The operator of an illegal massage parlor linked to several recently fired Tucson police officers was sentenced to three years’ probation Thursday for receiving the earnings of a prostitute.
Alma Santini-Herrera was arrested in March and charged with four felonies, including conducting an illegal enterprise and receiving earnings of a prostitute.No charges have been levied against the suspected operators of the two main businesses, By Spanish and Daisy’s Delights.
Santini-Herrera, a former employee of By Spanish, set up a similar business of her own in late 2013, an Arizona Department of Public Safety report shows.
During an internal affairs investigation of its own employees, TPD cross-referenced employee phone numbers with cellphones and ledgers obtained from the suspected operators of the brothel.
At least two of the employees who were fired Tuesday communicated with Santini, one appearing in a handwritten ledger and another having had 87 points of contact with her from October to December 2014, according to the DPS report.
Court records show that in February, an undercover officer contacted Santini-Herrera through her ad on Backpage.com and set up an appointment during which she agreed to perform a massage and finish with a sexual act, often referred to as a “happy ending,” records show.
The officer found a handwritten ledger in the house and, after being read her Miranda rights, Santini-Herrera admitted to participating in “massage activity” but was not charged.
The following month, she was contacted again through the same ad and another appointment was made. She made the same deal with an undercover officer and admitted to creating and posting the ad, answering the phone and scheduling appointments, records show. At that point, she was arrested.
In May, Santini-Herrera accepted an agreement, pleading guilty to one felony count of receiving earnings of a prostitute and one misdemeanor prostitution charge, court records show.
Santini-Herrera’s cousin Stephanie Herrera was charged with the same four felonies after she admitted to working for her cousin at the time of her arrest. Herrera said that every massage included a “happy ending” and that Santini-Herrera received a $50 cut from each one.
Herrera was also offered a plea agreement but failed to appear at a hearing in April and a warrant was issued for her arrest. It’s unclear whether she’s been apprehended.
Vehicle seizures final
Even though they still haven’t been charged with any crimes, Clarissa Lopez and her boyfriend, Ulises Ruiz, had cash, cars and hundreds of other items seized when their six properties were raided in January as part of TPD’s investigation into the illegal prostitution ring.
On Wednesday, a judge ruled the couple would not be getting their belongings back, saying the state provided sufficient evidence that the property was subject to seizure.
Lopez’s 2006 Dodge Charger and Ruiz’s 2003 Hummer H2 are now the property of Tucson police and can be used for any purpose, the court judgment reads.
The $15,000 that Lopez used to bail Ruiz out of jail in December will be transferred to the Pima County Anti-Racketeering Fund.
In the search-warrant affidavit submitted to the court, a police detective said he had been investigating aspects of the case related to racketeering offenses.
The couple and their business, By Spanish, are under investigation as a continuing criminal enterprise.
