Three years after police raided multiple homes and businesses associated with the âBy Spanishâ massage parlor ring, the Tucson prostitution probe has come to a close.
Ulises Ruiz, one of the businessâ two operators, was sentenced to two years of probation and 100 hours of community service Thursday. He accepted a deal with prosecutors in December, pleading guilty to felony charges of keeping or maintaining a house of prostitution and receiving the earnings of a prostitute.
He was originally charged with six felonies, including illegal control of an enterprise and money laundering.
The other operator, Clarissa Lopez, received the same sentence in June.
âIâm really embarrassed and shameful about everything that occurred,â Ruiz told Judge Howard Fell, before he handed down his sentence. âIâm trying to be a better man.â
From 2011 through 2015, Ruiz and Lopez ran âBy Spanishâ out of various homes and apartments around Tucson. Police estimated that the couple made roughly $250,000 a year by taking a $40 cut from each sexual service that their employees performed, according to police documents.
Their clients included several Tucson police officers, firefighters, at least one border agent and several Davis-Monthan Air Force Base personnel.
During the course of the three-year investigation, police discovered that a former employee left âBy Spanishâ and started her own business, âDaisyâs Delights.â Several locations associated with the second business were also raided in January 2015, resulting in charges being filed against Stephanie Garcia, the admitted operator of âDaisyâs Delights.â
In October, Garcia was also sentenced to two years of probation.
As a result of the investigation, eight TPD employees lost their jobs after they were found to have been customers of or have knowledge of âBy Spanish,â but none of the men identified as customers were ever charged in connection with the case.
Most of the fired officers also lost their state certifications to work in law enforcement.
