Friday, May 31, 2013

Zumba Prostitute: She Was Tricked ?


Another Bangor Daily News gem where few quotes are used:  

 The now-famous Kennebunk prostitute was tricked by Thomaston insurance broker Mark Strong Sr. into believing she was investigating “sexual deviants” for the state, the attorney representing Alexis Wright told the court in a pre-sentencing memorandum.

The video of her 'working for the state investigators' may need a bit of imagination. 
Wright was sentenced to 10 months in jail and ordered to pay $58,000 in fines and restitution by Superior Court Justice Nancy Mills Friday morning in accordance with a plea agreement reached between the defendant and prosecutors from the York County district attorney’s office and state attorney general’s office nearly two months ago.
Wright was traumatized as a child witnessing the sexual abuse of her mother by her father and then was sexually abused by the man herself “for many of her formative years,” according to defense attorney Sarah Churchill’s memo.

We look for various indicators (verbal) of sexual abuse.  Unfortunately, we have no quotes to work from. 
That background left her vulnerable to manipulation at the hands of co-conspirator Strong, Wright told the court Friday morning. When given an opportunity to address Mills from the lectern during the sentencing hearing, she began crying and struggled to read a prepared statement.
The admitted prostitute told the court she felt joy and relief when police broke the case open by executing a search warrant at her Kennebunk office in February of 2012. That took place after nearly 18 months of prostitution activity at the location.
“I have feelings of sadness that escalate to anger,” Wright told the court. “Then there are the flip sides for those feelings, feelings of joy and relief, because now it’s over and I never have to go back again.”
Strong was convicted by a jury in March on 13 counts related to promotion of prostitution and ultimately served 15 days of a 20-day sentence. One week after Superior Court Justice Nancy Mills sentenced Strong for his role in the operation,Wright agreed to a plea agreement in which prosecutors would recommend a 10-month jail term and drop 86 of the 106 counts against her in exchange for a guilty plea on 20 misdemeanor counts, including charges of prostitution, theft by deception and state tax evasion.
Wright, who worked as a fitness instructor in the seaside town by day, would not have taken part in the prostitution if not for the manipulation by Strong, her attorney told the court.
Churchill wrote that Wright met Strong while working as an exotic dancer in southern Maine to help pay her way through the University of Southern Maine.

Story telling is often done in the present tense language, just as recreation can be: 
She meets an older man and over a period of years is taken in by him first as a model, then as part of his private investigation firm and is told a story, which she all too readily believes, about how she is an operative working for the state to investigate all manner of sexual deviants,” the attorney wrote.
At first this seems too farfetched for anyone to believe,” Churchill continued, in part. “Nevertheless text messages between Ms. Wright and Mark Strong Sr. bear it out.

"First" indicates that something is to follow.
What do you make of "bear it out"?  Is it as strong as "make it true"?

When something "bears out", it often means that it builds, little by little, and does not so much "prove" but "evidences" something. 
The defense attorney referred to several text message exchanges in which Strong referred to “them” — presumably meaning state investigators — wanting documents, making better videos of the sex acts and needing secrecy for their research.
When Churchill addressed the court Friday morning, she said Wright’s parents split up when she was “8 or 9 years old” and moved to California with her mother.
But then, the defense attorney told Mills, “her father drove across country, kidnapped her and took her back to Maine. I think we can all imagine the horrors that took place during that cross-country trip.”
Churchill said police ultimately took her father into custody and turned Wright back over to her mother, but that trauma — and the experiences that preceded it — set the stage for her later interaction with Strong.
Prostitution is not a business in the same way that a convenience store is a business or that a pizza parlor is a business,” the defense attorney told the court. “You don’t decide to go into prostitution under the same mindset we all deciding to go to law school, for instance. The choice to get into that business is driven by past trauma and past abuse.”

Note the absence of money.  

Churchill wrote in her pre-sentencing memorandum that Wright has been in counseling for six months “to begin dealing with the fallout from this matter. Not only does she have to deal with processing her childhood trauma and the trauma from this matter, but because some of the videos in this case were put on the internet, she also has to face the fact that there are people out there viewing and profiting from this matter.”

Note to begin dealing with the "fall out" and not the matter itself.  
Churchill wrote that after the conclusion of Wright’s criminal case, the attorney will direct her attention toward “shutting down these sites and analyzing whether there were actually any profits made that can be recouped.”
Prosecutors from the York County district attorney’s office and state attorney general’s office described in their pre-sentencing memorandum the tax evasion and related theft by deception offenses as being particularly “serious.”
“Stealing from these limited resources is very serious,” York County Assistant District Attorney Justina McGettigan wrote. “Public benefits are for those in need, not individuals flush with cash from an illicit business.”
Those charges are ultimately what drove Justice Mills in her sentencing decision as well, the judge said Friday.
These are the crimes that are driving the sentence,” Mills said, not prostitution or promotion of prostitution. These are charges not brought against Mark Strong and were brought against this defendant.”
In late winter a jury found Strong guilty of 12 counts of promotion of prostitution and one count of conspiracy to promote prostitution.
Mills denied a defense request to allow Wright to serve the sentence at the Cumberland County jail, where a more child-friendly pre-release area exists, instead of in York County. Churchill asked that the change be allowed so Wright could have more comfortable interactions with her now 8-year-old son and husband.
Prosecutors said that evidence introduced at the Strong trial — including a 45-minute stretch of video in which Wright is shown having sex with a man in her office, discussing her rates for the service and then accepting cash payment — would likely be introduced again if Wright had gone to trial.
Other evidence used against Strong that could have been damning included detailed client ledgers sent by Wright to Strong by email listing appointment times, names, sex services rendered and prices charged.
The Kennebunk prostitution case became a media sensation last year after police claimed to have discovered a client list including as many as 150 names, fueling intense public speculation over whether any prominent locals were on what would become known far and wide as “The List.”
Nearly 70 people have been charged with paying for sex in the case, including a former South Portland mayor and Portland planning board chairman. Kennebunk police announced last month that by the end of the summer, they would decide whether to move forward with charges againstanother 40 alleged johns, a move that could extend the court life of the sprawling prostitution case into 2014.

12 comments:

C5H11ONO said...

“Nevertheless text messages between Ms. Wright and Mark Strong Sr. bear it out.”

What do you make of "bear it out"? Is it as strong as "make it true"?

Could the choice of words have been used because it sounded the same as "bare" which reflects nakedness. She was a stripper and prostitute. I think her attorney was self conscious about what his client did. Could that be why in a split second "bear" was used.

John Mc Gowan said...

"bear it out"

Put up with,endure till something better comes along,or is put forward..

Tania Cadogan said...

off topic


The remains of the Missouri mother of triplets who vanished nearly two years ago were discovered Wednesday, officials said.

Jacque Sue Waller a 39-year-old mother of triplets, was last seen June 1, 2011. Her husband, James "Clay" Waller, was charged with first-degree murder and will stand trial in the fall. A prosecutor said her husband admitted to his father that he killed his wife and dumped her body in a hole, KSDK.com reported.

His father died in December 2011, the report said.

The Cape Girardeau County prosecutor's office issued a one-paragraph statement Thursday. It said police recovered a body on Wednesday that has been confirmed as Waller.

She was 39 when she disappeared on June 1, 2011. No information was released on where the body was found. A woman answering phones at the prosecutor's office said no further comment would be made, citing an ongoing investigation.

Jacque Waller, the mother of triplets, vanished after a meeting with her estranged husband to talk about their divorce, Fox2Now.com reported. Her SUV was found abandoned near Fruitland, a town few miles away from their home.

FLASHBACK: Jacque Waller's family speaks out

Clay Waller, a former police officer, was said to have told investigators at the time that his wife walked away from his home in Jackson, Mo., after the two quarreled. He has since denied involvement in his wife's disappearance, saying at the time the police are conducting a "witch hunt" in investigating him.

Her husband is currently is serving a five-year term in federal prison after pleading guilty to threatening Jacque Waller’s sister in an Internet posting, Fox2Now.com reported.

The couple's triplets, now 7 years old, are living with Jacque Waller’s sister in St. Francois County, Mo.

Read more: http://www.foxnews.com/us/2013/05/30/remains-missing-missouri-mom-jacque-waller-found-official-says/?test=latestnews?test=latestnews#ixzz2UtrZSwf1

Anonymous said...

Off-topic: Van Der Sloot is getting hitched.

http://www.lasvegassun.com/news/2013/may/31/lt-peru-van-der-sloot/

Anonymous said...

Zumba instructor was not tricked. She was turning tricks. lol

Pineapple said...

This made my day:
It makes one lose all faith in Zumba.

Lis said...

“At first this seems too farfetched for anyone to believe,” Churchill continued, in part. “Nevertheless text messages between Ms. Wright and Mark Strong Sr. bear it out.”

-Churchill admits it is too far-fetched to believe.

-"Text messages" (no indication of how many text messages) contain some kind of information which could be construed to support the idea, if you are a defense attorney.

-The elephant in the room is money. No mention of money as the incentive.

“her father drove across country, kidnapped her and took her back to Maine. I think we can all imagine the horrors that took place during that cross-country trip.”

-She "thinks" "we" can all image the horrors... I note that she does not list any "horrors" that took place but rather wants us to use our imagination. Is there some sort of record of what happened? What if the mother was the abusive one and the father was trying to save her? How would we know?

Excruciating Headache said...

Anon 2:32,

You have a way with words.

I especially enjoyed your use of "stigmata".

Anonymous said...

Thanks, Headache, I made me laugh! :)

Anonymous said...

Hey, where did my stigmata go? I was being sarcastic but reflecting the ridiculousness of the husband's behavior at him. Im disappointed it is needlessly gone. Parodies can be provacative rhetorical tools.

Anonymous said...

Anon with stigmata, It sure is gone. I noticed Peter enjoyed his own satire in the mom/kidnapping case!

Anonymous said...
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