The U.S. Attorney's office in New Orleans was engaged for some time in a series of criminal cases involving a brothel in New Orleans. (A brothel in New Orleans!! As Captain Louie would have said, "I'm shocked, shocked to find that prostitution is going on here.) The Feds originally thought, when they were doing their wiretaps, that they would find all sorts of criminal violations regarding drugs and other heavy federal offenses. Instead, they only found a New Orleans brothel, and no drugs or any other activity they were originally looking for.
After 9/11, the Feds obtained indictments against, among others, a madam, and various prostitutes. They also obtained an indictment against two businessmen whom they charged with prostitution conspiracy. The two faced up to five years in prison because of their alleged roles in hiring hookers to participate in a party on a yacht which one the men owned and which had sailed from Louisiana to Mississippi with the prostitutes. (You're not going to believe this, but the yacht really – REALLY – was named CRIME SCENE.) The New Orleans Times Picayune of April 30, 2003, in a page 1 article, reported the following:
"The trial was scuttled at the last minute when defense attorneys prepared motions to force the publication of the customer list and, perhaps, force the U.S. attorney's office to bow out of the case because of the connections of two of the johns.
"After those revelations, two veteran prosecutors . . . took over and began crafting plea offers that defendants couldn't refuse. The most creative plea bargain was given to the only two customers to be charged . . . Originally facing felony charges for hiring hookers for a party on [the yacht of one of the defendants] as it crossed state lines from Louisiana to Mississippi, the two men were allowed to plead guilty to an obscure maritime law characterized as a ‘petty offense.' Under the unusual arrangement, the boat – a 41-foot Sea Ray named Crime Scene – pleaded guilty to a felony and the corporation that owns the boat was fined $80,000." (There are additional reports in the Times-Picayune, including one in the issue of April 24, 2003.)
It's amazing what creativity even the Feds can come up with when they are too embarrassed to proceed to trial.
It's also really great to know that New Orleans is now vice-free.
P.S. I will, in future articles, be discussing other interesting out-of-the-box settlements. In some of those, the plaintiffs agreed to take less cash but received non-cash agreements from the defendants. Those agreements made the plaintiffs happier than if they had received the additional cash.
If you have had any out-of-the-box setllements, please send them to me.
Posted by ajlevy at June 10, 2003 5:53 PM