Four Tucson Police Department employees terminated for their involvement with a long-running prostitution ring have had their personnel records changed to reflect resignations, following a settlement agreement with the city, records show.
Officers Daniel Santa-Cruz, Oscar Ramos, Nathaniel Luttrell and crime-scene technician Enrique Wilkins agreed to withdraw their appeals of termination and will pay for their own attorney fees in the agreement, according to internal affairs reports released Tuesday by Tucson police.
All four employees had documentation in their files — Personnel Action Request Forms — indicating their termination from the department in July, prior to their filing appeals. In late September, the city forwarded settlement agreements to the men, agreeing to “modify and replace” the existing records to indicate the employees resigned in lieu of termination, according to the internal affairs reports.
The reports, more than 1,100 pages, detail the men’s various degrees of involvement with the businesses, but the department found fault in the details that the men were willing to provide to investigators, citing “untruthfulness” as a violation in each of the reports.
Six officers have been fired as a result of the investigation into the prostitution ring, which operated massage parlors called “By Spanish” and “Daisy’s Delights.”
The two other fired officers, Vincent Valenzuela and Martin Walker, have appealed their terminations, with hearings scheduled before the Civil Service Commission in upcoming months.
In September, the Pima County Attorney’s Office issued a letter declining to file charges against five of the employees, saying there was insufficient evidence to result in convictions. A letter declining charges regarding the sixth officer was issued in May.
The investigation into the illicit businesses began nearly four years ago, but the potential involvement of 10 TPD employees wasn’t discovered until earlier this year. TPD requested the Arizona Department of Public Safety conduct a criminal investigation into the officers, with TPD conducting an internal affairs investigation to determine if department rules were broken.
In addition to the six fired employees, two officers resigned, but later had their job statuses changed to terminations, and two were found by police investigators to have had no involvement with the massage parlors.
No criminal charges have been filed against the three alleged operators of the massage parlors, and no decision has been issued by the county attorney as to if anyone will be charged.
