PDA

View Full Version : 2005 Archived Reports



Suitribe
01-03-05, 09:49
The following article appeared in today's News Times. Was surprising to me because it focused on hispanic brothels in Danbury and mentioned several of them were busted this year. I hadn't heard of either.

Http://news.newstimes.com/story.php?id=67907

Danbury police eye sex slavery
Brothels may involve immigrant victims
By Eugene Driscoll
THE NEWS-TIMES

DANBURY — City police are sharing information with a government task force that is trying to shed light on a dark corner of the criminal underworld — human smuggling and sexual slavery.

Danbury detectives this year busted several brothels throughout the city that catered specifically to the growing number of undocumented Hispanic immigrants.

In September, Kevin O'Connor, Connecticut's U.S. Attorney, announced the formation of a state and federal task force charged with stopping the trafficking of illegal immigrants into the state for use as prostitutes, slaves and even mail-order brides.

Now the question is whether the women in the Danbury brothels were victims of a slave labor ring operating in the region.

"Our detective division is working with other law enforcement agencies, including the U.S. Attorney's Office and the Immigration and Naturalization enforcement officers," said Danbury Police Capt. Arthur Sullo. "They are working with other law enforcement agencies aware that it could very well be related to allegations of slave labor."

Melanie Danyliw, program manager of education at the Women's Center of Greater Danbury, said she recently attended a training session on forced immigrant labor and sexual slavery put on by law enforcement officials. Danyliw said she learned that Danbury is a prime location for the funneling of slave labor from New York City to various parts of New England.

The U.S. Attorney's Office wanted to know how many people the women's centers are able to shelter, Danyliw said. "Once they do a raid, they have to shelter these women," Danyliw said.

Danyliw said that the Danbury women's center would be able to handle only one or two women.

Some 18,000 people are smuggled into the country each year and sexually exploited or forced into sweatshop-like jobs, according to a report from the U.S. Department of Justice. Between 3,500 and 5,500 people are smuggled each year from Latin America, according to the report.

"What we are finding is that in terms of women, brothels tend to be dominated by illegal immigrants," O'Connor said. "Are those women there voluntarily or against their will? Those are the types or things law enforcement is interested in."

Just how do immigrant prostitution rings work?

Criminals recruit women in foreign countries by promising a better life. The criminals charge women an exorbitant fee that is supposed to be paid back when the victim arrives in America.

Instead, the women find themselves forced into prostitution.

"The smuggler may bring a woman into this country by making her believe she is going to be brought over to work a normal job to pay off whatever fee was required to get her out of her country," O'Connor said. "Often times, unbeknownst to those women, the work they are required to do is prostitution."

Whether this is the case with the Danbury brothels is not clear.

"I don't know if that has been officially determined," Sullo said. "Those are issues for federal investigators and our detectives to find out if, in fact, they were there voluntary or whether they were working off some type of servitude debt."

Immigrant bordellos made headlines in Danbury on Jan. 30, when Samuel Escobar, 26, was gunned down at an apartment on Division Street. Police said Escobar was a doorman for a brothel operating out of the apartment. Police were told Escobar may have been killed when four men tried to rob the place. There have been no arrests made in the case.

In February, Danbury police estimated there were six brothels operating in the city.

In October 2003, police raided a brothel on Franklin Street and arrested two local men and two out-of-state women. In August, police raided a brothel operating in a house on Kenosia Avenue, where a man was allegedly selling beer to patrons as they waited their turn with prostitutes.

Everyone arrested was from either Queens, N.Y., or New Jersey.

At the time of the Kenosia Avenue raid, police said organized criminal gangs in the region specialized in prostitution. Police said women are often moved to different apartments on a weekly basis.

O'Connor wouldn't say whether the task force is looking at Danbury. However, he said women kept against their will could come from New York City — Queens specifically — because two major airports are nearby.

"The vast majority of immigrants come into the country through our airports," with immigrants using phony documents, O'Connor said.

O'Connor's office has not prosecuted an immigrant prostitution ring in the state.

Part of the problem is that information is tough to collect — even from women kept as sexual slaves.

"When they realize what is happening, they feel they have no place to go because they are in the country illegally. They think if they go to police they will be deported," O'Connor said.

However, federal laws protect illegal aliens who are crime victims from being kicked out of the country. Illegal aliens who report crimes aren't reported to immigration authorities either.

"Unfortunately, I think a lot of these people who are keeping these people against their will use the threat of deportation to maintain their control over them," O'Connor said.

Just who is behind these rings — individual criminal entrepreneurs or large organized crime syndicates — also remains unknown.

"I'm not prepared to say who might or who might not be responsible," O'Connor said. "I'm not sure we know and I don't want to contribute to any rumors. When the time is right we will prosecute the folks behind it."

Danbury's reputation as a destination for illegal immigrants was underscored earlier this month. The Hartford Courant reported that a police officer in El Paso, Texas, stopped a tractor-trailer packed with 26 illegal immigrants. The newspaper reported some of the immigrants were from Ecuador and were bound for Danbury.

Detective Darrel Petry of the El Paso Police Department said the people in the truck said they were on their way to Las Vegas. However, he didn't doubt reports saying they were actually heading to Danbury. "It's like dope coming across the border. There is a whole distribution system," Petry said.

Danbury Mayor Mark Boughton said bordellos are a symptom of a larger problem — the country's inability to police its borders.

"People ask what is the problem with illegal immigration? There is the illegal trafficking of people — almost a slavery situation where they have to work in these bordellos," Boughton said.

"This is the consequence of a federal immigration policy that does not work. They have to figure out a plan to deal with the 11 million people that are living (in the United States) illegally," Boughton said. "They have to figure out a way to tighten up the borders."

The multi-agency task force investigating immigrant smuggling includes state police, local law enforcement, the FBI and federal immigration officials.

The task force is also relying heavily on non-profit organizations, such as women's shelters, to connect police with victims.

"Often the best sources of information are these local service providers who take in battered women," O'Connor said. "Most of these cases begin with a referral from a local service provider, whether it is a local hospital or a health clinic. They may discover something is going on that shouldn't be going on."

Meanwhile, the state legislature also has a task force investigating the problem. State Rep. Andrea L. Stillman, D-Waterford, is chairwoman of the "interagency task force on trafficking in persons."

Stillman's group will first research the problem, find out what needs to be done to help victims and eventually pass laws to deal with immigrant smuggling. A report from the task force to the General Assembly is due January 2006.

"We are specifically concerned with the victims, first," Stillman said. "I would assume by the time all is said and done we will have recommendations that not only address the concerns raised from victims but also to make recommendations for criminal statutes."


Staff writer Karen Ali contributed to this story.

SR Only
01-03-05, 16:51
I hope they don't start looking at the asian places. Talk about the "good job in America" and it becoming a job at an AMP. I guess they could go after the nail salons, too.

SRO

Danbury Fun
01-06-05, 10:38
It appears Danbury's 1st victim may be Genesis Leisure Spa. I was in the mood for something American yesterday and after making a few unanswered phone calls to see who was working yesterday I decided to do a little recon of the situation.

When I arrived at Genesis the "Open" sign was turned off and the door was locked. No signs, no police tape, just nothing....

Your guess is as good as mine as to their fate... While this wasn't the highest quality service it did offer an Asian alternative that I will miss.

I drove past both AMPS opting not to stop at either, the lights were on and it appeared to be business as usual however.

Suitribe
02-22-05, 14:31
Glad to see you are back in business. Connecticut has no better site I know of for this type of info. I hope the authorities are as ready to go after your attackers as they are to go after people whose lawbreaking they may not like as much. Welcome back!

Danbury John
03-21-05, 01:40
It's been insanely quiet on here for far too long.

Does anyone have any stories or info to share for the Danbury area? It seems that even good ol' Beaver Street has slowed down the last few times I've done the creep.
I was also curious if anyone knew of (or ever heard of anything going on at the exit 2 24/hour rest-stop/info place.

Member #3916
04-29-05, 01:15
Does anyone know if about this place? It is located at 38 Shelter Rock Rd in Bethel Connecticut.

Thank you

Danbury Fun
04-29-05, 16:52
Bricks,

The place is a DUMP, plenty of fat Brazillian women and a house scam to buy drinks for the fat babes and drain your wallet.

Best to look else where, unfortunately action appears to be limited to the two AMPs in town.

Hytek
07-23-05, 08:12
This item appeared in today's NY Times. I couldn't find any similar articles recently or in the archives of any Connecticut newspapers. It answers the question "What happened to Cleopatra's?" and "What happened to Genesis?" Patti and her ex-husband, Jay (Jason), founded and operated several of Ct's best leisure spas starting in the 1980's. Patti was awarded these three as part of a bitter divorce settlement in the 90's, and Jason subsequently ran the ones he was left with into the ground. Let's pray that she gets a light sentence in October. Between Patti's spas and Alpha, nobody has done more to destroy good bush in Ct. than the Bush Justice Department.

From Today's NY Times Metro Briefings:

NEWTOWN: WOMAN ADMITS BEING A MADAM A woman pleaded guilty yesterday in Federal District Court in Bridgeport to money laundering and using health clubs in three Connecticut cities to promote prostitution, according to the United States attorney. The woman, Patricia Gougelmann, 66, of Newtown, owned Cleopatra's Spa in Waterbury, Genesis in Danbury, and Dolce Vita in Bridgeport. She admitted in court that the clubs were houses of prostitution that took in about $1.1 million between January 1998 and March 2004. Ms. Gougelmann is scheduled to be sentenced on Oct. 24. She faces a maximum prison term of 20 years and $500,000 in fines. (NYT)

Also posted under Waterbury

Mighty Spearsman
07-25-05, 12:01
This item appeared in today's NY Times. I couldn't find any similar articles recently or in the archives of any Connecticut newspapers. It answers the question "What happened to Cleopatra's?" and "What happened to Genesis?" Patti and her ex-husband, Jay (Jason), founded and operated several of Ct's best leisure spas starting in the 1980's. Patti was awarded these three as part of a bitter divorce settlement in the 90's, and Jason subsequently ran the ones he was left with into the ground. Let's pray that she gets a light sentence in October. Between Patti's spas and Alpha, nobody has done more to destroy good bush in Ct. than the Bush Justice Department.

From Today's NY Times Metro Briefings:

NEWTOWN: WOMAN ADMITS BEING A MADAM A woman pleaded guilty yesterday in Federal District Court in Bridgeport to money laundering and using health clubs in three Connecticut cities to promote prostitution, according to the United States attorney. The woman, Patricia Gougelmann, 66, of Newtown, owned Cleopatra's Spa in Waterbury, Genesis in Danbury, and Dolce Vita in Bridgeport. She admitted in court that the clubs were houses of prostitution that took in about $1.1 million between January 1998 and March 2004. Ms. Gougelmann is scheduled to be sentenced on Oct. 24. She faces a maximum prison term of 20 years and $500,000 in fines. (NYT)

Also posted under Waterbury
Thanks, Hytek. A very short article on this same subject appeared in the Sunday Hartford Courant, buried on an inside page on the bottom. There was an interesting quote from the prosecutor to the effect that the reason that the Feds went after Ms. Gougelmann was because of the large amount of undeclared income, not the prostitution angle.

Also posted in Waterbury.

Danbury John
07-26-05, 16:55
$1.1 Million in 6 years? Anyone else find that a tad low? I know I had given my share of that to Genesis.

On a side note, anyone have any insights as to any remaining places? Or have they all suffered the same fate? I see that Executive is still operating, but i haven't paid them any attention in years after a few sub-standard sessions.

Lately, anytime I've been in the neighborhood I've been content to circle Beaver Street and find something (and usually for $10 or so for a cbj or bbbj- so I'm not complaining too much).

Bifster
08-31-05, 15:21
I am sure if the Barmaid had stopped asking the undercover cops "You buy her drink", none of this would have happened.


Women charged with bar sex acts 2005-08-30
Complaints lead to prostitution arrests
By John Pirro

THE NEWS-TIMES DANBURY

The dingy sign hanging from the ceiling reads "Bada Bing Bar." But the scene inside Tony Soprano's fictional strip joint pales in comparison to the one police allegedly found at a Shelter Rock Road "gentleman's club" Friday night. Inside the club known as Wiggles, more than a dozen scantily-clad dancers en-gaged in sex acts or aggressively propositioned customers around the rectangular bar, authorities say.
By the end of the night, the floor was littered with paper napkins containing what law enforcement officials euphemistically called "DNA evidence."

"That's the first time we've seen that type of operation here" in Danbury, said Detective Lt. James Fisher of the police department's Special Investigations Division. "It's happened in some bigger cities, but not in Danbury."

The latest raid was sparked by a series of complaints from the public, according to Fisher, who said prostitution related activities took place at the bar for about a year.
SID detectives, working with undercover officers from two out-of-town agencies, raided Wiggles on Friday night. Police said four plainclothes officers entered the club shortly after 8:30 p.m. The officers were barely inside before the women began exposing their breasts and other private parts, offering lap dances and oral sex, or shoving their hands inside the officers' trousers, police claim. One woman offered to go home with an investigator if he paid her $200, police said.

All of those activities are a violation of Connecticut liquor laws, said John Suchy, director of the state Liquor Control Commission, which bar physical contact between dancers and patrons. He declined further comment because the police haven't yet referred the case to his agency.

In all, authorities charged six club employees with prostitution. Three of the women are Danbury residents. The others are from Queens, N.Y.

Even more dancers could have been arrested if police had employed additional undercover officers, authorities said.

"The (officers) only made contact with six of the dancers," Fisher said in his report. "The other seven were engaged in similar activity."

Police closed Wiggles temporarily when an employee couldn't provide a valid liquor permit, but by Monday the permit had been located and the bar was back in business. Attempts to contact club owner Vincent Mavilia on Monday were unsuccessful.

Fisher said Mavilia showed up at Wiggles while the raid was in progress, and "was cooperative" with investigators.

"We can't say if he had full knowledge of what was going on," Fisher said.
The club already faces a four-day closing next month because of violations found during a February 2004 inspection, said Suchy. At that time, inspectors saw dancers exposing their breasts and private parts to patrons, and also found alcohol being served to a minor, Suchy said.

Police identified the women charged with prostitution as XXXXXXXXXX all from Queens.

Danbury Fun
09-14-05, 14:06
I drove past last night, the lights were off and all the signs were down. Looks like another provider bites the dust in Danbury.

Just the two AMPS and a weak street scene left.

Bifster
09-22-05, 15:33
New management in the old Wiggles. I think the name is going to be Go-Go Shop or something like that. Stopped by Tuesday Night and the improvement in dancers was outstanding.

Ramon
09-23-05, 06:00
Are they still going to cater to the brazilian community, or are caucasians now welcome? The last time I went there I felt like I didnt belong there. I was very polite but got a lot of dirty looks.

Jo Hosa Witness
09-26-05, 03:24
Is that place Executive Spa still opened? That place was the worst amp I've ever stepped foot in. Big money, Big attitudes, and Big Girls.

Bifster
09-26-05, 12:06
I never felt unwanted by the staff in Wiggles. Maybe some other customers didn't exactly welcome me with open arms but that "Green Personality" was what they were looking for. Anyway, the new mgr sounded like he was looking for a more diverse clientele. Not just the masons and landscapers stopping for a beer.

It would be nice to have a place to enjoy. Elan's is overpriced. the girls are not quite as hot as they think they are. Need a decent blue collar joint.

lou-S
09-27-05, 14:36
I usually stick to waterbury for AMPs. But today I first popped in at Kyoto in Brookfield only to be turned away as they were full.(has anyone ever been here? I was there when they first opened a few yrs back and massage was it).
Off to Lily I go. Not worth the time. Rushed massage, girl was 5 of 10 and service boring.Refused to perform 'asian'.Experience to make me feel like retiring from mongering as the guilt out weighs the pleasure on this one.

Bifster
10-04-05, 08:48
Good News Bad News Good News is they are trying to fix the place up. Yeah, who cares. No bar stool BJ's, too bright. The Bad News is the advanced billing of improved dancers is not panning out. Still got some Bigun's grazing on stage. Although they have toned down the "you buy her drink" pestering.

Barmaid get's an "A" for effort. No dancer getting up last night so she jumped up and did her thing. Nice cans, nice butt and tang. Unfortunately they were like parts to a couple of different jig saw puzzles but like I said, she tried.

Forbin
10-04-05, 10:41
I've not tried Wiggles yet, any mileage availble in the new setup/named bar ? Done the elans thing several times but have no interest in sitting on my hands during the LD.


New management in the old Wiggles. I think the name is going to be Go-Go Shop or something like that. Stopped by Tuesday Night and the improvement in dancers was outstanding.

Bifster
10-07-05, 13:39
I feel like I am becoming the spokes model for this place. Well I just had to go back there last night and it was worth it. This place goes from one extreme to another. Monday the dancers were few and 50% were biguns. Tuesday they were too lazy to dance much. However, Thursday the place was jumping. About 7 dancers and all but one you could be seen with on the street. The hottest being Jemania. WOW! WAPOA If you are not into primarily BRazilians I guess you still won't like the place but they are trying. The area really needs a more down to earth place. Not the old Wiggles and for sure not Elans.

Optimus1220
11-11-05, 11:17
Greetings to all,

I'm a CT native, and I am up from NC visiting for a few days. In the past, I've had great experiences at EOS in Danbury, and I considered that spa to be my favorite. I know that it recently closed and re-opened some time ago. I'd like to know if it is worth going there now. I'd really like to stop at an AMP while I'm here, but I want to make sure my $$$ is spent for something worthwhile. If anyone here can comment on the current state of this spa, please let me know.

Thanks!