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    31
    May
    2013
    10:46am, EDT

    Zumba instructor sentenced to 10 months in jail on prostitution charges

    Alexis Wright, the fitness instructor who pleaded guilty to running a prostitution ring out of her Zumba studio, addressed the judge at her sentencing hearing in Maine.

    By Daniel Arkin, Staff Writer, NBC News

    The Zumba fitness instructor who pleaded guilty in March to operating a prostitution ring out of her dance studio in the seaside town of Kennebunk, Maine, was sentenced Friday morning to 10 months in jail, capping off a case that captured international attention.

    Alexis Wright, 30, was sentenced nearly fifteen months after police raided her business and seized a cache of evidence, including meticulous client rosters and video footage of dozens of sexual encounters with local men.

    She was charged with 20 misdemeanor counts in March, including prostitution, conspiracy, tax evasion, and theft by deception, according to a court document obtained by the Portland Press Herald.

    Robert F. Bukaty / AP File

    Alexis Wright, 30, leaves the Cumberland County Courthouse on March 13, 2013, in Portland, Maine.

    At the sentencing hearing, Wright's attorney said her client endured a traumatic childhood in which she was the victim of sexual abuse, according to The Associated Press. A reportedly tearful Wright told the judge that she plans to work with women with histories of abuse when she's released from jail.

    "It's my intention to stand up for what is right. When I'm out, I'm going to pursue helping people fight through situations that are similar to mine. I'm optimistic that something good will come out of this," Wright said Friday, according to the AP.

    Prosecutors offered Wright a plea deal in March, under which they dropped the vast majority of the charges and allowed her to sidestep a potentially embarrassing – and costly – trial, according to the Bangor Daily News.

    Prosecutors said that Wright kept detailed ledgers showing she made $150,000 over 18 months through prostitution while simultaneously netting upwards of $40,000 in public assistance. Prosecutors are seeking restitution of $57,280, according to The Associated Press.

    Mark Strong, a 57-year-old insurance agent and Wright’s alleged business partner in the prostitution ring, was convicted of 12 counts of promotion to commit prostitution and one count of conspiracy to commit prostitution on March 6, according to NBC station WLBZ.

    Prosecutors said Strong helped Wright orchestrate a prostitution racket out of her business in Kennebunk, a tiny New England town just a short drive away from President George H.W. Bush’s summer compound.

    Strong – a married father of two – was sentenced to 20 days in prison and ordered to pay a $3,000 fine on March 21, according to WLBZ. His sentence was later reduced by five days for good behavior.

    NBC News' Matthew DeLuca contributed to this report.

    Zumba dance instructor Alexis Wright pleaded guilty to 20 counts of prostitution in a case that rocked the small seaside town of Maine.

    843 comments

    She got 10 months for being a prostitute and the guy who was basically her pimp got 20 days. Wow.

    Show more
    Explore related topics: kennebunk, zumba, alexis-wright, zumba-trial, alexis-wright-zumba
  • 1
    Mar
    2013
    8:27am, EST

    Prosecutors: Video shows Maine Zumba instructor got cash for sex

    Robert F. Bukaty / AP file

    Mark Strong Sr., seen in January in Portland, Maine.

    By David Sharp, The Associated Press

    ALFRED, Maine -- Prosecutors have shown jurors videos demonstrating that an insurance agent was familiar with paid sex acts involving his mistress, but a defense lawyer said it doesn't prove that the man promoted prostitution.

    The jury in the trial of Mark Strong Sr. watched a 45-minute video Thursday showing a sexual encounter between Zumba fitness instructor Alexis Wright and a man who left $250 cash on her massage table. 

    Testimony indicated Strong watched the sexual encounters in Kennebunk through a live video call to his office 100 miles away in Thomaston. 

    Defense lawyer Daniel Lilley contends Strong committed no crime because he neither recruited clients nor profited from the operation. 


    Follow @NBCNewsUS

    "Observing a person in a criminal act is not a criminal act itself," Lilley told reporters Thursday outside the courthouse. 

    After a week of testimony, the lead investigator, Kennebunk police officer Audra Presby, testified briefly late Thursday afternoon, and she was due to return to the witness stand on Friday. 

    Strong, 57, of Thomaston, faces 13 counts that relate to promoting prostitution. A judge previously dismissed 46 counts of invasion of privacy over prostitution clients who were said to have been videotaped without their knowledge. 

    Prosecutors have more than 150 videos but showed jurors only a single 45-minute recording Thursday that depicted Wright chatting with an older man who arrived and immediately began undressing. After their sexual encounter, she used disposable wipes to clean up, escorted the man to the door and then spoke to another man, believed to be Strong, at the other end of a Skype chat. 

    Jurors showed little reaction as they watched the sexually explicit video on a large screen. One looked away during parts of it, one fiddled with an eyeglass case, another twiddled his thumbs and several stole glances at a clock. 

    Also Thursday, computer expert Frederick Williams told jurors how he recovered a ledger from Wright's computer that described entries for sexual encounters from Oct. 5, 2010 through Feb. 13, 2012, the day before police raided her office and studio in Kennebunk and her home in Wells. 

    One ledger entry showed a payment of $500 for a sexual encounter, Williams said. 

    Williams, a Saco police detective, was able to match videotaped sexual encounters recovered from Wright's computers and hard drives with Skype video snapshots of the same encounters on Strong's computer in his Thomaston office. 

    Other videos shown to jurors indicated Wright and Strong chatted via Skype before and after her sexual encounters, discussing scheduling and birth control, among other topics. Wright provided clients' license plate numbers to Strong, who also was a private investigator. 

    Before each of the encounters, Wright took a moment to ensure the video camera was hidden. "OK, here we go. I'm locking my screen," she told Strong on one video call. 

    The prostitution scandal attracted attention last fall after it was reported that Wright's ledgers indicated she made $150,000 over 18 months. 

    Strong contends he had an affair with 30-year-old Wright and helped finance her Pura Vida dance studio in Kennebunk but didn't promote prostitution. Prosecutors contended the videos proved he was familiar with the details of Wright's business. She will be tried separately later. 

    © 2013 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

    126 comments

    Can we waste taxpayer dollars on something else?

    Show more
    Explore related topics: maine, prostitution, kennebunk, zumba, alexis-wright, mark-strong-sr
  • 25
    Feb
    2013
    6:05pm, EST

    Hundreds of Skype screenshots too sexy for Zumba trial: defense lawyer

    Robert F. Bukaty / AP file

    Mark Strong, who is accused of helping his ex-mistress run a prostitution business, wants Skype screenshots of her liaisons excluded as evidence in his trial.

    By Tracy Connor, Staff Writer, NBC News

    An insurance agent charged with helping a Zumba instructor run a prostitution business thinks X-rated images of the liaisons are too hot for the jury to handle.

    A lawyer for Mark Strong asked a Maine judge on Monday to exclude a whopping 577 Skype screenshots, arguing the prosecution wants to "drown" his client in "extremely sexual" and prejudicial evidence, the Bangor Daily News reported.


    Joel Page / AP

    Alexis Wright will go on trial in the spring for allegedly running a prostitution business out of her Zumba studio.

    "I think some of this stuff is going to horrify some of these people to the point where he won't possibly get a fair trial," defense attorney Daniel Lilley said on the fifth-day of the trial.

    Prosecutors contend the images found on Strong's computer of his ex-mistress, Alexis Wright, and a string of men show he was "actively involved" in the prostitution business.

    Strong's attorney countered at worst it shows his client is a "voyeur."

    The judge has not yet ruled on whether jurors can see the Skype shots, but signaled that she's inclined to allow them, the newspaper reported.


    Follow @NBCNewsUS

    Strong, 57, who also worked as a part-time private eye in Thomaston, Maine, faces 13 prostitution-related counts.

    Wright, 30, is charged with 106 counts for allegedly selling sex to dozens of men at her Kennebunk, Maine, dance studio and home. She will be tried later.

    A police computer expert testified Monday that Strong deleted email from his computer a day after Wright's office and home were raided, but he seized the Skype images, spreadsheets and tax documents.

    The detective returns to the stand on Tuesday, but only after the judge rules on a defense motion to throw out the remaining charges against Strong. Forty-six counts of privacy invasion have already been dismissed.

    The Associated Press contributed to this report

     

    66 comments

    Simple,just legalize the oldest profession in all 50 states and tax it.Everything else is becomin legit.

    Show more
    Explore related topics: maine, prostitution, kennebunk, zumba, alexis-wright, mark-strong
  • 29
    Jan
    2013
    6:13pm, EST

    Zumba prostitution case stalls in second week

    By Matthew DeLuca, Staff Writer, NBC News

    The all-buzz, no-bang trial of Zumba prostitution defendant Mark Strong eased to a slow grind Tuesday as Judge Nancy Mills decided to halt the trial pending an appeal of her decision to dismiss 46 counts against him.


    Follow @NBCNewsUS

    Mills decided not to proceed with the remaining 13 charges against Strong, 57, after a morning hearing, York County Superior Court director of court information Mary Ann Lynch told NBC News in an email.

    All of the 46 misdemeanor counts dropped by Mills last week were invasion of privacy charges related to allegations that Zumba instructor Alexis Wright videotaped herself having sex with clients.


    Oral arguments in the appeal will be held Feb. 13, according to a scheduling order filed Tuesday.

    The 13 remaining counts include promotion of prostitution and conspiracy to promote prostitution. Strong has pleaded not guilty to all of the charges against him.

    Strong has been accused of helping Wright, 30, run a prostitution ring out of the dance and exercise studio she operated in the town of Kennebunk, Maine. Wright has been charged with 106 counts including charges of engaging in prostitution. Wright has pleaded not guilty to the charges, and is expected to go on trial later this year.

    Accused Zumba pimp trial begins in disorder

    The judge also decided to stay jury selection on Tuesday, a process that has taken far longer than was expected.

    “This jury panel is here through the end of February,” Mills told attorneys on Tuesday, according to the Portland Press Herald. “Obviously they have not been dismissed or discharged, and depending on how the time frames of this case works, they may serve.”

    Jury selection became complicated last week, with zero jurors out of the original pool of 140 seated after four days. The proceedings were conducted behind closed doors until Thursday, when the Maine Supreme Judicial court ruled on an appeal filed by Maine Today Media, and said that the process had to be opened to the public.

    Only 39 potential jurors remain from the starting pool as of Tuesday, according to Lynch. 

    12 comments

    What a complete waste of public Judicial resources and taxpayer dollars.

    Show more
    Explore related topics: maine, kennebunk, zumba-prostitution

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