In a move aimed at dismantling the strip-club empire of Frank Colacurcio Sr., federal prosecutors on Monday seized documents and other evidence in a series of raids and revealed that a three-year undercover investigation has turned up "rampant" prostitution and evidence of money laundering and racketeering.
Three years? How many lapdances was that?
No arrests were made and no criminal charges have been filed.
OK, that seems weird but they are trying to use a RICO indictment to seize the clubs not put the dancers in jail.
If this is true then the owners of these clubs were morons for allowing the activity. Aside from the fact that they were eventually going to get caught Seattle has had a hard-on for the Colacurcio family for years and then when the Strippergate scandal broke a couple years ago it became a grudge fight.
Of course the people this is really going to hurt are the dancers who will lose their only income, the taxpayers who will have to pick up the slack thru welfare, and the state who will lose the tax revenue.
Who benefits? Internet porn operators.
Seriously, I have to ask does outlawing prostitution really serve a societal purpose? Yes, it is degrading to the men or women who have to resort to this job, but then again so is being a mall rent-a-cop. At least if it was legal it could be taxed and regulated and some of the shadier elements eliminated. But do we as a society want that?
Tough call.
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