| Topic: |
Religions > Atheism |
| User: |
"stoney" |
| Date: |
23 Jan 2006 07:08:18 PM |
| Object: |
OT: Suburbanines ran Calif. hooker ring, police say |
http://www.azcentral.com/offbeat/articles/0123upscale-hookers23-ON.html
Suburbanines ran Calif. hooker ring, police say
Dana Bartolomew
Los Angeles Daily News
Jan. 23, 2006 10:14 AM
THOUSAND OAKS, Calif. - She was a tall blond mom with a license to sell
real estate. He was her distinguished ex-husband with the words "Equal
Justice" affixed to his Canoga Park paralegal business, family yacht and
the license plate of his Jaguar.
But behind their suburban facade, prosecutors allege, the duo ran a
Web-based prostitution ring that operated in their upscale homes in
Thousand Oaks and Agoura Hills and their yacht in Marina del Rey.
Bonnie Lee Weiss, 49, and Craig Riley Fawcett, 74, were arrested Jan. 12
on suspicion of pimping and conspiracy to solicit prostitution and
jailed with bail set at $50,000 each.
"These people weren't exactly discreet," said an official close to a
six-month investigation by the Ventura County Sheriff's Department and
U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement. "They were advertising on the
Internet."
Court documents outline a steamy tale of racy Web ads and rave online
reviews over sultry afternoon trysts arranged by the elderly ex-grocer
for his younger ex-wife -- a Doris Day lookalike billed as "Brieanne:
The Ultimate Courtesan" -- as well as other women from Beverly Hills and
Newport Beach.
It was in June that deputies received a tip from an anonymous informant
worried that Weiss, a registered Realtor, was performing "prostitution
services" at her Thousand Oaks home while her 11- and 13-year-old
children visited on weekends, according to an affidavit in support of a
search warrant filed by Ventura County sheriff's vice detective John
Wright.
"The (citizen informant) is concerned because the prostitution activity
is occurring while the children are in the home," Wright wrote.
The informant stated that Weiss, 6 feet tall with shoulder-length blond
hair, had been doing business as "Brieanne" since February at Fawcett's
home, according to the affidavit.
But while neighbors recalled the minivan motorist as the put-together
lady who would sometimes complain about her ex, detectives described a
woman who advertised her services on the popular craiglist.com Web site
or while posed seductively on a bed in a photo posted on her own Web
site.
"The cost for a 60-minute session with her is listed as $350," Wright
said of the nearly 50-year-old Weiss.
According to the affidavit, a sign next to one of her racy Internet ads,
when enlarged by detectives, depicted a certificate of appreciation from
a "Giants" sports team entitled "Great Team Mom."
Records also said Weiss, a former resident of Van Nuys and Encino,
married Fawcett in 1980 when she was 23, he 48, and divorced him five
years later. She was hired by a real estate broker in Sherman Oaks, who
fired her last week because she never came to work.
Records indicate Fawcett has listed involvement in numerous businesses
in the San Fernando Valley, including Big Tool Inc., and currently
operates Equal Justice legal services in Canoga Park.
During their nearly six-month surveillance, deputies described Fawcett
as the go-between for Weiss and three other suspected prostitutes --
including a 56-year-old woman from Newport Beach -- during a string of
afternoon engagements with middle-aged men.
In December, a judge issued search warrants for Fawcett's and Weiss's
homes and the yacht in Marina del Rey known as "Equal Justice." During
Dec. 20 searches, deputies seized $2,550 in Weiss's bedroom, as well as
craigslist ads, nude pictures of Weiss and $1,150 at Fawcett's home,
plus computers and other evidence.
Neighbors described Fawcett as a gregarious man with a yellow Labrador
named Scooby who lived with his adult daughter in a large mock Tudor and
who often talked of flying off carrier decks as a young Navy pilot, or
of setting sail for Catalina Island and sites unknown aboard his yacht.
"I'm in total shock," said Joe, 59, who lives across the street from
Fawcett and declined to give his last name, of the 6-foot-2-inch ex-Navy
pilot who once ran a grocery store in the Sierra foothills. "He was the
type of neighbor I never would want to leave.
"People used to come to his home all the time, but I figured (they) were
part of his business."
/end
--
Fundies and trolls are cordially invited to
shove a wooden cross up their arses and rotate
at a high rate of speed. I trust you'll
be 'blessed' with a cornucopia of splinters.
.
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