Read the whole story at The Star Tribune…

Case against ‘Nice Guys’ prostitution ring ready for prosecutors
Investigators say the johns in a major Twin Cities prostitution ring, all business professionals, won’t get any special treatment.
By David Chanen

Since word spread last month that Minneapolis police had shut down the high-dollar prostitution ring whose clients called themselves “The Minnesota Nice Guys,” nearly all of the 30 alleged clients or their attorneys have contacted police to find out how much trouble they’re in or if their involvement could be kept quiet, according to the case’s principal investigators.

Some men sobbed to Sgts. Grant Snyder and Matt Wente that they had a compulsion and had tried to stop. On the flip side, several “providers” or prostitutes also contacted investigators, and Snyder said they all repeated the same points: They found the business degrading and shameful, but needed the money. And they, too, had tried to quit.

The yearlong investigation is now wrapped up, and Snyder said they expect to present the case to the Hennepin County attorney’s office this week.

The investigation focused on John St. Marie, a former assistant Hennepin County attorney who they allege ran the Nice Guys ring. While the county attorney is expected to consider possible felony charges, it’s also possible that a portion of the case could be turned over to the U.S. attorney’s office for consideration of federal charges tied to interstate elements of the prostitution.

“With all the Nice Guys we’ve talked to, we’ve made it clear we can’t predict what might happen to them,” Snyder said. “We knew all the men associated with this group, and we told them a month ago to, ‘Come in and talk to us before we find you.’ “