Neither of these professors has met the Metropolitan Bureau of Investigation (MBI); that is for sure. Both are law professors, which contributed to my shock.
Mark Weiner, a constitutional law professor and legal historian at Rutgers-Newark School of Law is quoted as stating:
"Today we can't imagine authorities at any level of government — local, state or federal — being involved in obscenity prosecutions of this kind. The story of 'Deep Throat' is the story of the last gasp of the forces lined up against the cultural and sexual revolution and it is the advent of the entry of pornography into the mainstream."
Eugene Volokh, a law professor at UCLA is quoted as stating:
"Certainly today, with our broadly socially less restrictive attitude to most pornography and to sex more broadly it may seem odd that the government was spending so much effort on something like this," he said. "But attitudes back then were much different."
I've always stated that living in Orlando is comparable to living on another planet, but I suppose that I also assumed people in other parts of the country were aware, at least on some level, of what goes on here. I wrote the book so that they could be enlightened as to investigative tactics and targets of the MBI. I was not the only target, by a long-shot, and the story is not about me. It is about the War on Adult Business in Orlando. Please – don't allow this agency to convince you that the thousands of targets over the years deserved the pursuit and prosecution. Investigate further, wake-up, and smell the coffee – this agency has ruined many lives.
In relation to porn movies, I bring to your attention the case of Jerry's General Store, but even in my own case an agent asked me, after I was acquitted by the jury, "How does it feel to be a purveyor of porn?" I had a perplexed look as I had no clue what he was talking about as I responded: "Every escort on my website was dressed in more than a bikini covers, and some had party dresses on. I don't know anything about purveying porn." As I walked away I thought what a weirdo. Yes, I'm surrounded by kooks.
The Jerry's case involves a mom-and-pop style store in East Orlando. Jerry Cooper died in 2000 and his daughter, Roxie Hanna, took over the store. Her mother, Diana Cooper, and grandmother, Eileen Hart, helped run the store. Jerry's sold XXX DVDs and videos as announced by the sign in front. In November of 2002, as I awaited trial, these three women were arrested on a variety of charges, including the first degree felony of "racketeering". In that this charge alone carries a potential prison sentence of up to 30 years in Florida, each of the women had high bonds. If the topic is of interest, it's better to read the Orlando Weekly stories as these reporters (several) have in-depth knowledge of the case. The newspaper refers to the MBI as the "Nazi morality police" a term that I used during my own case before the articles on the agency were published. It was also a term that Jerry Cooper used when he was alive, and it's likely that many of the agency's targets have used the same or a similar term to describe these whacks, because that is what they portray. I will state that each of the ladies ended-up pleading to charges, so there never was a trial.
Former Orlando Weekly reporter William Dean Hinton wrote an investigative piece that was so lengthy it covered most of the newspaper on 08/07/2003. It is appropriately titled: The Morality Police. If you scroll down a couple of pages you'll find two photos, with one depicting then-MBI Director, Joe Cocchiarella (he's the agency's attorney now via the State Attorney's office), posing with confiscated erotica in 1989. The other photo was taken in 1933, and is of Hitler's SA posing with confiscated erotica. Scary stuff, but even scarier if you have ever been one of the MBI targets.
It has been 77 months since the day the jury acquitted me on organized crime charges, and still to this day some form of horrified anger takes over when I think about some of the many things the MBI did. I can't even read my own book.
Mark Weiner, a constitutional law professor and legal historian at Rutgers-Newark School of Law is quoted as stating:
"Today we can't imagine authorities at any level of government — local, state or federal — being involved in obscenity prosecutions of this kind. The story of 'Deep Throat' is the story of the last gasp of the forces lined up against the cultural and sexual revolution and it is the advent of the entry of pornography into the mainstream."
Eugene Volokh, a law professor at UCLA is quoted as stating:
"Certainly today, with our broadly socially less restrictive attitude to most pornography and to sex more broadly it may seem odd that the government was spending so much effort on something like this," he said. "But attitudes back then were much different."
I've always stated that living in Orlando is comparable to living on another planet, but I suppose that I also assumed people in other parts of the country were aware, at least on some level, of what goes on here. I wrote the book so that they could be enlightened as to investigative tactics and targets of the MBI. I was not the only target, by a long-shot, and the story is not about me. It is about the War on Adult Business in Orlando. Please – don't allow this agency to convince you that the thousands of targets over the years deserved the pursuit and prosecution. Investigate further, wake-up, and smell the coffee – this agency has ruined many lives.
In relation to porn movies, I bring to your attention the case of Jerry's General Store, but even in my own case an agent asked me, after I was acquitted by the jury, "How does it feel to be a purveyor of porn?" I had a perplexed look as I had no clue what he was talking about as I responded: "Every escort on my website was dressed in more than a bikini covers, and some had party dresses on. I don't know anything about purveying porn." As I walked away I thought what a weirdo. Yes, I'm surrounded by kooks.
The Jerry's case involves a mom-and-pop style store in East Orlando. Jerry Cooper died in 2000 and his daughter, Roxie Hanna, took over the store. Her mother, Diana Cooper, and grandmother, Eileen Hart, helped run the store. Jerry's sold XXX DVDs and videos as announced by the sign in front. In November of 2002, as I awaited trial, these three women were arrested on a variety of charges, including the first degree felony of "racketeering". In that this charge alone carries a potential prison sentence of up to 30 years in Florida, each of the women had high bonds. If the topic is of interest, it's better to read the Orlando Weekly stories as these reporters (several) have in-depth knowledge of the case. The newspaper refers to the MBI as the "Nazi morality police" a term that I used during my own case before the articles on the agency were published. It was also a term that Jerry Cooper used when he was alive, and it's likely that many of the agency's targets have used the same or a similar term to describe these whacks, because that is what they portray. I will state that each of the ladies ended-up pleading to charges, so there never was a trial.
Former Orlando Weekly reporter William Dean Hinton wrote an investigative piece that was so lengthy it covered most of the newspaper on 08/07/2003. It is appropriately titled: The Morality Police. If you scroll down a couple of pages you'll find two photos, with one depicting then-MBI Director, Joe Cocchiarella (he's the agency's attorney now via the State Attorney's office), posing with confiscated erotica in 1989. The other photo was taken in 1933, and is of Hitler's SA posing with confiscated erotica. Scary stuff, but even scarier if you have ever been one of the MBI targets.
It has been 77 months since the day the jury acquitted me on organized crime charges, and still to this day some form of horrified anger takes over when I think about some of the many things the MBI did. I can't even read my own book.
Saturday, June 20, 2009
Operation Unhappy Ending
It seems that there is an additional messy massage parlor case, and right in my backyard. The arrests took place back in December 2008, and a guilty plea to "Conspiracy to Commit Racketeering (RICO)" was secured on the main target and owner, Mirta Okonski, a fleeting two months later. In February 2009, Okonski agreed to a plea deal that included no time in prison and requires her to help prosecutors secure convictions against her co-conspirators. This plea deal was made in record time!
The investigation was appropriately named Operation Unhappy Ending, and it was conducted by the Indian River County Sheriff's Office (IRCSO). According to records, Okonski was a licensed massage therapist in Florida and owned several parlors from Daytona Beach to Boynton Beach in South Florida. It was neighboring businesses at the Vero Beach parlor in Indian River County that initiated complaints. Those complaints were the beginning of six-months of surveillance that included video-taping clients entering and leaving the business, and of course included vehicles and tag numbers. In short, IRCSO had the goods on Mirta, necessitating a plea. One important note here is that Okonski was born in 1946, didn't exactly age well according to booking photos, and is also alleged to have had sex for money with at least one client. Indeed, this is revealing of the mentality of men that visit these places. You'd have to see the booking photos of all these women to get my point, but I won't be posting them here. Kudos to the IRCSO for not mentioning human trafficking.
Okonski had a bond of $500K and her accounts were frozen as prosecutors considered seizing her money and property. Apparently they decided against this strategy as she managed to pay the bond within a few days. Others arrested at the same time included: Jennifer Alzate, 43; Pamela Arnold, 59; Joaquin Desousa, 50; Elsy Flores, 43; Rita McCahera, 40; and Marisol Romero, 43. All of the women were arrested on the "racketeering" count and had additional charges as well. Desousa is Okonski's ex-husband and participated only in collecting and depositing money from the Daytona Beach parlor.
McCahera is threatening every news outlet on the internet that posted stories with her name included, but Rita McCahera should realize that in Florida an arrest is a matter of public record, even if charges are dismissed, nolle prossed, or if a jury finds a defendant not guilty. While I sympathize with her, I also see that her threats were premature: She pled guilty to "living off the earnings of prostitution" and "practicing healthcare without a license" – in Florida massage licenses are considered healthcare and are regulated by the State. For all of the threats, screaming, and references to God being her witness that she's not guilty and would never plead guilty, Rita pled out and was sentenced to 5 years of felony probation on 03/19/2009. Ironically, she was STILL SCREAMING THREATS on March 31, 2009, on a Topix message board.
I have a variety of thoughts on this story, but first and foremost, I must state that I don't feel sorry for Rita after all. A jury found me not guilty, I never pled to anything and have never been convicted of anything except a speeding ticket, yet lawsuits are not really an option, and state and federal records reflect my arrest charges and not my acquittal. Oh, and they almost killed me. Rita, if you're not guilty you should not have pleaded guilty – suing them is no longer an option – I don't care what your attorney claims.
Today Okonski is back in jail on a "violation of community control" charge. She did receive a sentence of 10 years of felony probation in exchange for her help and testimony, and as she sits in the Indian River County Jail, I can only imagine that she now realizes that this was no free pass. In Florida a lengthy felony probation sentence will often involve incarceration for the dealmaker at one point or many. If I had ever considered a deal in my own case, probation would not have been involved. Prosecutors knew this and offered deals structured around everything except probation.
Also important is the fact that investigators with the Indian River County Sheriff's Office and state prosecutors went after each and every potential defendant in this case. Yes, even the many clients of the massage parlors. The clients that patronized these businesses were not given a hotline number and a free pass as those involved in the Nan O'Reilly case in Colorado are today – the men were located (via the video recordings) and charged with "solicitation of prostitution" and sentenced to fines, probation and the requirement to undergo an HIV test. There is equal and fair treatment under the law in Florida after all – at least in Indian River County courts. While I disagree with these types of prosecutions entirely, credit must be given when and where it is due. And so I learn that Phoenix investigators and prosecutors are not alone in the quest for equal and fair treatment of all potential defendants as I originally believed when writing Desert Divas Investigation.
The investigation was appropriately named Operation Unhappy Ending, and it was conducted by the Indian River County Sheriff's Office (IRCSO). According to records, Okonski was a licensed massage therapist in Florida and owned several parlors from Daytona Beach to Boynton Beach in South Florida. It was neighboring businesses at the Vero Beach parlor in Indian River County that initiated complaints. Those complaints were the beginning of six-months of surveillance that included video-taping clients entering and leaving the business, and of course included vehicles and tag numbers. In short, IRCSO had the goods on Mirta, necessitating a plea. One important note here is that Okonski was born in 1946, didn't exactly age well according to booking photos, and is also alleged to have had sex for money with at least one client. Indeed, this is revealing of the mentality of men that visit these places. You'd have to see the booking photos of all these women to get my point, but I won't be posting them here. Kudos to the IRCSO for not mentioning human trafficking.
Okonski had a bond of $500K and her accounts were frozen as prosecutors considered seizing her money and property. Apparently they decided against this strategy as she managed to pay the bond within a few days. Others arrested at the same time included: Jennifer Alzate, 43; Pamela Arnold, 59; Joaquin Desousa, 50; Elsy Flores, 43; Rita McCahera, 40; and Marisol Romero, 43. All of the women were arrested on the "racketeering" count and had additional charges as well. Desousa is Okonski's ex-husband and participated only in collecting and depositing money from the Daytona Beach parlor.
McCahera is threatening every news outlet on the internet that posted stories with her name included, but Rita McCahera should realize that in Florida an arrest is a matter of public record, even if charges are dismissed, nolle prossed, or if a jury finds a defendant not guilty. While I sympathize with her, I also see that her threats were premature: She pled guilty to "living off the earnings of prostitution" and "practicing healthcare without a license" – in Florida massage licenses are considered healthcare and are regulated by the State. For all of the threats, screaming, and references to God being her witness that she's not guilty and would never plead guilty, Rita pled out and was sentenced to 5 years of felony probation on 03/19/2009. Ironically, she was STILL SCREAMING THREATS on March 31, 2009, on a Topix message board.
I have a variety of thoughts on this story, but first and foremost, I must state that I don't feel sorry for Rita after all. A jury found me not guilty, I never pled to anything and have never been convicted of anything except a speeding ticket, yet lawsuits are not really an option, and state and federal records reflect my arrest charges and not my acquittal. Oh, and they almost killed me. Rita, if you're not guilty you should not have pleaded guilty – suing them is no longer an option – I don't care what your attorney claims.
Today Okonski is back in jail on a "violation of community control" charge. She did receive a sentence of 10 years of felony probation in exchange for her help and testimony, and as she sits in the Indian River County Jail, I can only imagine that she now realizes that this was no free pass. In Florida a lengthy felony probation sentence will often involve incarceration for the dealmaker at one point or many. If I had ever considered a deal in my own case, probation would not have been involved. Prosecutors knew this and offered deals structured around everything except probation.
Also important is the fact that investigators with the Indian River County Sheriff's Office and state prosecutors went after each and every potential defendant in this case. Yes, even the many clients of the massage parlors. The clients that patronized these businesses were not given a hotline number and a free pass as those involved in the Nan O'Reilly case in Colorado are today – the men were located (via the video recordings) and charged with "solicitation of prostitution" and sentenced to fines, probation and the requirement to undergo an HIV test. There is equal and fair treatment under the law in Florida after all – at least in Indian River County courts. While I disagree with these types of prosecutions entirely, credit must be given when and where it is due. And so I learn that Phoenix investigators and prosecutors are not alone in the quest for equal and fair treatment of all potential defendants as I originally believed when writing Desert Divas Investigation.
Wednesday, June 17, 2009
Internet History Day
Today I am taking a break from the serious posts and reflecting on the past. In case you are unaware, for an entire decade I owned escort services in Orlando, Florida, until the state harassed me out of business and then later, after I closed the services, arrested me on racketeering and conspiracy charges. The website changed over the years, and actually began as Abra-Cadabra Orlando Escorts. Back then (late 1993) the domain name was just a page on the ISP's domain and had a character that reminded one of tinkerbell sitting in a champagne glass waving a wand in the air as magic dust appeared across the screen. When I renamed it Valentine's, the theme forever after was hearts. By then the domain was www.escortorl.com. It was one of the top 100 websites on the internet for years and was named a Net Guide Gold site. It was at the top of search engine lists in all keywords that pertained.
These are screenshots of the website in 1996, 1997, 1999, and 2001 - in order. The website is forever archived on the Internet Archive and can be found by typing the domain name in the Way Back Machine. Sadly, the Internet Archive didn't exist until 1996 when Alexa, an Amazon company, began its massive archiving of websites with the goal of creating a library. The website is a part of internet history. Indeed, the world has changed since the days of the wild west era of the internet.
Monday, June 15, 2009
The Misuse of the VTVPA and Its Successors
The Victims of Trafficking and Violence Protection Act was enacted in October of 2000, and was last reauthorized as the William Wilberforce Trafficking Victim Protection Reauthorization Act of 2007 with additional provisions written-in. The Act is often misused by prosecutors that have no valid strategy in an adult business investigation. I'll speak plainly here: If these prosecutors were as concerned as they claim that there was actual human trafficking involved in a case, each would also prosecute the male clients that patronize the adult establishments. But they know better – this group is not two beers short of a six-pack; they just pretend to be.
The perfect example of abuse of the Act is the Lev Trakhtenberg case. I've named a list of other recent cases wherein agents refer to "human trafficking" when the reality is that a massage parlor merely had workers of non-U.S. origin or was owned by an Asian-American woman, and in fact, the workers were in their 30s, 40s, and 50s. This practice creates what I'll refer to as an integrity challenge of the law enforcement or prosecutor spokesperson. Sure, human trafficking does exist in adult business and in a variety of other businesses, and the approach of using the label here, there, and everywhere has inadvertently minimized the real cases. The religious agenda also cannot be overlooked – these people want to rid the country of prostitution and often attack from the side using any weapon in the arsenal. The label "human trafficking" has become a prosecutorial weapon to garner public support in otherwise unpopular prosecutions.
In the Trakhtenberg case, the use of the VTVPA to prosecute Lev Trakhtenberg and two co-defendants was on the basis that the women dancers from Voronezh, Russia were deceived as to the type of dancing each was to do when she arrived in the US, and that each was forced to work in these New Jersey strip clubs until the agreed amount of money ($5600) was repaid. I know for fact that these were false allegations and federal prosecutors in N.Y. and N.J. were aware of the misrepresentations. Lev produced the original advertisements placed in the Russian newspaper, and the ads were clear and descriptive as to the type of dancing. Additionally, each potential dancer was interviewed at length as to her understanding of the strip club dancing prior to agreeing and traveling to the US. To take it a step further, there was evidence that several of the dancers from Russia continued dancing in the same clubs, during the case, in which federal prosecutors had them claiming they were coerced, and then upon arrival, forced to work. A few of the women that escaped the clutches of federal prosecutors and returned to Voronezh also sent sworn affidavits to Lev for his defense.
I do not have personal knowledge of any other cases; however, fail to understand how a worker in a massage parlor making thousands of dollars a month ($5K to 30K) could be considered a victim of human trafficking, or anything else for that matter. Thus far I have seen no evidence in the Rhode Island, Kentucky, Ohio, Indiana, Colorado, or Florida cases that each of these ladies could not leave if she decided that the employment was not morally acceptable to her. These were grown women that made decisions in their lives; decisions based on free will and choice. Any one of them could have opted to work as a minimum wage slave or clean houses for a living. Referring to them as trafficking victims and dangling a work visa in front of their faces, as in the Trakhtenberg case, has only served to further damage the real victims of trafficking.
A quick look at several websites, including Polaris Project, reveals the extent that these organizations will go in promoting the cause – censorship of publishers and the anti-prostitution agenda – as each seeks to raise donations and gain federal grants. Human Trafficking.org also utilizes a religious platform, and both consistently refer to child trafficking. Once again I'll make the point that these massage parlor workers are almost always in their 30s, 40s, and 50s, and none of the cases that I have referenced involve children. It is a twist of words used to attack prostitution and has nothing to do with anything else.
The perfect example of abuse of the Act is the Lev Trakhtenberg case. I've named a list of other recent cases wherein agents refer to "human trafficking" when the reality is that a massage parlor merely had workers of non-U.S. origin or was owned by an Asian-American woman, and in fact, the workers were in their 30s, 40s, and 50s. This practice creates what I'll refer to as an integrity challenge of the law enforcement or prosecutor spokesperson. Sure, human trafficking does exist in adult business and in a variety of other businesses, and the approach of using the label here, there, and everywhere has inadvertently minimized the real cases. The religious agenda also cannot be overlooked – these people want to rid the country of prostitution and often attack from the side using any weapon in the arsenal. The label "human trafficking" has become a prosecutorial weapon to garner public support in otherwise unpopular prosecutions.
In the Trakhtenberg case, the use of the VTVPA to prosecute Lev Trakhtenberg and two co-defendants was on the basis that the women dancers from Voronezh, Russia were deceived as to the type of dancing each was to do when she arrived in the US, and that each was forced to work in these New Jersey strip clubs until the agreed amount of money ($5600) was repaid. I know for fact that these were false allegations and federal prosecutors in N.Y. and N.J. were aware of the misrepresentations. Lev produced the original advertisements placed in the Russian newspaper, and the ads were clear and descriptive as to the type of dancing. Additionally, each potential dancer was interviewed at length as to her understanding of the strip club dancing prior to agreeing and traveling to the US. To take it a step further, there was evidence that several of the dancers from Russia continued dancing in the same clubs, during the case, in which federal prosecutors had them claiming they were coerced, and then upon arrival, forced to work. A few of the women that escaped the clutches of federal prosecutors and returned to Voronezh also sent sworn affidavits to Lev for his defense.
I do not have personal knowledge of any other cases; however, fail to understand how a worker in a massage parlor making thousands of dollars a month ($5K to 30K) could be considered a victim of human trafficking, or anything else for that matter. Thus far I have seen no evidence in the Rhode Island, Kentucky, Ohio, Indiana, Colorado, or Florida cases that each of these ladies could not leave if she decided that the employment was not morally acceptable to her. These were grown women that made decisions in their lives; decisions based on free will and choice. Any one of them could have opted to work as a minimum wage slave or clean houses for a living. Referring to them as trafficking victims and dangling a work visa in front of their faces, as in the Trakhtenberg case, has only served to further damage the real victims of trafficking.
A quick look at several websites, including Polaris Project, reveals the extent that these organizations will go in promoting the cause – censorship of publishers and the anti-prostitution agenda – as each seeks to raise donations and gain federal grants. Human Trafficking.org also utilizes a religious platform, and both consistently refer to child trafficking. Once again I'll make the point that these massage parlor workers are almost always in their 30s, 40s, and 50s, and none of the cases that I have referenced involve children. It is a twist of words used to attack prostitution and has nothing to do with anything else.
Sunday, June 14, 2009
Trafficking Victims? I Don't Think So (Part 2)
I read several articles and viewed the video, The Women who are arrested, on the Happy Endings blog. I appreciate that the women that worked in the Rhode Island parlors put the situation in proper perspective for prosecutors and cops involved in these prosecutions, but since it doesn't serve the prosecutorial agenda of the moment, they will likely be ignored. The last lady in this video stated it best – it is racial [ethnicity] discrimination! I'm not seeing prosecutors pursue massage parlors with all-white American born and raised workers using the "human trafficking" card.
Rhode Island is unique in any discussion relating to prostitution in massage parlors as it is the only state in which indoor prostitution is legal – so prosecutors used the "human trafficking" card to suppress legal activity? As my friend Natalie would say: OMG! It's time for a legal suit. I think I'll move to Rhode Island and open a massage parlor.
I get the distinct feeling that agents and prosecutors in these massage parlor cases, as in escort service and other adult business cases, get their kicks putting women in a patriarchal place. The men are in charge here and they want women to know that none have the right to do so well financially on their own – they want to see the women get married and be supported by husbands or work as minimum wage slaves and barely survive. To use the "human trafficking" card to do so is criminal from my viewpoint as it truly diminishes the real trafficking cases. It detracts from a real problem.
Women turn to prostitution to dig their way out of poverty and to live better. Few women in the prostitution trade are exploited by anyone – sure there are some that are, but few – they simply want the money! Try living on $10 per hour when you get 30 hours a week – where does this pay even the basic living expenses? It amounts to $260 a week take-home pay. I've tried it in Florida and it doesn't cover needs, let alone extras, and I do have a bachelor's degree, but until recently I was delivering pizza. You see, the student loan people want the money, the auto loan people want the money, and so does the property owner that I pay exorbitant rent to (thanks to the big real estate boom) – so I'm back to being my entrepreneurial self, so everyone can get their money. Every escort that ever worked for my agencies and committed prostitution for extra dollars did so because she wanted the money. That can't be too hard to understand, as after all, prosecutors in these cases always go after the money. I feel as if this should be embedded in prosecutors' minds – the money, they want the money – just like you want the money. It's sure not human trafficking, and if I owned one of these parlors, I'd see you all in court where we would have an extensive discussion about everyone wanting the money.
Next: The Victims of Trafficking and Violence Protection Act of 2000 (VTVPA)
Rhode Island is unique in any discussion relating to prostitution in massage parlors as it is the only state in which indoor prostitution is legal – so prosecutors used the "human trafficking" card to suppress legal activity? As my friend Natalie would say: OMG! It's time for a legal suit. I think I'll move to Rhode Island and open a massage parlor.
I get the distinct feeling that agents and prosecutors in these massage parlor cases, as in escort service and other adult business cases, get their kicks putting women in a patriarchal place. The men are in charge here and they want women to know that none have the right to do so well financially on their own – they want to see the women get married and be supported by husbands or work as minimum wage slaves and barely survive. To use the "human trafficking" card to do so is criminal from my viewpoint as it truly diminishes the real trafficking cases. It detracts from a real problem.
Women turn to prostitution to dig their way out of poverty and to live better. Few women in the prostitution trade are exploited by anyone – sure there are some that are, but few – they simply want the money! Try living on $10 per hour when you get 30 hours a week – where does this pay even the basic living expenses? It amounts to $260 a week take-home pay. I've tried it in Florida and it doesn't cover needs, let alone extras, and I do have a bachelor's degree, but until recently I was delivering pizza. You see, the student loan people want the money, the auto loan people want the money, and so does the property owner that I pay exorbitant rent to (thanks to the big real estate boom) – so I'm back to being my entrepreneurial self, so everyone can get their money. Every escort that ever worked for my agencies and committed prostitution for extra dollars did so because she wanted the money. That can't be too hard to understand, as after all, prosecutors in these cases always go after the money. I feel as if this should be embedded in prosecutors' minds – the money, they want the money – just like you want the money. It's sure not human trafficking, and if I owned one of these parlors, I'd see you all in court where we would have an extensive discussion about everyone wanting the money.
Next: The Victims of Trafficking and Violence Protection Act of 2000 (VTVPA)
Trafficking Victims? I Don't Think So (Part 1)
There are two different topics to address here, so I'll begin with the usage of the label "human trafficking" in Part 1, and then move on to women that work in adult business as prostitutes, escorts, or workers in massage parlors in Part 2.
An anonymous poster responded to my last post, The Human Trafficking Question, that: "Human trafficking is the acquisition of people by improper means such as force, fraud or deception, with the aim of exploiting them." This response may offer a legal definition, but let's look at the massage parlor cases:
Were the workers deceived in any way? Cho stated that a woman could make $7K-9K a month working in her business. Was that true? Only the worker would know for sure, but if it didn't work out that way, couldn't that worker simply say goodbye and move-on? Did Cho then hold the women hostage? I don't think so. This is the only part of the definition that anonymous provided that had even the slightest potential connection. The women were certainly not forced, or the story would have hit the news quite differently. Indeed, there have been a few cases in the U.S. wherein the workers were forced and the "human trafficking" label was applicable, but when one applies such a label here, there, and everywhere, the real problem in the real cases is diminished.
Deception is something that transpires frequently in business in the U.S. – look at many of the jobs offered in any newspaper or on Craigslist. Can I really make $5K a month stuffing envelopes? Or look at this ad – it's under the "Customer Service" category: "$3-5K per Week with Growing, Successful Real Estate Investing Company" – an email address is provided for response: besuccessful2@live.com.
I seriously doubt that I could make a minimum of $12K a month by working with this advertiser, but the business that placed the advertisement is not pursued on human trafficking charges. If I am dumb then I will be a victim of deception, but would I be a human trafficking victim? Right – I'll respond to the ad as an experiment and then when I do not make that minimum $12K a month, I'll head to the nearest police station and attempt to pursue my "human trafficking" case. I'm sure they'd laugh me out of the building.
Just putting your argument in perspective here "anonymous" – let me guess – are you an agent involved in this case, an agent that teaches these "human trafficking" seminars, or someone that profits in some manner from the excess usage of the term? We can't really move forward here unless you identify your area of knowledge and expertise and the part that you play in such prosecutions.
An anonymous poster responded to my last post, The Human Trafficking Question, that: "Human trafficking is the acquisition of people by improper means such as force, fraud or deception, with the aim of exploiting them." This response may offer a legal definition, but let's look at the massage parlor cases:
Were the workers deceived in any way? Cho stated that a woman could make $7K-9K a month working in her business. Was that true? Only the worker would know for sure, but if it didn't work out that way, couldn't that worker simply say goodbye and move-on? Did Cho then hold the women hostage? I don't think so. This is the only part of the definition that anonymous provided that had even the slightest potential connection. The women were certainly not forced, or the story would have hit the news quite differently. Indeed, there have been a few cases in the U.S. wherein the workers were forced and the "human trafficking" label was applicable, but when one applies such a label here, there, and everywhere, the real problem in the real cases is diminished.
Deception is something that transpires frequently in business in the U.S. – look at many of the jobs offered in any newspaper or on Craigslist. Can I really make $5K a month stuffing envelopes? Or look at this ad – it's under the "Customer Service" category: "$3-5K per Week with Growing, Successful Real Estate Investing Company" – an email address is provided for response: besuccessful2@live.com.
I seriously doubt that I could make a minimum of $12K a month by working with this advertiser, but the business that placed the advertisement is not pursued on human trafficking charges. If I am dumb then I will be a victim of deception, but would I be a human trafficking victim? Right – I'll respond to the ad as an experiment and then when I do not make that minimum $12K a month, I'll head to the nearest police station and attempt to pursue my "human trafficking" case. I'm sure they'd laugh me out of the building.
Just putting your argument in perspective here "anonymous" – let me guess – are you an agent involved in this case, an agent that teaches these "human trafficking" seminars, or someone that profits in some manner from the excess usage of the term? We can't really move forward here unless you identify your area of knowledge and expertise and the part that you play in such prosecutions.
Saturday, June 13, 2009
The Human Trafficking Question
If all of these massage parlors are participating in "human trafficking" aren't the patrons participants as well? We have a slew of cases coming from the Kentucky, Indiana, and Ohio tri-state area that prosecutors are alleging to be a part of an interstate network that spans three states and shuffles the women from one parlor to another every few months. The businesses are owned by Korean-American women and the cases are being prosecuted by the feds. The parlor owners are being prosecuted, but the customers, and in most cases, the workers, are not.
One might realize that the interconnection could be something as simple as the women wanting to work in different areas to develop new clients or the parlor owners wanting to have new workers for clients that frequent the business over an extended period of time. It is a fact that men that patronize adult businesses do not want to see the same lady all the time. According to an article written by Jim Hannah for NYK.com, Florence, Kentucky massage parlor operator Yong Hui Cho stated to an informant that her employees could make $9K a month. The women working for Ms. Cho were 36-, 37-, and 48-year-old Korean-American women. Thus far the massage parlor investigations have netted at least eight convictions and hundreds of thousands of dollars in forfeited money and property.
It sounds to me like these Korean-American women did quite well for themselves and the case has nothing whatsoever to do with human trafficking. If these women were legal residents in the US, then the "trafficking" label must be tossed – each could work wherever she so desired and was not smuggled into the country via Mexico or in a boat. It must be noted that there are grants and funding available for law enforcement agencies to train officers to spot human trafficking situations and victims, and perhaps too many officers depart these seminars and classes with the belief that any woman of foreign origin working in adult business has been trafficked and forced into this type of work. Most likely, in the overwhelming majority of cases, the women prefer plenty of money over having a minimum wage job.
Cho (age 51) was the feds latest arrest – May 7, 2009, in this tri-state area, but there are other cases in progress. The news around the internet reveals that Cho had a male partner, Tae Sun Kim from Flushing, New York, and he put the business entirely in Cho's name. There is no record of Kim being charged in state or federal court in connection to this case, so I know that if I were Ms. Cho, I would demand a clear understanding of who my money man really is and why he has not been charged in connection to this case. It is possible that Cho was a worker in a massage parlor that was put in business by Kim, backed by the feds. I smell a rat, or several, depending on your viewpoint.
One might realize that the interconnection could be something as simple as the women wanting to work in different areas to develop new clients or the parlor owners wanting to have new workers for clients that frequent the business over an extended period of time. It is a fact that men that patronize adult businesses do not want to see the same lady all the time. According to an article written by Jim Hannah for NYK.com, Florence, Kentucky massage parlor operator Yong Hui Cho stated to an informant that her employees could make $9K a month. The women working for Ms. Cho were 36-, 37-, and 48-year-old Korean-American women. Thus far the massage parlor investigations have netted at least eight convictions and hundreds of thousands of dollars in forfeited money and property.
It sounds to me like these Korean-American women did quite well for themselves and the case has nothing whatsoever to do with human trafficking. If these women were legal residents in the US, then the "trafficking" label must be tossed – each could work wherever she so desired and was not smuggled into the country via Mexico or in a boat. It must be noted that there are grants and funding available for law enforcement agencies to train officers to spot human trafficking situations and victims, and perhaps too many officers depart these seminars and classes with the belief that any woman of foreign origin working in adult business has been trafficked and forced into this type of work. Most likely, in the overwhelming majority of cases, the women prefer plenty of money over having a minimum wage job.
Cho (age 51) was the feds latest arrest – May 7, 2009, in this tri-state area, but there are other cases in progress. The news around the internet reveals that Cho had a male partner, Tae Sun Kim from Flushing, New York, and he put the business entirely in Cho's name. There is no record of Kim being charged in state or federal court in connection to this case, so I know that if I were Ms. Cho, I would demand a clear understanding of who my money man really is and why he has not been charged in connection to this case. It is possible that Cho was a worker in a massage parlor that was put in business by Kim, backed by the feds. I smell a rat, or several, depending on your viewpoint.
Wednesday, June 10, 2009
Overkill in Colorado
It's likely that Nan O'Reilly's arrest on November 20, 2008 surprised no one more than Nan; after all, she had the Grand Junction, Colorado business, Fuji Oriental Therapy Massage, for 14 years. The case involves city and county agents, a joint drug task force, and the feds. One must wonder what brought the Western Colorado Joint Drug Task Force into this picture as there are no drug-related allegations. I'd bet on an informant – someone was busted in a drug investigation and offered information and assistance to gain favor in their own mess. More often than not such information is false. As for the feds, the FBI and the IRS, the smell of money drew both agencies to this 14 year-old business. So they all merge to attack this woman's massage parlor that has peacefully existed for so long that it's a part of the city.
Ms. O'Reilly was charged with racketeering, pimping, tax evasion, keeping a place of prostitution, and promoting sexual immorality. I didn't realize that the last charge was prosecutable, considering the existence of the internet, and because it screams religious agenda. What is immoral to some is not immoral to others, so I'm curious as to specifically whose morals are used as the basis for such a prosecution. The trend of mentioning "human trafficking" does not escape this massage parlor case, although nothing more specific is stated anywhere as usual. It's just something that is often stated to help the general public understand why there would be an investigation of a business that's existed for so long. Does it help you? It doesn't help me at all and comes off as pure rhetoric that undermines real cases that do involve trafficking.
According to various news articles, including one written by Paul Shockley in the Grand Junction Free Press, Ms. O'Reilly allegedly filed a false tax return in 2007. The reported income on the return is $230K, and the IRS claims that she omitted $70K that was collected from business and was in the bank account. This is just my opinion, but when a business owner declares $230K in income it's unlikely that this person would place their life on the chopping-block to avoid declaring an additional $70K. It's more likely that it was an accounting error of some sort, made by either Ms. O'Reilly or her tax preparer. The additional $70K could also be a loan to the business or anything for that matter, but she wouldn't put it in the bank if she were attempting to hide it. You might recall from my post yesterday that I often feel as if I'm from a different planet and just think differently than most people. Maybe I'm lost and it's just me and my weird reasoning. At any rate, the alleged tax evasion is what drew the feds into the case. Oh – did I mention that the feds and the state are doing their overzealous best to forfeit all of Nan O'Reilly's property and money? They get to split it up between them if they succeed.
Let us get down to the nitty-gritty of the case: the "cooperating witnesses" – Nan really does have a 1000 Sams begging to help the prosecutors so that their identities remain unknown, and the Grand Junction Police Department has obliged them by opening a hotline and warning former customers that if they do not call the hotline and offer to help they will be contacted at their home or workplace. This reeks of extortion to me. The male enablers are contacting the P.D. in droves offering to help in any way possible. It's okay with these louses that Ms. O'Reilly pays for their own immoral transgressions; immoral according to the State of Colorado, that is. But no, the P.D. would never want to alert the families or the employers of these participants and cause them the slightest of problems. It is completely the fault of the business owner that was most likely never present during the transgressions and just involved some momentary lapse of judgment for the men – momentary on many occasions according to credit card transaction records.
I never had a 1000 Sams ready and waiting to help the state doom me to a prison, as I never accepted credit cards because I know better than to trust Sams, but if I were Nan O'Reilly, I'd see every one of them on the stand. It would be an all or nothing prosecution – drag in everyone that participated in the alleged acts of prostitution, book them all, or drop the charges and the entire case against the lone party that did not participate and simply used her business acumen to survive and prosper in the land of entrepreneurs.
Ms. O'Reilly was charged with racketeering, pimping, tax evasion, keeping a place of prostitution, and promoting sexual immorality. I didn't realize that the last charge was prosecutable, considering the existence of the internet, and because it screams religious agenda. What is immoral to some is not immoral to others, so I'm curious as to specifically whose morals are used as the basis for such a prosecution. The trend of mentioning "human trafficking" does not escape this massage parlor case, although nothing more specific is stated anywhere as usual. It's just something that is often stated to help the general public understand why there would be an investigation of a business that's existed for so long. Does it help you? It doesn't help me at all and comes off as pure rhetoric that undermines real cases that do involve trafficking.
According to various news articles, including one written by Paul Shockley in the Grand Junction Free Press, Ms. O'Reilly allegedly filed a false tax return in 2007. The reported income on the return is $230K, and the IRS claims that she omitted $70K that was collected from business and was in the bank account. This is just my opinion, but when a business owner declares $230K in income it's unlikely that this person would place their life on the chopping-block to avoid declaring an additional $70K. It's more likely that it was an accounting error of some sort, made by either Ms. O'Reilly or her tax preparer. The additional $70K could also be a loan to the business or anything for that matter, but she wouldn't put it in the bank if she were attempting to hide it. You might recall from my post yesterday that I often feel as if I'm from a different planet and just think differently than most people. Maybe I'm lost and it's just me and my weird reasoning. At any rate, the alleged tax evasion is what drew the feds into the case. Oh – did I mention that the feds and the state are doing their overzealous best to forfeit all of Nan O'Reilly's property and money? They get to split it up between them if they succeed.
Let us get down to the nitty-gritty of the case: the "cooperating witnesses" – Nan really does have a 1000 Sams begging to help the prosecutors so that their identities remain unknown, and the Grand Junction Police Department has obliged them by opening a hotline and warning former customers that if they do not call the hotline and offer to help they will be contacted at their home or workplace. This reeks of extortion to me. The male enablers are contacting the P.D. in droves offering to help in any way possible. It's okay with these louses that Ms. O'Reilly pays for their own immoral transgressions; immoral according to the State of Colorado, that is. But no, the P.D. would never want to alert the families or the employers of these participants and cause them the slightest of problems. It is completely the fault of the business owner that was most likely never present during the transgressions and just involved some momentary lapse of judgment for the men – momentary on many occasions according to credit card transaction records.
I never had a 1000 Sams ready and waiting to help the state doom me to a prison, as I never accepted credit cards because I know better than to trust Sams, but if I were Nan O'Reilly, I'd see every one of them on the stand. It would be an all or nothing prosecution – drag in everyone that participated in the alleged acts of prostitution, book them all, or drop the charges and the entire case against the lone party that did not participate and simply used her business acumen to survive and prosper in the land of entrepreneurs.
Tuesday, June 9, 2009
Clients Never the Focus
I have always had a "live and let live" philosophy in my own life, so don't think that I seek to target clients of adult business – au contraire mon ami – but why should the owners of these adult businesses and the workers providing services be the targets? I grew-up in Europe, was born and raised in Paris, moved to Mons, Belgium for several years, and moved to Germany (Kaiserslautern area) as a teenager. I resided in Germany until age 23 and frequently spent time in Amsterdam. This background, unmistakably, gave me a unique outlook on adult business, and even prostitution, in comparison to the great majority of my peers here in the United States.
The male clients of massage parlors and escort services are the enablers. Trust me, if no clients called escort services or visited massage parlors these businesses would shut down. So why does every raid and bust article that I read in relation to adult businesses, except in the case of the Desert Divas investigation in the Phoenix area, state that clients are not the focus or the target? Law enforcement agencies, both state and federal, target everyone except the enabling client! The owner is blamed for mere existence and the ladies that work at the business are blamed for having the audacity to tempt the male client by agreeing to his request. Is it just me or does this entire arrest and prosecute strategy lack common sense to you too? I will admit that sometimes I feel as if I arrived here from another planet, and regardless that I've lived in the US for 26 years, the different mindset remains in my life.
My own case was no different. Sure, they wanted the nonexistent client books, but only to use against me. They wanted to find anyone that ever had contact with me, call them a witness, and prop them up on the stand. This is exactly what was done with the one client, Sam, they managed to locate when they found his business card in an escort's purse. They first assured Sam that they just wanted him as a witness and he faced no charges, as long as he testified against me for existing and sending him the escorts. When I chose trial over a plea deal all bets were off, and Sam didn't need to testify as he had been promised public anonymity in exchange for his deposition prior to my arrest (i.e. they promised they wouldn't contact his wife). I'm as far from dumb as most people will ever meet – do you think I needed 1000 Sams offering-up depositions? Of course not as these Sams would say anything they were told so that their wives, girlfriends, bosses, and neighbors wouldn't find out that they dared to patronize an escort service. Trust me again – they'd say absolutely anything, and they'd disregard the fact that I never discussed sex for money with any one of them. No, I sure didn't need 1000 Sams in my life. So of course I didn't keep client books and I never accepted credit cards.
And Sam, they lied to you about so many things - if I were as horrible as they claimed, I'd name you publicly here and now. You do realize that I can legally do exactly that, right?
Men that go to massage parlors and use credit cards are also tracked in the end. When the charges to their credit card are for $200 or $300, it's assumed that more than a massage was received. In the Nan O'Reilly case in Grand Junction, Colorado these 1000 Sams are referred to as "cooperating witnesses." How dare she have a massage parlor in a state wherein there was not even a special license required to offer massage! How dare Nan exist, circulate money in a broken capitalist system, purchase real property, shop at a grocery store, buy a car, and pay taxes! Worse yet – women worked at her business and made money, enabling each to support herself and also circulate money in the broken-down economy. This can never work – these women should just get married and let their husbands support them, or better yet, each should work at a fast-food minimum wage joint in Grand Junction – that way they'd also be eligible for free medical care and food stamps, and if children are involved, perhaps even Aid to Families with Dependent Children (AFDC – the former welfare). Doesn't that sound like a better route to you? Excuse me while I transport myself back to that other planet.
I don't know, but I think that if I were Nan, I'd make sure those 1000 Sams had to face the witness stand.
Next: More on the Nan O'Reilly Persecution in Colorado
The male clients of massage parlors and escort services are the enablers. Trust me, if no clients called escort services or visited massage parlors these businesses would shut down. So why does every raid and bust article that I read in relation to adult businesses, except in the case of the Desert Divas investigation in the Phoenix area, state that clients are not the focus or the target? Law enforcement agencies, both state and federal, target everyone except the enabling client! The owner is blamed for mere existence and the ladies that work at the business are blamed for having the audacity to tempt the male client by agreeing to his request. Is it just me or does this entire arrest and prosecute strategy lack common sense to you too? I will admit that sometimes I feel as if I arrived here from another planet, and regardless that I've lived in the US for 26 years, the different mindset remains in my life.
My own case was no different. Sure, they wanted the nonexistent client books, but only to use against me. They wanted to find anyone that ever had contact with me, call them a witness, and prop them up on the stand. This is exactly what was done with the one client, Sam, they managed to locate when they found his business card in an escort's purse. They first assured Sam that they just wanted him as a witness and he faced no charges, as long as he testified against me for existing and sending him the escorts. When I chose trial over a plea deal all bets were off, and Sam didn't need to testify as he had been promised public anonymity in exchange for his deposition prior to my arrest (i.e. they promised they wouldn't contact his wife). I'm as far from dumb as most people will ever meet – do you think I needed 1000 Sams offering-up depositions? Of course not as these Sams would say anything they were told so that their wives, girlfriends, bosses, and neighbors wouldn't find out that they dared to patronize an escort service. Trust me again – they'd say absolutely anything, and they'd disregard the fact that I never discussed sex for money with any one of them. No, I sure didn't need 1000 Sams in my life. So of course I didn't keep client books and I never accepted credit cards.
And Sam, they lied to you about so many things - if I were as horrible as they claimed, I'd name you publicly here and now. You do realize that I can legally do exactly that, right?
Men that go to massage parlors and use credit cards are also tracked in the end. When the charges to their credit card are for $200 or $300, it's assumed that more than a massage was received. In the Nan O'Reilly case in Grand Junction, Colorado these 1000 Sams are referred to as "cooperating witnesses." How dare she have a massage parlor in a state wherein there was not even a special license required to offer massage! How dare Nan exist, circulate money in a broken capitalist system, purchase real property, shop at a grocery store, buy a car, and pay taxes! Worse yet – women worked at her business and made money, enabling each to support herself and also circulate money in the broken-down economy. This can never work – these women should just get married and let their husbands support them, or better yet, each should work at a fast-food minimum wage joint in Grand Junction – that way they'd also be eligible for free medical care and food stamps, and if children are involved, perhaps even Aid to Families with Dependent Children (AFDC – the former welfare). Doesn't that sound like a better route to you? Excuse me while I transport myself back to that other planet.
I don't know, but I think that if I were Nan, I'd make sure those 1000 Sams had to face the witness stand.
Next: More on the Nan O'Reilly Persecution in Colorado
Monday, June 8, 2009
Massage Parlor Pursuits
When I saw the WFTV video of Li Ping Ding being taken away by agents of the Metropolitan Bureau of Investigation (MBI) on March 30, 2007, I couldn't miss the perplexed look on her face. Ms. Ding looked truly surprised, and at that moment had no clue as to the seriousness of the prosecution. I'm sure that the camera aimed at her face and the questions the reporter spewed forth didn't help her to understand the complexity of the events that would follow. I'm also sure that at that moment she perceived the situation to be fixable and her name cleared in the interim. She had two factors working against that though: the MBI and the Office of Statewide Prosecution (OSP). As a former defendant I am all too aware of the overkill capabilities of both agencies.
The OSP has all of the power, and funding, of the Department of Justice (DOJ). Prosecutors with this Florida agency do whatever they want. The Florida Attorney General describes the purpose of the OSP:
"The mission of the Office is to investigate and prosecute multi-circuit organized crime and to assist other law enforcement officials in their efforts against organized crimes. The prosecutors in the Office work regularly with their federal and state counterparts to coordinate efforts against criminal activity."
In other words, when the feds are not interested and/or do not have a case, the state uses the multi-jurisdictional organized crime card to destroy the victim/defendant. In the case of Li Ping Ding, the overkill came in the form of 22 counts, with 21 of the charges serious felonies. Count 1 was "Racketeering (RICO)" which is punishable by up to 30 years in a prison – it's a first degree felony in Florida. There were also 17 counts of "live off the earnings of prostitution," all felonies, and 3 counts of "maintaining a structure for the purpose of prostitution," and a lone count of misdemeanor "solicitation to commit prostitution" thrown in for good measure, as if Ms. Ding stopped running this far-reaching organized crime ring to offer an agent her sexual services. The misdemeanor had its purpose, no doubt to defame the defendant and paint a sordid picture for any potential jury, should she consider the option of trial. It is an Orange County, Florida case, number 07-CF-0004712-0.
I was rooting for Ms. Ding on the sidelines and hoping that she would call their bluff, but in the end she took the deal as most others in her situation do. Similar to almost all MBI cases, this case involved a GPS tracking device placed on her vehicle, without warrant, and various other acts of legal misconduct committed by agents and known to prosecutors. We do have a Fourth Amendment to the United States Constitution, although agents and prosecutors frequently forget that it exists. How convenient.
Two years after her arrest, Li Ping Ding pled guilty to the one count of racketeering, and all other charges were noted as nolle prosequi which translates to dropped. On April 17, 2009 her sentence was imposed: six months in the county jail with court-ordered work release; ten years felony probation; no contact with any witnesses; may not own, manage, or be a part of any massage parlor; fines and costs totaling $15,535; and provide substantial assistance when asked.
The part wherein Ms. Ding is required to provide substantial assistance when asked is a big win for agents and prosecutors: They now have a member of the local Asian community in their pockets, and it's unlikely that most Orlando residents, including others in the close-knit, yet sizable, community that she was a part of, have any idea what happened with the case as there was no publicity, cameras, or newspaper articles concerning her plea bargain. I'm unique – I follow-up on almost everything.
In recent news the MBI raided more Asian massage parlors, and live on television for all to view. On December 10, 2008, an International Drive spa run by several women was raided by agents. As in the Ding case, the MBI commander, Paul Zambouras, came out on camera discussing something else entirely:
"What we always look for in these types of cases is human trafficking and sex trafficking," said Cmdr. Paul Zambouras from the MBI. "A lot of times these women are smuggled into the country and they're forced to perform prostitution to help pay off their smuggling debt."
I've got a newsflash for Zambouras: Women from Vietnam, Korea, China, or any other part of East Asia, do not need to be smuggled into the U.S. – does he really believe that smugglers bring women in from this region to work in massage parlors? The women arrested in these raids are all in their 30s, 40s, and 50s. Does Zambouras think they arrived in boats or walked through Mexico, or what? I'd love to hear more from the MBI on this massage-smuggling phenomenon! It's unlikely that we will hear a word from this former MBI commander though – the agency rarely does follow-up.
In these parlor cases, the MBI admits to tracking down the clients via credit cards used at the business. Now there’s a reason to never accept credit cards, or try to use one, for any adult business service. No doubt that this is how they found so many of the customers in the Ding case.
In early February of 2009, the MBI raided a café in the Orlando Asian community, alleging that it was a front for a sports gambling bookmaking operation. Dung Ngoc Nguyen, the alleged head of the organized operation, had a puzzled look on his face as the WFTV reporter spewed accusations of his threatening violence to collect on unpaid debts – an unsubstantiated and uncharged accusation at that. Nguyen and Hau Tan Thai were both booked on racketeering, bookmaking, receiving money bets for a game of chance or skill, and unlawful use of a two-way communication device. That is 3 felonies and 1 misdemeanor, including the MBI signature racketeering charge. The cases are numbered 09-CF-0001668 and 09-CF-0001669, and they are not yet merged as co-defendants, in Orange County, Florida. Zambouras was there for the cameras with his expected rhetoric:
"Gambling is one of the things that leads to the violent crime, like I said before, these guys aren't nice guys, you owe them money and their may be a crime that happens to your family, property and so on," said MBI Commander Paul Zambouros.
Someone might remind this former commander of the MBI that the State of Florida runs the biggest organized gambling operation in the state – it is referred to as the Florida Lottery. You've got to wonder who set these guys up….
The OSP has all of the power, and funding, of the Department of Justice (DOJ). Prosecutors with this Florida agency do whatever they want. The Florida Attorney General describes the purpose of the OSP:
"The mission of the Office is to investigate and prosecute multi-circuit organized crime and to assist other law enforcement officials in their efforts against organized crimes. The prosecutors in the Office work regularly with their federal and state counterparts to coordinate efforts against criminal activity."
In other words, when the feds are not interested and/or do not have a case, the state uses the multi-jurisdictional organized crime card to destroy the victim/defendant. In the case of Li Ping Ding, the overkill came in the form of 22 counts, with 21 of the charges serious felonies. Count 1 was "Racketeering (RICO)" which is punishable by up to 30 years in a prison – it's a first degree felony in Florida. There were also 17 counts of "live off the earnings of prostitution," all felonies, and 3 counts of "maintaining a structure for the purpose of prostitution," and a lone count of misdemeanor "solicitation to commit prostitution" thrown in for good measure, as if Ms. Ding stopped running this far-reaching organized crime ring to offer an agent her sexual services. The misdemeanor had its purpose, no doubt to defame the defendant and paint a sordid picture for any potential jury, should she consider the option of trial. It is an Orange County, Florida case, number 07-CF-0004712-0.
I was rooting for Ms. Ding on the sidelines and hoping that she would call their bluff, but in the end she took the deal as most others in her situation do. Similar to almost all MBI cases, this case involved a GPS tracking device placed on her vehicle, without warrant, and various other acts of legal misconduct committed by agents and known to prosecutors. We do have a Fourth Amendment to the United States Constitution, although agents and prosecutors frequently forget that it exists. How convenient.
Two years after her arrest, Li Ping Ding pled guilty to the one count of racketeering, and all other charges were noted as nolle prosequi which translates to dropped. On April 17, 2009 her sentence was imposed: six months in the county jail with court-ordered work release; ten years felony probation; no contact with any witnesses; may not own, manage, or be a part of any massage parlor; fines and costs totaling $15,535; and provide substantial assistance when asked.
The part wherein Ms. Ding is required to provide substantial assistance when asked is a big win for agents and prosecutors: They now have a member of the local Asian community in their pockets, and it's unlikely that most Orlando residents, including others in the close-knit, yet sizable, community that she was a part of, have any idea what happened with the case as there was no publicity, cameras, or newspaper articles concerning her plea bargain. I'm unique – I follow-up on almost everything.
In recent news the MBI raided more Asian massage parlors, and live on television for all to view. On December 10, 2008, an International Drive spa run by several women was raided by agents. As in the Ding case, the MBI commander, Paul Zambouras, came out on camera discussing something else entirely:
"What we always look for in these types of cases is human trafficking and sex trafficking," said Cmdr. Paul Zambouras from the MBI. "A lot of times these women are smuggled into the country and they're forced to perform prostitution to help pay off their smuggling debt."
I've got a newsflash for Zambouras: Women from Vietnam, Korea, China, or any other part of East Asia, do not need to be smuggled into the U.S. – does he really believe that smugglers bring women in from this region to work in massage parlors? The women arrested in these raids are all in their 30s, 40s, and 50s. Does Zambouras think they arrived in boats or walked through Mexico, or what? I'd love to hear more from the MBI on this massage-smuggling phenomenon! It's unlikely that we will hear a word from this former MBI commander though – the agency rarely does follow-up.
In these parlor cases, the MBI admits to tracking down the clients via credit cards used at the business. Now there’s a reason to never accept credit cards, or try to use one, for any adult business service. No doubt that this is how they found so many of the customers in the Ding case.
In early February of 2009, the MBI raided a café in the Orlando Asian community, alleging that it was a front for a sports gambling bookmaking operation. Dung Ngoc Nguyen, the alleged head of the organized operation, had a puzzled look on his face as the WFTV reporter spewed accusations of his threatening violence to collect on unpaid debts – an unsubstantiated and uncharged accusation at that. Nguyen and Hau Tan Thai were both booked on racketeering, bookmaking, receiving money bets for a game of chance or skill, and unlawful use of a two-way communication device. That is 3 felonies and 1 misdemeanor, including the MBI signature racketeering charge. The cases are numbered 09-CF-0001668 and 09-CF-0001669, and they are not yet merged as co-defendants, in Orange County, Florida. Zambouras was there for the cameras with his expected rhetoric:
"Gambling is one of the things that leads to the violent crime, like I said before, these guys aren't nice guys, you owe them money and their may be a crime that happens to your family, property and so on," said MBI Commander Paul Zambouros.
Someone might remind this former commander of the MBI that the State of Florida runs the biggest organized gambling operation in the state – it is referred to as the Florida Lottery. You've got to wonder who set these guys up….
Saturday, June 6, 2009
Targeting Massage Parlors
Prosecutions of massage parlor owners have proliferated in the last few years, although the number of parlors open has not seen much, if any, increase during this period of time. Most of the targeted parlors have been open for many years, and some for more than a decade. It is decidedly a growing trend with state and federal prosecutors around the US, and frequently includes civil forfeiture of property and money. Do these cops and prosecutors have nothing better to do with their time or are they receiving an extra push from religious groups, for example, the Christian Coalition? Or are such pursuits receiving serious funding by government agencies quick to label the foreign workers "trafficked women"? Think about it for a minute – a massage parlor has been open for 10 or 12 years, but suddenly this parlor is a problem to the overall community? I admit to knowing little about massage parlors, or body scrubs, as they are sometimes called, but what little I do know tells me that often the same customers go there for years and nothing has changed to warrant the sudden attack.
There was one in Cocoa (Florida) that was directly across the street from the Cocoa Police Department for 20 years before the Metropolitan Bureau of Investigation (MBI) ventured over to Brevard County and raided, then permanently closed, the place. The MBI did what they did back in 2002, and only as a result of information received from the big informant in my own case, Ann, as she had worked there briefly. The City of Cocoa and Brevard County didn't care enough to bother for 20 entire years. I am referring to the Boardroom case, and the owner, Marjorie Ruzzo, pled guilty to a racketeering charge in state court back in 2003. If Ann the informant didn't exist the MBI would not have bothered. Today is different in that the MBI has been targeting these establishments in Orlando for the last two years; In fact, when they raid the places they bring along WFTV news reporters, so this is about the only time that I see the MBI in the news today.
It is a trend to target these parlors in that I'm seeing new cases pop-up all over the country, and not just in my own backyard. Most often the owners of the massage parlors that are targeted are Asian or Asian-American, although there are as many massage parlors open that are owned by non-Asians. In many cases I'm hearing agents talk about "trafficking in women" being a part of the investigation and a potential charge faced by the owner. Usually the women working in these places are in their 30s, 40s, and 50s – look at the booking photos the next time you see a raid in the news. It is beyond me to understand how women from Korea, Vietnam, or China, that are in these age groups could be referred to as "trafficked," unless of course it has to do with federal grants and police funding. Hell, if they wanted to leave they could, without doubt, but this is how they make a living, and it beats the crap out of working at a fast-food joint for minimum wage!
To illustrate my point here, the next few articles posted will concern specific prosecutions in different geographic areas. I'll begin with Orlando and the prosecution of Li Ping Ding, and then move on to cases in Ohio, Colorado, and elsewhere. Indulge me please – I have done my research on the topic.
There was one in Cocoa (Florida) that was directly across the street from the Cocoa Police Department for 20 years before the Metropolitan Bureau of Investigation (MBI) ventured over to Brevard County and raided, then permanently closed, the place. The MBI did what they did back in 2002, and only as a result of information received from the big informant in my own case, Ann, as she had worked there briefly. The City of Cocoa and Brevard County didn't care enough to bother for 20 entire years. I am referring to the Boardroom case, and the owner, Marjorie Ruzzo, pled guilty to a racketeering charge in state court back in 2003. If Ann the informant didn't exist the MBI would not have bothered. Today is different in that the MBI has been targeting these establishments in Orlando for the last two years; In fact, when they raid the places they bring along WFTV news reporters, so this is about the only time that I see the MBI in the news today.
It is a trend to target these parlors in that I'm seeing new cases pop-up all over the country, and not just in my own backyard. Most often the owners of the massage parlors that are targeted are Asian or Asian-American, although there are as many massage parlors open that are owned by non-Asians. In many cases I'm hearing agents talk about "trafficking in women" being a part of the investigation and a potential charge faced by the owner. Usually the women working in these places are in their 30s, 40s, and 50s – look at the booking photos the next time you see a raid in the news. It is beyond me to understand how women from Korea, Vietnam, or China, that are in these age groups could be referred to as "trafficked," unless of course it has to do with federal grants and police funding. Hell, if they wanted to leave they could, without doubt, but this is how they make a living, and it beats the crap out of working at a fast-food joint for minimum wage!
To illustrate my point here, the next few articles posted will concern specific prosecutions in different geographic areas. I'll begin with Orlando and the prosecution of Li Ping Ding, and then move on to cases in Ohio, Colorado, and elsewhere. Indulge me please – I have done my research on the topic.
Tuesday, June 2, 2009
The Right to Privacy
Do We The People have any serious expectation of privacy or respect for the privacy of others in the United States today? I don't know about anyone else, but I do on both counts. I'll take it a step further here: Does a man that calls an escort service have an expectation of privacy? Should any business that he conducts with the escort and the agency be private?
Today it is all gossip fodder for the media. I owned the second escort service in the world that was on the internet and conducted business in conservative Orlando for 10 years. Is there anyone that thinks that public officials and Hollywood celebrities didn't use my agency when they stayed at Disney resorts? If you can answer "yes" to that I'd love to talk to you about some land for sale out in the Everglades.
When I testified in my defense at my trial, the prosecutor drilled me for most of an entire day, and one of his many questions was: "What are some names of clients that called your business?" My answer was that I didn't remember any names, and that was true – as I sat there on the stand, facing up to 60 years in a Florida prison and nearing the end of week two of the trial, and frazzled beyond imagination, I didn't recall any names. You see, I barbequed the client lists long before the day they banged down my door, and I did admit that on the stand. When asked why I would do such a thing, the answer was simple: Such lists could never help me, the escorts, or the clients, so why keep them. My business never accepted credit cards, or wire transfers, so there were no bank records either.
The policy at my agency was that the client remained private whether he wanted to or not. Why would any man use a credit card for escort services or do a wire transfer to the business? In my opinion, he'd have to be lacking in the intelligence department, or have nothing whatsoever to lose. So what was Elliot Spitzer's excuse? The man had everything to lose and was all too aware of how those investigations and prosecutions work.
Today a booker from the Emperors Club spoke about Spitzer in open court during her sentencing. The man has become total gossip fodder in the media, especially with all of the personal and private encounters revealed by Kristin, the newly-named Manhattan Madam. I think that Ashley Dupre is the only one that hasn't spoke publicly about him, and for that she earns my respect – she took the money and in doing so became ethically bound to an unspoken agreement of privacy. But what do I know? The Manhattan Madam is selling plenty of books and I'm not. My book is an actual story, not gossip, and reveals no client secrets. This in itself reveals the answer to the initial question. There is no expectation of privacy in the United States today, and the people rather enjoy seeing the right to privacy go by the wayside. After all is said and done our lives should be open books, right?
Today it is all gossip fodder for the media. I owned the second escort service in the world that was on the internet and conducted business in conservative Orlando for 10 years. Is there anyone that thinks that public officials and Hollywood celebrities didn't use my agency when they stayed at Disney resorts? If you can answer "yes" to that I'd love to talk to you about some land for sale out in the Everglades.
When I testified in my defense at my trial, the prosecutor drilled me for most of an entire day, and one of his many questions was: "What are some names of clients that called your business?" My answer was that I didn't remember any names, and that was true – as I sat there on the stand, facing up to 60 years in a Florida prison and nearing the end of week two of the trial, and frazzled beyond imagination, I didn't recall any names. You see, I barbequed the client lists long before the day they banged down my door, and I did admit that on the stand. When asked why I would do such a thing, the answer was simple: Such lists could never help me, the escorts, or the clients, so why keep them. My business never accepted credit cards, or wire transfers, so there were no bank records either.
The policy at my agency was that the client remained private whether he wanted to or not. Why would any man use a credit card for escort services or do a wire transfer to the business? In my opinion, he'd have to be lacking in the intelligence department, or have nothing whatsoever to lose. So what was Elliot Spitzer's excuse? The man had everything to lose and was all too aware of how those investigations and prosecutions work.
Today a booker from the Emperors Club spoke about Spitzer in open court during her sentencing. The man has become total gossip fodder in the media, especially with all of the personal and private encounters revealed by Kristin, the newly-named Manhattan Madam. I think that Ashley Dupre is the only one that hasn't spoke publicly about him, and for that she earns my respect – she took the money and in doing so became ethically bound to an unspoken agreement of privacy. But what do I know? The Manhattan Madam is selling plenty of books and I'm not. My book is an actual story, not gossip, and reveals no client secrets. This in itself reveals the answer to the initial question. There is no expectation of privacy in the United States today, and the people rather enjoy seeing the right to privacy go by the wayside. After all is said and done our lives should be open books, right?
Monday, June 1, 2009
The Bingo Racketeering Case
Bingo parlors used to be another target of the Metropolitan Bureau of Investigation (MBI), but it looks like the agents of the State of Florida had their fill, and bit off more than they could chew, in the biggest of the bingo cases. I referred to the case briefly in my book, and had one important part incorrect: The two defendants and several corporations that took the criminal case to trial were acquitted on all counts by the jury. It is the civil case that they originally lost, was overturned on appeal, won, and is now once again in appeal status, according to the file. The bingo case began in 1995 and continues today.
Back in 1995 when the criminal case was filed there were 17 defendants, and 8 of those defendants were corporations. One of the acquitted defendants was Pondella Hall for Hire, Inc. – Pondella was in Orange County (Orlando), but this was a large-scale commercial bingo operation comprising 15 bingo halls in 12 Florida counties. Leave it to the overzealous MBI to be the investigators to pursue a racketeering (RICO) case. The criminal case is Case Number 95-CF-0012838, and it is an Orange County case. I have never seen so many filings on a case as this one, except in the civil case that continues. The civil case was also filed in 1995, as the state sought to forfeit all of the property of the bingo halls and the defendants. Today the victims also seek damages and losses from the State of Florida. The civil Case Number is 1995-CA-006890-0 and it is also in Orange County.
The two defendants that didn't plead guilty to the lengthy list of felony counts are Roy Killingsworth Jr. and Philip Leroy Furtney. I recall Furtney being in the news in leg-irons well over a decade ago, and must believe that it was during the criminal trial when he was being taken to court, but it may have been right after his arrest. Furtney was the one connected to Pondella, and the man is a legend – he fought these abusive overzealous whacks until he died in September of 2007. His brother Bruce, on behalf of his estate, carries on in the civil case today. The last filing on the case was on May 28, 2009. Can you imagine a 13 year fight over a bingo hall case and then to die before it's resolved? Well, it is resolved in that the state lost and has pay for all the forfeited property – today it's about how much they have to pay for property value changes and specifically what state office is paying.
It should be the end of the MBI for twisting the Florida racketeering statutes to the point of obscurity in a case that has cost Florida taxpayers an unknown sum of money that has yet to be revealed. But hey, it gave all the attorneys and agents something to do, right? I still have the MBI Governing Board minutes from meetings in 1994, and forward, wherein Pondella is discussed, so the board was well-aware of this abuse of the statutes. May Philip Leroy Furtney of Ontario rest in peace – eventually they will pay for all that they did.
Back in 1995 when the criminal case was filed there were 17 defendants, and 8 of those defendants were corporations. One of the acquitted defendants was Pondella Hall for Hire, Inc. – Pondella was in Orange County (Orlando), but this was a large-scale commercial bingo operation comprising 15 bingo halls in 12 Florida counties. Leave it to the overzealous MBI to be the investigators to pursue a racketeering (RICO) case. The criminal case is Case Number 95-CF-0012838, and it is an Orange County case. I have never seen so many filings on a case as this one, except in the civil case that continues. The civil case was also filed in 1995, as the state sought to forfeit all of the property of the bingo halls and the defendants. Today the victims also seek damages and losses from the State of Florida. The civil Case Number is 1995-CA-006890-0 and it is also in Orange County.
The two defendants that didn't plead guilty to the lengthy list of felony counts are Roy Killingsworth Jr. and Philip Leroy Furtney. I recall Furtney being in the news in leg-irons well over a decade ago, and must believe that it was during the criminal trial when he was being taken to court, but it may have been right after his arrest. Furtney was the one connected to Pondella, and the man is a legend – he fought these abusive overzealous whacks until he died in September of 2007. His brother Bruce, on behalf of his estate, carries on in the civil case today. The last filing on the case was on May 28, 2009. Can you imagine a 13 year fight over a bingo hall case and then to die before it's resolved? Well, it is resolved in that the state lost and has pay for all the forfeited property – today it's about how much they have to pay for property value changes and specifically what state office is paying.
It should be the end of the MBI for twisting the Florida racketeering statutes to the point of obscurity in a case that has cost Florida taxpayers an unknown sum of money that has yet to be revealed. But hey, it gave all the attorneys and agents something to do, right? I still have the MBI Governing Board minutes from meetings in 1994, and forward, wherein Pondella is discussed, so the board was well-aware of this abuse of the statutes. May Philip Leroy Furtney of Ontario rest in peace – eventually they will pay for all that they did.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)