Prostitution Charges Pending—

Holland Sent To Prison For Probation Violation

By Andrew Gorosko

DANBURY — A judge this week sentenced a Newtown man to 32 months in prison after he pleaded guilty to a charge of violation of probation in connection with his arrest last year on charges of promoting prostitution in the second degree, racketeering, and conspiracy to commit racketeering.

Danbury Superior Court Judge Patrick Carroll handed down the prison sentence Tuesday to Louis J. “Buddy” Holland, Jr, 41, of 38 Little Brook Lane, Newtown. Holland had pleaded guilty to the violation of probation charge last week.

Holland is incarcerated in Bridgeport Correctional Center. He had been free on a $175,000 bond until his sentencing.

The promoting prostitution and racketeering charges against Holland are pending in Bridgeport Superior Court. Holland’s next Bridgeport court appearance is scheduled for June 5.

Susan Filan, the assistant state’s attorney who is prosecuting the case against Holland, said Tuesday the state has offered Holland a plea bargain agreement on the promoting prostitution and racketeering charges. Ms Filan declined to disclose the specifics of the proposal.

Ms Filan had recommended that Holland be sentenced to 36 months in prison on the violation of probation conviction. Of the 32-month sentence which Holland received, Ms Filan said, “The judge’s reasoning was very clear and very fair.”

 Holland’s arrest last October on the promoting prostitution charge marked the third time he had been arrested on that offense. Although he had been convicted of the charge twice in the past, he had never been sentenced to prison. Judges had issued fines and probation as penalties for the previous convictions. In both previous convictions, Holland received $10,000 fines, three-year suspended prison terms, and three-year probations. 

Holland did not challenge the violation of probation charge by seeking a court hearing on it because doing so would have likely resulted in the state increasing the penalties it is seeking against Holland in connection with the pending charges.

Last October 3, state police and investigators from the chief state’s attorney’s office charged Holland on a warrant at his home in connection with his operation of Bunny’s Inc., a Bridgeport-based escort service. State police charged Holland with racketeering under the provisions of the state’s Corrupt Organization and Racketeering Act (CORA).

In gathering evidence for the October arrest, state police in April 2000 raided Holland’s Little Brook Lane home. State police also had raided the Bridgeport office Holland allegedly used for the escort service. Evidence found included credit card receipts, computer files and financial records.

State police said they launched a 17-month investigation into Holland’s activities after receiving an anonymous letter informing them that although Holland had been convicted in March 1999 of promoting prostitution for a second time, he was continuing to commit the same crime. In that case, Newtown police had charged Holland in June 1998 with promoting prostitution from his Little Brook Lane home, following a six-month investigation.

In charging Holland in October 2000, state police alleged the escort business was run out of a Bridgeport address, where telephone calls were received from males seeking female companionship, with sexual relations being the ultimate goal. The females were dispatched to various locations around the state to meet male customers, who paid the women approximately $250 hourly for sex, according to state police. Holland received a portion of the money paid to the women, state police said.

The most recent state police investigation into Holland’s activities involved the review of credit card records, financial records, telephone records, surveillance, and interviews with employees and customers of the escort business, state police said. The credit card records indicated the names and other identifying information of the escort service’s customers, according to state police. State police reportedly found records of more than 165 customers.

To promote the escort business, Holland advertised the service in the Yellow Pages, newspapers, and on a World Wide Web site, describing Bunny’s as a service that offered lingerie models, massages, and dancers.