Media is now reporting on the 2nd wave of 43 indictments and County Attorney Thomas said on Chan 12 5pm news 5/8/09 "this investigation is FAR from over"

Worse...much worse.  According to the wife who one of the original defendants who has kept me informed and been proven right on a lot of inside information ever since her husband was arrested....

She met with their bail bondman today Friday and he told her.... 400 new indictments were handed down today.  Yes 400.  I though it was a typing error (e-mail) and wondered if this was the 43 from a few days ago.  No she confirms, 400 new today per the bail bondman. It makes sense bail companies would be notified of that many potential new customers.

I have no other confirmation and the police do not seem to release any info to the media or even attorney's that I know are trying to get more info until a few days later after arrests have been made - that is why only today media is reporting on the 43 indictments from earlier this week. (44 included the County Attorney in the list as Prosecutor so 43 defendants)

The Client List of DD had 6323 listings but some of them were repeat customers, many out of state etc.,  So being able to identify 400 from this unfortunately makes sense.

Again, no confirmation other than from a bail bondman, but it makes sense bail companies would be alerted when such a huge number.

One of the more detailed media reports so far on the now "old" 2nd wave is by KPHO Chan 5, also Chan 12 did short story at 5pm saying much more at 10pm.

The link to the KPHO story (old news for us) is at
http://www.kpho.com/news/19411804/detail.html

But even more of a concern to many is the 3rd wave which may be 400 customers.

We need to help media present the case as a waste of money - in private consenting adults - vs the County Attorney Thomas who says its exploiting poor young girls which were "enslaved" by the admitted criminal prostitution enterprise.

That admittance by many of the prior 50+ (wave 1 back last fall) in plea bargains make it very hard for everyone else to defend against.

Most of the 50 were intimidated into plea deals and admitting they were part of a criminal prostitution organization.  In some cases it is reported that they were threatened to go back to the Grand Jury with new felony charges and could wind up in prison for many many more years than what the "ring leaders" are getting now.

Some of the gals, probably those that cooperated the most got undesignated class 6 felonies for  being part of a criminal organization etc., and 6-12 months usually unsupervised probation.

At the end of probation the charges could be reduced to a misdemeanor. This is actually better than a prostitution misdemeanor since it requires in AZ a mandatory 15 day minimum jail sentance.

Customers may face the lower level misdemeanor charges but that could mean 15 days in Tent City if convicted.  Hopefully some lawyers will try and take a stand and fight a better fight but it may be hard to overcome the leaders admissions it was a prostitution organization.

One of the "ring leaders" in particular I have been told by someone very close "put it in writing that if he was going down he would fxxx everyone on his way, so he rolled to save himself."  That person (male not an escort) did not wind up with a prison sentence.

I have been told that they were very unhappy with one of the lead defense attorneys not really doing all they thought he could even after paying him nearly $200,000 in legal fees.

Sorry for scary news and I hope it is totally wrong but I believe in getting information out and all the prior ahead of the media reports have been accurate- sadly.

Other than the huge DD bust, there is very little risk to customers going to established known escorts and of course you never ever pay for sex only for time.

90% plus of the risk is stings by gals.  But as I reported on another place, when one gal was busted last week no charges were filed since she very clearly said she did not sell sex, only time.

The undercover cop got on the bed, only took off his shoes, and kept asking what more money would buy him.  The smart escort insisted it would buy him nothing more than time.  Other cops came in, taken to police station, was only charged with not having an escort license.  No prostitution charge since no sex for money only time for money.

Likewise guys, never ever offer money for sex only time.  Guys risk is mostly going to an unknown gal from say a CL or BP ad who turns out to be an undercover cop and you talk about sex for money.

Guys are 99.9% safe, if not on the DD list and never ever in e-mail, by phone or when meet discuss money for sex.

For those unfortunately on the DD list, you may want to have an attorney on retainer and $5000 cash for bail available.  On the other hand the Az Republic reported today that the MSCO gal busted did get out on OR didn't have to post bail.  This is the opposite of what an attorney said for another defendant that no OR was available if prostitution related now. But these from wave 2 were mostly felonies.

For customers if only misdemeanors, which is all I can imagine, may be able to get out on OR or bonding company.

The only exception to that may be those that wrote reviews that are in the police evidence book for whom they might try for felonies promoting a criminal organization, but that is more a legal issue to discuss with your lawyer.

Which reminds me - I am not a lawyer and do not give legal advice only my personal views based on more than a decade of fighting for our sexual freedoms in the U.S.  You need to consult a lawyer for real legal advice.

Clarification my mind goes faster than my fingers and need to learn to type....

90% plus of the risk of stings is taken by the escorts not customers unless wind up in the middle of a huge sting like DD and in their very detailed computer records.  The ones Paul etc bragged about being so safe and secure that would self destruct before LE could get them.  They even told an undercover cop that (the fishing guide as I recall)

If you go to KPHO - Channel 5's web site - it is their lead story right now

According to the video
19 of the 43 indictments have been served during this 2nd wave with a possiblity of a 3rd wave.

http://www.kpho.com/news/19411804/detail.html

According to the story:

The arrests led to a 112 count indictment and so far 19 people have been arrested for their involvement in Desert Divas. They were arrested by police in Phoenix, Colorado, Florida and the state of Washington.

Of all of these potential new charges, are they supposed to be exclusively for the Johns on the list? Are they now trying to screw the clients after they got the leaders and other employees?

The indictments would be delivered to each person in surprise midnight SWAT raids. Maybe even a tank or two.

Only they know but they have already busted the owners and key people and most of the 100 gals.

There is political pressure to go after the customers which they have warned they may do. That would be the next logical step and they have over 6000 listings on DD records to choose from.

But all of Sheriff Joes busts were tossed out.  His guys got too comfortable.

Sadly however even though all charges dismissed some gals lost their homes or equtiy or cash found under RICO. Totally unfair.

Joes possee is easy to detect they ask the wrong questions by phone etc and are easy to avoid. Unfortunately Phoenix PD was very professional, got inside the organization, went to meet and greets and didn't have to set up individual stings like Joe tried to do.

Or, on horseback...like he did on Van Buren a few years ago.

being on the list doesnt mean anything.

1.. being on the list and matched up to credit card transactions paid to escorts in action might be a problem because it could be argued that the guy was in deed hiring the girl for sexual services he saw depicted on the website....

this would only be a misdemeanor solicitation charge which has a statute of limitations of 1 year.... since dd was dismantled in august... this would be restricted to clients that paid membership to that website between may and august 2008.... i dont think these guys will be pursued because it's too much trouble to go to for a misdemeanor, the statute of limitations is almost up and, its not exactly a slam dunk legally.

2.  being identified as a customer who recieved some sort of discount either on the list or elsewhere, and matched up to reviews or postings (true or fantasy doesnt matter)  promoting one of the dd girls.   this would be pandering (receiving a monetary benefit from the promotion of a prostitute)... this is a felony, which has a statute of limitations of... hmm i dont know but it would be at least 3 years and its probably 5 or 7 years.

there's nothing wrong with posting a review or promoting a girl's services however, if you received a monetary benefit from that promotion, you should call an attorney.

there was a post in july, most of the guys who responded to it, have not been heard from since.

I did also notice that two of the ladies had the same last names,and were the same age. Can someone pm me and let me know if it is the two ladies I am thinking of?

   I am so glad I never went to any of the DD parties,or used their accountant when Paul offered his services to me.I had a bad feeling and am glad I stayed out of that mess!! Are they going to these peoples home and arresting them?

Here is a paragraph from one story on AZCentral:

Phoenix police Lt. John Collins said the VIP customers indicted this spring rated Desert Divas escorts on the California-based Erotic Review prostitution Web site - an action that authorities said they would prosecute as a felony for supporting a criminal enterprise.

ALL because Paul and company plead guilty.

Now Deputy Dawg will put you in jail for it.  Seems pretty extreme for review fraud.  Kind of puts Shilling in a new light, doesn't it?

of course the ludicrous part of this is that if this was a  criminal enterprise that made money by exploiting and  enslaving poor young girls then why aren't they treating the girls as victims instead of locking them up with the criminals?

And why doesn't the media pick up on this?

How about guys who just attended the M&G's or hung out with Paul & Sean? They have our phone numbers & e-mail addys as well.

> of course the ludicrous part of this is that if this was a  criminal enterprise that made money by exploiting and  enslaving poor young girls then why aren't they treating the girls as victims instead of locking them up with the criminals?

A very good point.  But they had to have a story to explain the millions spent on this witch hunt in police/DA/Court resources.

>How about guys who just attended the M&G's or hung out with Paul & Sean?

Should be no problem if your not in the appointment book which lists who you saw date/time and often other bad information.

A client of commercial sex worker writes a positive review of his encounter with her on a web site. He writes in under a pseudonym, receives no compensation for that positive review, and there is no proof that he received a discount on a future encounter with that commercial sex worker.

Now he is being charged with "supporting a criminal enterprise" for writing that review.

By that argument, any written essay that was positive about commercial sex work could be grounds for prosecution as supporting a criminal enterprise.

That would seem to me to be a freedom of speech issue. Maybe the American Civil Liberties Union should be involved in this case. Seriously.

ones who WERE compensated with discounts for their shill reviews.

Yes there is that issue which makes it hard for prosecution just based on reviews.

Customers only as you described I don't see how could be charged with the supporting criminal enterprise felonies but...

They have the appt logs who they met with and I believe the amount of money paid. Sometimes with real name and sometimes paid by credit card.

That MIGHT or might not be enough to convince a judge or jury but it MAY (I am not a lawyer) enough to charge with prostitution and stretching the pandering law to its limt, perhaps pandering.

Now on top of that bring to the jury reviews traced to the customer that talk about the "date" that is confirmed by the appt books and you have a problem.

County Attorney Thomas after spending millions of taxpayer dollars on the case is making a big PR stand against this horrible crime with all these supposed "enslaved" women as victims.

The photographer had met with his attorney long ago to access his legal risk and the attorney told him he should have little to worry about.

Well, he now had to pay that attorney $7500 plus $5000 cash bail for that little risk be arrested, the media showed his mug shot (although not on MSCO) and he spent a long time at Madison Street jail.

Because he was paid by DD he has more risk than the customers but Thomas has from the beginning implied they want to go after customers and has some political pressure to do so. Hopefully he will not.

Again my point is we have to take a stand against the law itself to stop these witch hunts for what are in fact crimes with no victims when there are so many unsolved murders Mexican kiddnapping etc going on.

Freedom of Speech is a safety issue but not when you have records that you can be traced to as in DD not just reviews that are protected speech in themselves but can be evidence if other collaborating evidence.  Again in my non lawyer view.

For real legal advice discuss with a lawyer. Unfortunately this can be very costly and most lawyers aren't very helpful on telling you how to avoid the legal problems - they make their money when you desperately need legal representation after the trauma of being arrested or indicted.

I happen to be on the list 3 times. My last name is misspelled in all instances though, and I no longer live at the addresses they may or may not have. I am wondering how worried I should be?

Couple of Thoughts

400 sounds like a number that is reasonable given the TER review angle.  Think about it - there are several categories of customers here

1.  people not on list and without any paper trail
2.  people on list with little or no paper trail or information or out of state info
3.  people on list with some personal information
4.  people on list with info and with unidentifiable TER handle
5.  people on list with verifiable ter information
6.  people on list with ter reviews related to DD
7.  people on list with ter reviews and membership in DD website
8.  .... you get the idea

there may be other categories or combinations, but the county attorney is out for charging folks with felonies.  it's his job and just being on the list, even with identifiable information, is still a very, very long list (lots more than 400).

being on the list and having ter information about the experience, might just be enough to get past the solicitation issue and straight to some sort of cooperation with a criminal enterprise (a felony).  

The other reason that more than just regular customers seems significant  (other than what our county attorney can ask the grand jury to charge and prosecute) is that the statute of limitations issue is less cloudy if you charge the felony.  Old information on the list maybe getting stale for misdemeanor charges.  Many entries are now more than a year old.  But a two year old listing with a TER review...

if I was on the list and had made one or numerous DD reviews, this would have me very wary.

Just some thoughts to encourage some and to caution others.  There are still many more folks that can be hurt by this prosecutorial machine.  Good luck to all.

It's OFC all over again Dave.  Big investigation by leo wasting thousands of dollars.  They have to make big news to justify spending all of that money and man hours.  Like OFC, it will proably dissolve into nothing for most of those involved.

slight reference to the infamous board room, I got slammed pretty hard.

For a select few of the ladies I've become persona non grata.

For some reason, Paul ask me to lunch more than a few times, but I always refused.

PEACE AND PROSPERITY,

Sheika Fatima
[email protected]

what is ofc?  is there any firm confirmation there have been 400 new indictments brought down?

As far as I know, there is no confirmation other than a previously reliable source who is wife of one of the main DD defendants who has had a lot of accurrate info she has told me in the past.

She said, their bail bondsman when the met told her about 400 more.  No other info so may not be true but she has been reliable in the past.

Someone also noted with the wave 2 of 43 indictments it took about 10 days from the Grand Jury action until arrest warrants were issued.  We are still in that 10 day window.

Until we have a name of someone arrested I don't know how to look up, need case number for the Court info.   When photographer was arrested his real name was known and looking it up brought up the Court info on the 43 indictments.

OFC = Operation Flea Collar an operation run in Tampa several years ago intended to take down the owner of the Big Doggie web site.  LE made a lot of noise about all of the arrests but it all kind of fell apart as a judge threw out almost all of the charges.

A google search should turn up some info on this event.

Absolutely wrong about OFC.

The ONLY reason the case was dismisses was because of the Florida Sunset Law

The case was tossed not because their were no merits, or not,  but simply because they had to because of the delay in trial.

Sample media report says:
Under the law, felony defendants have a right to trial within 175 days of their arrest. The cases that were dismissed Friday involved defendants who were arrested last June. The cases were scheduled to go to trial in December, but Judge Behnke postponed them on the grounds that prosecutors had not fully complied with her order to reveal evidence to the defense. The identity of the confidential informers was the sticking point. In seeking to keep their names secret, prosecutors said some had received threats. One of the informers was Monte Belote, 43, a candidate for Tampa City Council who dropped out of the race when his involvement with xxxx.net was revealed.

I extensively reported on the case and details are at sexwork.com/TBD/tbd.html

Your 'reporting' amounted to copying posts from other web sites.  I lived through the investigation, you did not.  I was interviewed by Brown and Bowling, you were not.  I sat in the court room, you did not.  I think I am in a better position to actually know what went on.

So all the media reports were all wrong?

Than what did go on vs what zillions of media outlets reported.  I assume they had reporters in the Courtroom also.

Florida has no 175 day law?  That seemed pretty clear unless of course all the media lied about that being the reason and you are the only one with the truth.

How can I argue with an expert like you?  Here is a $1.00.   Go buy a clue.

So far all the indictments and info is about the AZ operation.  Any news about the NM operation?  Are those prosecutions being handled separately?

Quick question - I noticed on the list that there are many entries with only a first name, no date, and no girl listed. Do these folks have anything to be concerned about?