FRANKLIN, Wis. — Franklin Mayor John Nelson acknowledged that pretty much everybody in this far south Milwaukee suburb knew what was going on the On the Border gentlemen’s club although not about the sex trafficking and abuses that have been alleged this past week. Mayor Nelson added, however: “Is this the type of business that we want in Franklin? No, we don’t.” Nelson said that Franklin, population 39,000, “has grown and matured and prospered to where this type of business isn’t needed anymore.” There have been four arrests on charges of human trafficking women for sex, horrendous physical abuse, and victim intimidation. These followed a multi-year investigation by the FBI and Milwaukee County authorities. Mayor Nelson said the club’s owners have been cooperative over the years. Among those charged his past week is the general manager, Brian Hopkins, 50. He was charged with seeping a place of prostitution. Prosecutors were soecific: “Neither Hopkins nor OTB prevented or stopped the commercial sex acts from occurring within the business.” The complaint said that three of the men accused in the compilaint were “pimps and management at OTB knew this.” Meanwhile, an unsigned statement was issued by the club

“With reference to recent media reports regarding an unsigned investigation involving one of our employees, the owners and employees of On The Border have proudly served and supported our community as a locally operated business for nearly four decades. In response to this recent allegation, we want to clearly state that we fully support the ongoing investigation by law enforcement and condemn in the strongest possible terms any illegal activity associated with our business.”

Meanwhile, the doors at On the Border remain open 11:30 a.m.to 2 a.m. except Sundays, which are 6 p.m. to 2 a.m.

The take-down

The FBI was tipped in 2021 by an On the Border employee to sex trafficking and money-laundering. The investigation, by an FBI and local task force, included extensive surveillance that led to the four arrests last week. A fifth suspect is being hunted. The criminal complaint quotes Instagram messages discussing transferring women from site to site and advertising the as wares on web sites. The arrests coincided with raids, one at a high-end Milwaukee condominium. Reportedly confiscated were firearms, drugs and $1 million cash. The operation had included sites in Durant, Arkansas; Tupelo, Mississipi; Chicago; Miami; and New Orleans.