MILWAUKEE, Wis. — Four men were accused of trafficking women among strip clubs stretching from Wisconsin to the Gulf Coast, all with backrooms for prostitution. There also were transient sex sites in rented facilities operated a few weeks at a time and advertised for clients online. The ring operated out of the On the Border strip blub in the Milwaukee suburb on the Franklin on the Racine County line. Arrested were:
> Brian T-R. Hopkins, age 50, manager of On the Border.
> Jimmy L. Durant Jr. III, 31, listed as a well-known trafficker.
> Dantavia Vernar Rule and Maurice Russel, both age 31, and both isted as recruiters
A search warrant has been issued for a fifth man. The arrests followed a five-year investigation. The 22-page criminal complaint showed 24 victims were forced to perform sex acts. Abuses detailed in the complaint include:
> Women working from 7 a.m. to 2 a.m. to meet daily quotas.
> Victims forced to hand over their earnings or be beaten up. One woman told police that Rule punched her and later, after learning she bruises easily, resorted to strangling her.
> Durant threatened physical abuse when a woman threatened to leave if she didn’t get any of her pimped money, then told her: “You pay to go to college, but if you don’t finish, you don’t get your money back.”
> Hopkins fired dancers from the club, then demanded thousands of dollars to get their jobs back.
> Rule threatened one woman to “get her fired,” then injured her ankle. She was required to make a “one-time payment” to On the Border to take her back.
On the Border profile. Premier strip joint. Touts itself as “Milwaukee’s only Midwest Gentlemen’s Club of the Year. Main floor with 360-degree stage. Flatscreen TVs throughout for sports. Performers include ”elite level dancers, artists and athletes from around the country” in strip tease, burlesque and aerial acts. Periodical events include a vertical pole showdown. dunk-a-diva and a bikini bike wash. Daily drink specials from $3.25 to n$3.75. Dance requests are $2.41 on Tuesdays Cover charge $20 but waived for couples on Thursdays. VIP room with lights off for erotic activity.
Five-state operation
The criminal complaint didn’t idenrify any strip clubs besides On the Border but said the ring operated in Alabama, Florida, Illinois, Florida, Mississippi and Wisconsin. These are strip clubs, none named in the criminal complaint, within 90 minutes of Winona:
> 2NYTEntertainmrnt, Bluff Siding, Wisconsin: Formerly LA Club, and Four Mile Ciub.
> Baron’s, Sparta, Wisconsin.
> Jimmy’s InBeween, Merrillan, Wisconsin.
> Sugars, Hagar City, Wisconsin.
> Shooters, Elk Mound, Wisconsin.