Date: Fri 19-Mar-1999

Publication: Bee

Author: ANDYG

Quick Words:

Buddy-Holland-sentenced

Full Text:

Local Man Sentenced For Promoting Prostitution

BY ANDREW GOROSKO

A local man who was facing a charge of promoting prostitution in the second

degree has pleaded "no contest" to it, resulting in a judge sentencing him to

serve a suspended three-year prison sentence and three years of probation.

Louis J. "Buddy" Holland, 38, of 38 Little Brook Lane received the sentence

from Judge Patrick Carroll, March 10, in Danbury Superior Court. The judge

also levied a $10,000 fine against Holland.

The state didn't prosecute a racketeering charge against Holland. Police

lodged that charge against the Newtown man last June when they filed the

promoting prostitution charge.

The charges stem from Holland's proprietorship of Bunny's, an escort and

massage service he ran via six telephone lines from his home.

Promoting prostitution in the second degree is a Class C felony under the

state penal code. In such a situation, the accused either knowingly advances

or profits from prostitution and/or manages, supervises, controls, or owns a

business or enterprise involving prostitution by two or more prostitutes.

Newtown police have said the arrest stems from a six-month investigation by

their detective bureau into Bunny's operation.

During December 1997, the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Connecticut State

Police, and town police detectives executed search and seizure warrants at the

modest Little Brook Lane home. Little Brook Lane is a long dead-end street

extending northward from Button Shop Road. Newtown police said numerous

business records, cash, and other items related to Bunny's were seized at the

property.

According to an arrest warrant application affidavit filed by Newtown police

last November, a credible person, who is a confidential informant, contacted

the police department's detective bureau and told police that Bunny's was in

the business of promoting prostitution and was involved in money laundering

through the use of credit card charge slips. The informant told police of the

inner workings of the escort service, according to the affidavit. The

affidavit describes Bunny's as "primarily a front for prostitution and

financial gain."

Holland had up to 12 women working for him and he expected them to trade sex

for money, either in the form of cash or credit card billings, the affidavit

alleges.

Sexual services provided would cost $250 an hour in cash, of which Holland got

$100, the affidavit states. The same services would cost up to $300 in credit

card billings, depending on the type of credit card used, it adds. Holland

received 40 percent or more of that amount, it states.

Customers would call the escort service by telephone after which Holland would

dispatch the escorts via paging devices to specified locations where they

would perform their services, according to the document.

Holland had six telephone lines, including two toll-free lines, in use at his

home listed under five different business names, according to the affidavit.

To corroborate the informant's information, police interviewed several women

who had worked for Holland. They provided graphic details on how the operation

functioned.

According to the Connecticut Bureau of Investigation, in November 1994,

Holland was charged with promoting prostitution in the second-degree and

unemployment fraud. In October 1995, Holland was convicted on the charges and

fined $10,000. He received a three-year suspended prison term and was placed

on three years probation.