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Big Lou Admits Lap Dance Club Was Brothel, Avoids Jail
By
John Del Signore
Published Mar 24, 2010
Modified Mar 24, 2010
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By
John Del Signore
Published Mar 24, 2010
Modified Mar 24, 2010
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In a no-jail plea deal, attorney Louis "Big Daddy Lou" Posner pleaded guilty yesterday to promoting prostitution at his popular strip club, the Hot Lap Dance Club. Prosecutors busted Posner for offering much more than erotic dancing to its upscale clientele, including on-site cocaine sales, and private rooms with beds for $250 an hour (plus whatever customers gave "dancers" behind closed doors). According to Posner's detailed statement in court yesterday, it does indeed sound like a pretty raunchy place (RIP):
I was present at the club on a nightly basis and was aware that a number of the dancers were regularly engaged in prostitution in the private rooms. I also admit that I helped to institute prostitution at the club by allowing a large number of dancers to work at the club, so that it was difficult for any one of them to make money simply by performing lap dances, and by supplying condoms, and by joking about the willingness of dancers to engage in sexual conduct with customers.
Posner also admitted to "personally engaging in sexual conduct with dancers in the private rooms, in exchange for allowing them to work at the club." And he explained to the judge that being a pimp was just the smart business move: "I did not discourage this prostitution activity because it seemed to make the club more popular and increase its revenues, in which I shared." Posner allegedly grossed $22,000 a night at the club.
After an undercover sting last year, two dancers were prosecuted for prostitution, but they took the rare step of turning down a plea deal, contending that prosecutors were aggressively pursuing them so they could convict Posner and his wife of running a brothel. Both dancers were later acquitted.
As part of the plea deal, Posner will serve 60 days of community service, and prosecutors will drop the case against his wife, who was charged with falsifying business records. $260,000 seized from Posner in a raid is subject to forfeiture proceedings, he'll likely lose his law license, and, perhaps worst of all, he is prohibited from entering a strip club for the next five years, the Daily News reports.
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hot lap dance club
prostitution
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John Del Signore
Originally from the Albany area, John Del Signore has called NYC home since 1995. In addition to his thousands of meticulously-crafted bespoke blog posts for Gothamist, his writing has also been published in The Awl, Deadspin, The Nervous Breakdown, and performed at The Brick Theater in Brooklyn.
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Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
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