There was recently an escort service bust in Alaska and the owner has been charged with trafficking.
By itself, this is disappointing since that state once openly tolerated a street full of brothels. I am not sure what happened. A new sheriff in town, perhaps? But there have been two published arrests of customers from the local military facility and the news articles (and police reports) indicate the arrests occurred because of information obtained in the seizure of the escort service's records. I did not think that merely being on the list was sufficient evidence for an arrest, and of the supposed 800 names on the list, the only two customer arrests were of guys at the military base. I wonder what is up. Are they trying to get the trial, if any, of the guys in a military arena where the rules of evidence are different?If all the evidence consist of is the client's name in some book, I would think the judge would toss the case, but then again, who knows for sure?
One possibility is that they got some of the gals to flip and name names.
That is certainly true, and reassuring, but this is the first I have heard of an actual arrest based on seized data from an escort agency, so it seems that law enforcement there has crossed a formerly respected boundary. I have been on the customer list of several busted agencies, including Miami Companions, and never received a call. I am unfortunately on this particular list, but I am an out-of-stater so I presume there is nothing to worry about. I do still wonder if there is some reason they have arrested two guys from the military base out of 800 guys on the list.
If names on a list would matter, the agency should mix in some names that aren't really patrons. Such as local: judges, police chief, mayor, politicians, and any other influential names they can think of. It might not help their case but then again it might keep the list from being disclosed.
Military rules are different; I'm not familiar with the UCMJ, but they definitely have stricter rules which the JAG might use to bounce the soldiers.
OTOH, it's possible they're using the arrests to pressure the agency. It's likely they questioned these two and they made admissions or gave information that the cops found useful. Your name, generally, in a book is not sufficient proof to sustain a conviction.