Do the police have you on tape exchanging money for sexual favors? No?

Then tell them to kiss where the sun don't shine!

Unfortunately in a lot of cases like this, just the threat alone of going public is enough to get guys to incriminate themselves and come clean whether or not the police actually have sufficient evidence for a successful prosecution.

2nd thing is in Minnesota, first time offenders for soliciting almost never get jail time so the 'pursuing Federal charges' line is simply scare tactics.

Bottom line is unless there are underaged girls involved, or they can stick you with money laundering, trafficking, etc, basic fornication between a grown man and a consenting grown woman is simple prostitution and hardly worthy of federal charges.

But of course Joe mortgage banker sees his entire life crumble before his eyes if it was to get on the news that he was ever involved in an undercover sting operation involving call girls.

Just once though, I would love to see a big name stand up to the police and say, do you have me on tape? No? You mean all you have is my name in some chick's black book?

KISS MY MOTHERFUCKIN ASS!

House of Geisha perhaps?

wonder what brings it under federal jurisdiction-- must be some crossing of state lines involved.

What high priced prostitution operation would that be?

there is no federal law against prostitution.

each state has its own prostitution laws, which is how nevada has legal brothels in some counties (based on population)

they had to be involved in trafficking to be facing federal charges.

Talking points I often use in the media in these cases:

In PRIVATE CONSENTING ADULT prostitution is legal and no big deal in almost all the world except the U.S. - Canada a close example.

Women in charge of their own business not like the pimp houses in Nevada at outrageously high prices.  

The Supreme Court ruled in Lawrence Vs Texas the laws can not be based on "morality" and the govt has no business in our private sexuality.

This has nothing whatsoever to do with children, forced trafficking, street hookers, or health issues.  Professional sexworkers are far safer than picking up a women in a bar.  In almost all the world where its legal no significant medical issues related to in private consenting adult sexwork.

Some women encourage their husbands to go to pros so no emotional risk when the man often seeks sex and the women has lost interest.  Sexuality variety is also desired my many.

For Christians, there was not a thing wrong with "common prostitution" in the bible, only the goddesses worshiping the fertility gods - Idolatry was the sin not prostitution.  A man could have as many wives and concubines as he could afford and was never wrong and common prostitutes are mentioned with no negative inference.

Re: Minneapolis police are pursuing federal charges against a group of at least 30 well-to-do

If all these guys were a part of a dues paying club, they could then be considered part owners. As soon as a lady comes to the club from another state, you have a federal case.

sounds like someone here, 65.....wheelchair...used to post a lot but seemingly disappeared.  Likes to pimp out the women from out of state, claimed to never accept money for doing so...

Hmm, he used part of his real name here as his handle.

Bummer.....

The FBI or other federal agencies pursue federal charges.  In the absence of a specific grant of authority, local police have no jurisdiction to pursue "federal charges."  Local authorities, in fact, cannot file federal charges.  Only federal authorities can do that.

Star Trib should send some folks back to journalism school.

I scanned the story for the benefit of those outside Minneapolis. Since it is a 2 part story, had to scan in several parts. Not sure if all will appear since there is only one link for a picture. Hope mods allow all four scans to post.

Basics are:

1-As usual the entire episode began with a single anonymous email, proving clearly the very thin ice this life is built on.

2-For the most part, this is far removed from the average hobbyist. Most guys do not purchase airline tickets for girls nor do they make it a habit of flying in illegal aliens for sex.

3-Extensive surveillance was done, which means police have some people, and probably some people from here, on tape. Bad news for some.

4-If you were not in this Good Guys social club and never used the services of any of their girls, you probably have nothing to worry about. However, the girls will be pressured to turn and depending on who they are that's more bad news for some people.

Bottom line is, if you are among the heavy duty 20, 30+ reviewers, now would probably not be a bad time to relax from the hobby for a while.

Shoot first, aim later?

http://wcco.com/crime/john.st.marie.2.1035973.html?detectflash=false

More info...

Re: Minneapolis police are pursuing federal charges against a group of at least 30 well-to-do

The postings on Big Doggie are protected speech; what the police must produce is proof of actual illegal conduct. That means they need witnesses in open court. But when authorities could not persuade their six star witnesses to give up the confidentiality they had been promised, a judge dismissed the cases against Kelly and Lipson.
“There’s not much motivation on their part” to be witnesses, Woodbury said of men caught up in prostitution investigations. “Frequently, they’re married men, professionals, and they don’t want anyone, including their wives or business associates, to know. They’re very reluctant to testify in open court.”
Big Doggie remains in business, but it’s not very likely that the Hillsborough vice unit will try again to shut it down, Woodbury said, because of the significant strain on manpower and other resources such a sting demands.
“As technology changes and as computer programs become available to the general public that can check driver’s licenses and tag numbers and phone numbers for a nominal fee, it’s very difficult for us to stay ahead of that curve,” he said. “If a bad guy is technically astute and computer-knowledgable, it makes great difficulty for us.”
Multiple suspicions
Notwithstanding Woodbury’s reassurances, escorts themselves presume that rating sites, especially The Erotic Review, are crawling with cops.
“It’s almost like a flare for law enforcement, like: ‘Hey, check me out. Bust me. Or try to bust me,’” said Helen, an escort in the West. “They’ve really concentrated a lot of their effort on Internet directory sites like Big Doggie, Erotic Review, Craig’s List. They kind of go down the list and try to see who they can get.”
Return to the main story
Web sites provide a consumer guide to prostitution
“Is it dangerous? Yes,” said Robyn Few, executive director of the Sex Workers Outreach Project in San Francisco. “Every police officer has access just like you do.”
In postings on rival Web sites, both The Erotic Review and Big Doggie are widely criticized by escorts and their clients for not alerting their users to the identities of police officers posing as customers.
“DO NOT POST ANY PRIVATE REVIEWS ON THIS BOARD!” says a warning about Big Doggie on the Sexwork Cyber Resource Center, which is based in Phoenix. “It is well known that vice cops read it for leads to sting and entrap even if nothing illegal is being done.”
Executives at Big Doggie did not reply to requests for an interview, but David R. Elms, president of The Erotic Review, said he was aware that police occasionally registered as fake customers on his site.
Elms maintained that it didn’t happen nearly as often as escorts and their customers believed, adding that law enforcement had asked for information about the site’s members only once. The company’s attorneys “worked it out,” he said, providing no further details.
Elms said he had no choice but to keep quiet even when he learned of active stings on his site: “We can’t impede an investigation. It’s a felony.”
In any event, The Erotic Review’s user forums and other channels for feedback mean the site effectively polices itself, he said, so vice officers (in addition to menacing or unreliable clients) are quickly found out. “The community tends to get the word out faster than we ever could,” he said.