A house and hundreds of items associated with what authorities described as a long-running prostitution ring won’t be returned to their former owners, a judge has ruled.
Clarissa Lopez and her boyfriend, Ulises Ruiz, have been fighting in court for several months to get back their property that was seized by police in a January raid of six locations affiliated with the alleged prostitution ring, By Spanish.
On Thursday, Pima County Superior Court Judge Leslie Miller ruled the state provided probable cause that the home, $1,500 cash and additional items seized as evidence in an ongoing criminal enterprise investigation were subject to forfeiture.
Miller also issued a protective order barring Lopez and Ruiz from damaging the house until or after the state requires them to vacate the property. It’s unclear if the couple is still living in the home, but multiple court documents served at the property by certified mail were all returned, records show.
The hundreds of assorted items seized in the raid — including a stripper pole, women’s costumes and multiple massage tables — now belong to the Tucson Police Department, where they could possibly be sold at auction.
Any proceeds from their sale are to be paid to the Pima County anti-racketeering fund, Miller said.
More than seven months after the raid and almost four years after the investigation began, none of suspected major players — including Lopez and Ruiz — have been charged with any crimes.
The police department’s investigation also turned up hundreds of customers of the massage parlors, leading to the termination of seven Tucson police employees.
The only people who have been charged with any crimes are a former employee of By Spanish and her cousin, both of whom were only loosely connected to the police investigation.
On Wednesday, Stephanie Herrera was sentenced to 10 days time served after accepting an agreement and pleading guilty to one misdemeanor count of prostitution. She was initially charged with illegally conducting a criminal enterprise — a felony.
After leaving her job at By Spanish, Herrera’s cousin, Alma Santini-Herrera, set up a similar business, operating out of her apartment with Herrera as her only employee.
Santini-Herrera pleaded guilty to one felony count of receiving the earnings of a prostitute and was sentenced to three years’ probation.
At the time of her arrest in March, Herrera admitted to working for her cousin, but she never appeared for her April arraignment, prompting Superior Court Judge Christopher Browning to issue a warrant for her arrest.
She was taken into custody July 30, and remained in Pima County jail until her release Wednesday, following the sentencing.
