None of the Tucson Police Department officers implicated in a prostitution ring probe will face criminal prosecution.
A letter from Pima County Attorney Barbara LaWall obtained by the Star today says there is not enough evidence to likely result in conviction.
"The evidence presented from the criminal investigation is insufficient to prove that any of the accused City of Tucson employees engaged in any act of prostitution on any specific date," LaWall wrote in a letter dated Sept. 11 to the state Department of Public Safety.
"Because the evidence is insufficient to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that a crime of prostitution was committed by any of these individuals, the State must decline to charge any of the employees with having committed that criminal act."
In July, Tucson Police fired Officers Nathaniel Luttrell, Oscar Ramos, Daniel Santa-Cruz, Martin Walker, along with crime-scene technician Enrique Wilkins. All five appealed.
Two more officers resigned before the investigation was concluded: Officer Jesus Maldonado resigned in April, after two days on paid leave, and Sgt. Michael McGuire resigned in June, after two months on leave.
The department began investigating a ring of illegal massage parlors - which went by names like "By Spanish" and "Daisy's Delights" - in December 2011. The officers' possible involvement as customers was discovered earlier this year.
