ESCORT AGENCIES
Internet escort sites are rarely policed
Online escort agencies like the Emperors Club are alive and thriving in
South Florida, where they operate freely.
Posted on Wed, Mar. 12, 2008
BY JAY WEAVER, TODD WRIGHT AND EVAN S. BENN
Jacquelyn Martin / AP Photo
The Mayflower Hotel is seen in Washington on Monday
March 10, 2008. New York Gov. Eliot Spitzer apologized Monday after he was
accused of involvement in a prostitution ring.
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In her online ad, Kelly describes herself as a 25-year-old articulate
Brazilian swimsuit model.
For a $400 ''donation,'' the petite, brown-eyed blond will give clients a
''fantastic, unrushed session'' for an hour at a Miami Beach hotel.
Code words aside, Kelly is a prostitute, but she's no streetwalker. She's one
of hundreds of South Florida women and their handlers who use the Web to sell
sex.
In light of the bombshell federal wiretap case that ensnared New York Gov.
Eliot Spitzer -- and referenced Miami escorts -- a glimpse into South Florida's
lucrative online escort industry reveals it is thriving and operates without
much enforcement.
''We don't actively investigate escort services,'' Broward Sheriff's Office
spokeswoman Alesia Russell said. ``We wouldn't know unless there was a tip
generated. Then we would check.''
The Internet has made hiring a prostitute almost as easy as buying a book
from Amazon.
A check Tuesday of cityvibe.com and eros.com -- sites where escorts and their
companies post ads -- showed 804 listings for female prostitutes in Miami-Dade,
Broward and Palm Beach counties. One site advertising male escorts listed 80
South Florida providers on Tuesday.
And that's only three websites -- all types of escorts also place
not-so-discreet ads in local magazines, newspapers and elsewhere on the
Internet.
Like Kelly, whose ad was found Tuesday on Eros, most online escorts list
their measurements, the things they will not do (no couples or half-hour
sessions with Kelly), and often their rates (usually between $300 and $600 an
hour), photographs and contact information. Attempts to contact Kelly for this
article were unsuccessful.
The last major South Florida prostitution takedown was in August 2002, when
the FBI dismantled a nationwide ring of high-class brothels called The Circuit,
which included a brothel in Miami.
Judy Y. Krueger, 64, and her paramour, Eli H. Tish, 75, were accused of
running the Miami branch of The Circuit out of two $1,600-a-month suites at the
Four Ambassadors Hotel downtown. The pair -- among 13 indicted on racketeering
charges -- pleaded guilty and served less than two years in prison.
Former U.S. Attorney Marcos Jimenez, whose office prosecuted the case, said
The Circuit was similar to New York's Emperors Club VIP, the escort company at
the center of a federal wiretap investigation. The sting made international
headlines this week when Spitzer was identified as a john.
Both The Circuit and Emperors Club employed high-priced prostitutes catering
to well-heeled clients. Emperors Club, which also operated in Miami, charged
upward of $5,500 an hour.
But Jimenez said escort-agency busts are ''relatively rare'' in federal law
enforcement because the government's post-9/11 focus is preventing
terrorism.
''I'm sure it fits in some FBI priority list somewhere, but I can assure you
it's not near the top,'' he said.
Federal agencies often target Internet escort services only if the operator
is a big criminal figure or involved in crimes like racketeering or money
laundering, Jimenez said.
Dennis Hof, owner of the Bunny Ranch, a legal brothel in Nevada, agreed about
what it takes for escorts to pique the interest of law enforcement.
''When the FBI gets interested in an escort agency, it is because of money
laundering, not prostitution,'' Hof said.
On a local level, authorities say it's easier to pick up a few hookers every
night along Federal Highway than to take down a booming Internet sex
company.
''We haven't seen any big cases of this ilk in a while,'' Broward state
attorney's office spokesman Ron Ishoy said.
Fort Lauderdale police say they use ''proactive enforcement'' -- like paying
close attention to local ads -- to keep escort services from setting up shop in
Broward's largest city.
''It's widely known in the escort arena that you don't come to Fort
Lauderdale,'' Sgt. Frank Sousa said, without giving away his investigators'
enforcement secrets. ``Selling your body is illegal.''
Today's pricey click-to-find call girls are a far cry from the black-book
madams of years past, like Kathy Willets and Tammy McGovern.
Willets operated a one-woman sex shop out of her Tamarac home that netted
about $2,000 a week, $150 at a time. Some days, Willets would see as many as
eight men a day for sex.
Willets went to prison for a few years after she and her husband pleaded
guilty to 35 prostitution-related charges in 1991. She had argued unsuccessfully
that the antidepressant Prozac turned her into a nymphomaniac.
McGovern, then known as the ''Hollywood Madam,'' was a former nude dancer who
was charged in 1989 with running an international brothel from her Hollywood
Hills home.
After police raided her home, McGovern accused them of ripping pages out of
her four address books to protect prominent citizens and fellow officers. The
case dragged on for months until two policemen were briefly suspended without
pay.
Miami Herald staff writers Roberto Santiago and David Ovalle contributed
to this report.
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