A Tucson woman who ran an illegal massage parlor that's customers included police officers and government employees was sentenced to two years of probation last week.
Stephanie Garcia pleaded guilty in August to felony charges of keeping a house of prostitution and receiving the earnings of a prostitute, according to Pima County Superior Court documents.
On Sept. 26, she was sentenced to two years of probation for each count, scheduled to run concurrently, documents show.
Garcia was arrested in February 2016 and charged with eight felonies, including illegal control of an enterprise, money laundering, maintaining a house of prostitution and receiving the earnings of a prostitute.
In January 2015, Tucson police raided multiple residences across town in connection with a years-long investigation into illegal massage parlors that offered sexual services in exchange for money, according to Arizona Daily Star archives.
The investigation initially was focused on a business called "By Spanish," but police later learned of a second business called "Daisy's Delights," Star archives show.
Detectives learned that Garcia had been an employee of "By Spanish" but left the business to form "Daisy's Delights" on her own, employing a "booker" to make appointments and communicate with clients.
The investigation revealed that eight employees of the Tucson Police Department were either customers of or had knowledge of the illegal massage parlors, resulting in most of the employees losing their jobs with the department and state certifications for police work.
The operator of "By Spanish," Clarissa Lopez, was sentenced in April to two years of probation, after pleading guilty to the same charges as Garcia.
Lopez's boyfriend, and alleged co-operator of "By Spanish," Ulises Ruiz, is scheduled for trial in January.
