A busy time for the Mesa Police. Read more at AZCentral.com…

20 arrested in Mesa massage parlor crackdown

Mesa’s crackdown on massage parlors has resulted in 20 arrests for prostitution.

Since September, a task force of six police detectives has made 127 inspections and discovered 43 establishments violated state or local laws.

The violations include massage parlors operating with unlicensed therapists, and failing to notify the city of a change of business name.

Mesa police Lt. Lee White said the recently completed inspections included 78 citations against 63 people, mostly the managers and operators of the massage parlors who are not following city or state laws.

The arrests come as Mesa drafts a stricter policy on massage parlors operating in the city.

Mesa police say tighter regulations of massage parlors will make it easier for police to figure out which businesses offer legitimate therapeutic massage.

The Mayor of Mesa, AZ is serious about cracking down on dubious massage parlors. Read the whole story at AZCentral.com…

Mayor vows to get tough on seedy massage parlors
by Gary Nelson

Mesa will give police new legal tools to chase illegitimate massage parlors out of the city, Mayor Scott Smith said.

“We’re not looking at this as your proverbial vice action,” Smith said, because making a few arrests won’t address the conditions that allowed Mesa to become a hotbed of strip-mall parlors that police believe are thinly disguised fronts for prostitution.

Instead, Mesa will strengthen its massage-parlor laws, which Smith said were “gutted” during a 2004 rewrite, and tell police to go after the seedy operations.

Media reports this summer began to shine the spotlight on the industry’s growth in Mesa, where the number of licensed parlors has soared from 73 to about 120 since April 2006.

While many of the businesses offer traditional therapeutic services, others operate into the wee hours behind blacked-out windows in strip-mall storefronts marked only by generic red “massage” signs.

“There are certain business operating procedures and standards that . . . separate the legitimate businesses from the illegitimate businesses,” Smith said. “There’s a few things that the good guys do and the bad guys don’t do, or they do it differently.”

A whole lot of guys are sure hating that pesky Business Records Rule of Evidence this morning. Read all about it at KPHO.com…

Desert Divas List Has Escorts’ Notes
‘Johns’ Won’t Face Criminal Charges, Police Say

Phoenix police released a list with the names of thousands of men who allegedly hired escorts as part of the Desert Divas prostitution ring.

Investigators already released one list of names that was found during an initial search.

Wednesday’s list was taken from computers that were seized during another search.

Some names on that list belong to high-profile people with high-paying jobs, such as bank presidents and doctors. Notes next to one name claim the client is an owner of the San Francisco Giants baseball team.

Other clients were from out of state, with at least one from a different country.

Nevertheless, because many of them may have used phony names, none of them will face criminal charges.

It reads like a giant black book, with each entry listing the name of the “john,” a price and the girl he allegedly had sex with.

There’s also a listing of where the alleged sex acts took place, specifically popular Valley hotels like the Sheraton, Hyatt and Fairmont Princess.

The list, which was formatted as a database, referenced a client’s status (first time, repeat customer, VIP or do not service) and where he or she found out about the service.

There are even notes from the alleged escorts themselves about each client:

• “Aggressive but a nice guy”
• “Bad, rough client”
• “Do not see ever. Extreme case of herpes.”
• “Calls two agencies at once and which girl gets there quicker…he takes.”

One entry mentioned the client’s wife came home early.

The notes reveal that at one point, the organization may have had a problem with identity theft. At least two entries contained notes about an operator stealing a client’s credit card number; each of those clients was to be given “anything he wants.”

Yet despite all the names, addresses and information, none of these “johns” will be arrested or face any criminal action, according to police.

Read more at Fox 11…

Mesa launches crackdown on massage parlors

Massage parlors that serve as fronts for prostitution are facing a crackdown by Mesa police.

City records show the number of massage parlors in Mesa has increased more than 60 percent over the past three years.

Tax and licensing records showed 73 parlors in April 2006. That number is now 119, with nine licenses pending.

Mesa police plan to utilize five detectives and a supervisor in a concentrated effort to inspect the businesses and cite offenders.

Mesa City Councilman Dennis Kavanaugh blames weak city regulations, cheap rent in some strip malls and a terrible economy for the increase in low-end massage parlors.

Kavanaugh says he will push for a rewrite of the city’s massage-parlor code.

It’s the zombie of prostitution cases – this one won’t die. Of continued note is law enforcement’s use of the agency’s billing records in order to make cases against people involved with the criminal enterprise. This includes a handful of hapless clients who got ‘VIP’ status in exchange for favorable reviews, and those guys now have a date in court.

Read the whole story at ABC-15…

New arrests in Phoenix Desert Diva prostitution sting

The Maricopa County Attorney and Phoenix Police announced Friday that 43 more people have been indicted in a prostitution investigation that began in 2007.

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.

Thomas said the investigation included financial records, computer records and interviews.

Eleven women were arrested on prostitution charges.

Four others are alleged to be VIP customers, according to Thomas. Three of them have been served with notice of indictment.

One man is accused of being a photographer for the operation and two women were allegedly phone operators working for Desert Divas and its associated businesses.

Thomas said, “This case is beyond prostitution. This was a major criminal syndicate that allegedly made millions of dollars.”

The business allegedly was making bank deposits of $250,000 a month, according to Thomas.

The long arm of the law catches up with a very active Escort Reviewer, who now faces sentencing.  Read the whole story at The Morning Call…

Active Escort Reviewer awaits criminal sentencing
By Manuel Gamiz Jr.

The former Lehigh Valley businessman who pleaded guilty last week to a felony count of being a customer of what has been called Arizona’s largest prostitution ring was more than just the average john, authorities say.

Besides using the illicit service, the man wrote favorable reviews of his experiences and posted them online, which authorities say helped promote the $250,000-a-month operation.

In return for the reviews, the man and others, including a well-known Arizona doctor, were considered ”VIP customers” and received reduced rates for the escort services, Maricopa County officials said.

In most cases, customers of prostitutes, or johns, wouldn’t face a felony charge, said Michael Scerbo, spokesman for the Maricopa County attorney’s office. But he said this case was different because the VIP customers were helping the prostitution business.

The man’s plea to attempted pandering is classified as a Class 6 felony, which is just above a misdemeanor and could mean probation, Scerbo said. He will be sentenced next month.

He had originally been charged with conspiracy to commit illegal control of an enterprise, illegal participation in an enterprise, money laundering and operating or maintaining a prostitution enterprise.

Seven key operators and two customers plead guilty in the Desert Divas case.  Clients who get too close in an effort to live out a Walter Mitty fantasy should be warned!  Read the whole story at KPHO.com…

9 In Desert Divas Case Plead Guilty

Seven key operators and two customers in the Desert Divas prostitution ring pleaded guilty, Maricopa County Attorney Andrew Thomas announced Friday.

It is the largest prostitution bust in Arizona history. Not only did investigators make dozens of arrest, they also seized cash, drugs and weapons.

The ring came to an end in August 2008, when investigators busted several Valley locations.

Police documents have revealed that the Johns generally paid a $375 all-inclusive rate. And if the escorts showed up late, they had to pay a fine.

According to investigators, the criminal enterprise was making bank deposits totaling $250,000 a month.

This list may be as long as 6,500 names!  Quite a few guys won’t sleep soundly tonight!  Read the whole story at KPHO.com…

Police: Desert Divas Clients Named

Phoenix police have released the list of alleged clients linked to the Desert Divas prostitution investigation and it’s 649 pages long.

The list averages about 10 clients per page. There may be as many as 6,500 possible clients of the alleged prostitution ring.

Investigators said they found the names of two police officers on the list, one from the Valley and one from out of state.

The list is put together like a database, with headings that include client name, appointment address, client telephone number, model name and appointment date.

It is alphabetized by the client’s last name. It appears to cover a time period from May 2005 to May 2008.

“For the Phoenix cases, the city prosecutor will look at those cases and what cases we submit to them they will review,” said Sgt. Andy Hill of the Phoenix Police Department. “If they believe there’s probable cause, they will go ahead and charge in those cases. But we’re a long ways from there.”

According to the list, the going rate for an hour with a model was $350 to $400 an hour.

So far, police have not arrested any of the men on the client list. Officers said most of the names are people who live outside the Valley and many of them are out of state.

Investigators said they will forward those names to the jurisdictions where those people live.

Read the whole story at KPHO.com…

Desert Divas List Kept Under Wraps

It’s a list that hundreds of Valley men in the Desert Divas prostitution case do not want made public, and they appear to be getting their wish for the next few days.

Police were set to release more than 30,000 pages of documents relating to the investigation Tuesday afternoon, but withheld them at the last minute, citing privacy concerns.

According to police spokesman Sgt. Andy Hill, the documents contained some information not intended for public view.

They’re working to correct the problem and the documents could be released by the end of the week.

CBS 5 News put in the public records request for the entire investigation, including the list of “johns” who are accused of paying the “Desert Divas” for sex, several months ago.

In August, Phoenix police shut down the alleged high-dollar call-girl operation after a 5-month investigation. Out of more than 50 arrests, officers detained about a dozen men and women they said were key players in the business.

Among the evidence they confiscated were detailed ledgers that contained names, phone numbers and addresses of hundreds of customers. Authorities also seized three residences, eight vehicles — including a Ferrari 43C CP — and one motorcycle.

Another loose thread is tied in the Desert Divas case.  Read the whole story at KOAT…

Desert Divas Prostitution Manager Enters Plea Agreement

An Albuquerque man pleaded guilty Friday to seven felony counts, including promoting prostitution and conspiracy, for his role in an Arizona-based prostitution ring.

The man faces up to 12 years in prison. No sentencing date was immediately scheduled.

Authorities said he managed the Desert Divas prostitution ring in Albuquerque.

He was arrested in August after a five-month investigation that began when Phoenix police contacted Albuquerque police to report they had been looking into Desert Divas and that it had recently opened in New Mexico’s largest city.

During an appearance before state District Judge Stan Whitaker, the man acknowledged his role in the ring, which connected prostitutes with clients through “meet and greets,” a Web site and newspaper advertisements.