Today I received an email from one of the victims of the Metropolitan Bureau of Investigation's (MBI) Operation Plastic Empire. It was one of the most successful law enforcement operations in escort service history. When I state most successful, I am referring to the number of escort service owners arrested and convicted, and the number of services closed as a result of the operation. This is the only aspect of this operation that could be considered successful. Trevor was searching online when he came across my name, remembered me, ordered Memoirs of an Accused Madam, found the email address at the conclusion, and emailed me.
We spent some time on the phone trading stories and memories of MBI misconduct. Trevor is living proof that a person can eventually overcome an attack and persecution by the MBI, but the case began in 1996, so obviously it has been a long road for him. Still, he doesn't forget a single detail, as I don't regarding my own persecution. He recalled every moment of his isolation in the criminal justice system at the hands of the MBI. His first attorney later became a judge (gee, I have a first attorney like that too), his next attorney was from the Office of the Public Defender's Office – nice guy, but all too clueless. I spoke to the public defender back in 1996 when Trevor called me from jail, but I'll be the first to admit that I was dumb and didn't know what to do anymore than the attorney did. Suddenly I feared anyone attempting to connect me to the case and I backed away. I was of no help whatsoever, and for that I apologize to Trevor.
Trevor managed to recall messy MBI cases that even I, the expert on the MBI, had long forgotten. One was the case of Thomas Capp (not sure the name is spelled correctly). Tom owned some place that served as a S&M house in central Florida. I do not believe that the services offered were in any way illegal, but I know little about the case and just remember the news and stories from escorts that I encountered around the time of the bust. Tom committed suicide before he ever pled to charges or made it to trial. He did so with a shotgun, if memory serves me, through his chest. It was a mess from what I heard, and Tom left behind many distraught friends.
I was unable to locate any information from Tom's case. Most likely this is because when a defendant dies before all appeals have been addressed the case is erased from records. In this case I do not believe that there was a conviction anyway. Rest in Peace Tom.
Tom is far from the only suicide on the hands of agents from the MBI and State of Florida prosecutors in central Florida. I personally know of several other suicides, and will venture a guess that there are more that I am not aware of. I recall there being an article in the Orlando Sentinel about Tom's suicide, but there is nothing to be found in the archives.
In the next week I'll be discussing suicide and the MBI. I sometimes wonder how some of the agents involved in the serious misconduct manage to live with the blood on their hands, and with the knowledge of the created cases that imprisoned victims for years and/or ruined lives. How does anyone live with such a sordid past?
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