Cop says escorts not pressured

Police didn't pressure escorts into turning on accused pimp the accused by threatening their livelihood, a vice cop testified yesterday. Det. Mike Dulaney rejected a suggestion police tried to block the women from moving to new agencies unless they agreed to testify against the accused. And Dulaney denied allegations investigators turned a blind eye to the illegal activities of some agencies while targeting the accused's Liasons Escorts. Defence lawyer Pat Fagan quizzed the officer about why the accused business was ...

Final arguments in pimping trial delayed

The city will have to wait to hear if a judge takes it to task for its escort bylaw, which a former firefighter is arguing negates the prostitution charges he faces. On Friday, the three-week pimping trial for the accused was adjourned in Court of Queen's Bench after some legal arguments. The accused's lawyer, Pat Fagan, is asking Justice Patrick Sullivan to stay all 15 prostitution related charges against the accused, 40. The charges include living on the avails of prostitution ...

Detective admits escorts left alone

Though many licensed escort agencies obviously offer sex for cash, Calgary police refuse to prosecute for prostitution unless someone complains. That was the candid admission of veteran vice detective Gordon McCulloch, testifying at the trial of former firefighter the accused of pimping hookers while running an escort agency. McCulloch, asked how many escort agencies he’d investigated in nearly seven years on the vice squad, replied two, “including this one.” After agreeing most escort advertisements are thinly-veiled promotions for paid sex, …

Alleged pimp to argue no crime done

The city has legalized prostitution – that’s the argument being put to a judge at the pimping trial of a form Calgary firefighter that began in Court of Queen’s Bench on Monday. “Our position is he shouldn’t be charged with any of these offences because the City of Calgary has legitimized the sex trade,” said lawyer Patrick Fagan outside court on behalf of his client. “You can not be an escort unless you are employed by an escort agency, and …

Accused claims prostitution legal

Suspected pimp, the accused, was told by police and city officials that the escort industry fronted sex trade was legal, he testified yesterday. The accused told defence lawyer Pat Fagan he conducted an exhaustive investigation into the escort business to assist a friend who was setting up an agency. “Did you know what the escort business was all about?” Fagan asked his client. “Yes I did. The escort business is about sex for money,” the accused said. The former Calgary …

Escort licences mulled at trial

Calgary escorts must be fingerprinted in case they end up dead in a ditch, the city's chief licence inspector said yesterday. Mare Halat told a city pimping trial the city doesn't condone the escort industry providing sexual services to customers. But under intense questioning from a Calgary judge, Halat conceded the industry often hides acts of prostitution under the veil of a dating service. Justice Pat Sullivan queried Halat about Internet ads which the judge noted contained sexually suggestive material. ...

Definitely not your opera date

Strictly speaking, the city has not legalized prostitution. But, in licensing escort agencies, it has entered a morally compromised area. And, it should leave it. As testimony before a current court case shows, escort agencies are licensed to provide “companionship for discussion purposes.” However, a quick review of escort agency advertising will uncover no earnest promotion of the girls’ cerebral accomplishments. Instead, lonely intellectuals looking for an opera date must choose their companion from among the likes of “top heavy …

Courtroom ‘dramedy’ shows just how blind city officials choose to be

"For $50, I learned you could 'relate without getting close.' For $100, a girl would lend you her Bartok records, have dinner and then let you watch while she had an anxiety attack. For $150, you could listen to FM radio with twins." Back when he still had a sense of humour, Woody Allen penned a hilarious short story entitled The Whore of Mensa. In the above excerpt, he pokes fun at both the world's oldest profession and the real ...

Prostitute’s last known john talks

Hours before tumbling into her death from the 22nd floor of a Vancouver hotel room, a Calgary escort was selling sex for cash, a pimping trial heard yesterday. One of the last known people to see the woman, who can’t be named, said he paid her $250 for an hour of carnal pleasure. The witness, who is also protected by a wide-ranging publication ban, testified he tracked down the woman through an Internet escort advertisement. After exchange of e-mails, and ...

Man who chased attacker no vigilante, lawyer argues

CALGARY – Was [the accused] being a helpful citizen or a vigilante when he pursued a teen into a residence after the teen allegedly assaulted a man with his skateboard outside a Cochrane bar? That’s what a jury must decide. That’s what a six-man, six-woman jury now must decide. “[the accused] is here for doing what he believed to be the right thing,” defence lawyer Pat Fagan said in his final argument to the jury today. “You have to ask …

Court finds man justified in chasing teen who assaulted man

Cochrane’s [accused] was justified in chasing an assault suspect into a home, but went too far when he bashed in a bedroom door. That’s what a Calgary jury ruled late yesterday after considering whether [the accused] was entitled in law to try to make a citizen’s arrest. Jurors acquitted [the accused] 29, of the more serious charge of break and enter, but found him guilty of mischief to property. Defence lawyer Pat Fagan told justice Adele Kent he will be …

Salesman cleared in pursuit of suspect

[The accused] was justified in pursuing a teen into a residence after he allegedly assaulted a man with his skateboard outside a Cochrane pub, a jury ruled on Tuesday. But though the 29-year-old insurance broker was not guilty of breaking into the home, he was convicted of mischief for causing damage to a door inside the house. The six-man, six-woman jury deliberated for just over two hours before reaching its verdict. Defence lawyer Pat Fagan said he would seek an …

Good Samaritan acquitted of charge after chasing teen

A citizen can still be a Good Samaritan, with limits, a Calgary jury ruled April 8. [the accused], 29, was acquitted of a break and enter charge in connection with an incident when he pursued an attacker into a Cochrane home. But the jury did convict him of mischief to property. Patrick Fagan, [the accused’s] lawyer was “thrilled” with the decision: it “sends the right message to the community.” “In spite of how the police feel, people are still entitled ...

Judge sides with Good Samaritan who chased assault suspect

[A] would-be Good Samaritan won’t have a criminal record for breaking a door while chasing an assault suspect into a home. Justice Adele Kent yesterday said [the accused] believed he was “doing the right thing,” when he pursued a skateboarder into a private residence. A jury in April found [the accused], 30, guilty of mischief for damaging a door behind which Tyler Hoekstra took refuge. Jurors acquitted [the accused] of a more serious charge of break and enter, ruling he ...

Suspect acquitted: Scientific evidence bolsters defence

Science won out over sensory perception yesterday when a Calgary jury acquitted a robbery suspect. Four eyewitnesses linked RMM to the scene of the crime, but DNA evidence said he wasn't there. RMM was charged with the Dec. 7, 1996, armed robbery of Vladimir Gaca. Gaca testified that a fare put a handgun to his head and demanded cash. During an ensuing struggle, Gaca was pistol-whipped and was cut, before wresting the gun from his attacker and striking back. Gaca ...

Rash of fraud charges laid

Mounties have laid 47 fraud-and theft-related charges against a local financial consultant accused of bilking investors out of more than $300,000. Police said that between Oct. 31 and Aug. 16 , the man who worked for Investors Group, forged portfolio statements and misappropriated $335,000 from eight victims. "One of the allegations is (the accused) requested a client write him a personal cheque, which is against Investors Group procedure," said Wayne Alford, director of enforcement for the Alberta Securities Commission which ...

Fraud artist gets house arrest

A former Calgary financial consultant will not have to go to jail after admitting he bilked eight of his clients out of $280,579. Provincial court Judge Frank Maloney handed the accused a conditional sentence of two years less a day on Monday on one count each of fraud and uttering a forged document. Maloney imposed the sentence after hearing arguments from defence lawyer Patrick Fagan and Crown prosecutor Jane McLellan. The accused, 45, originally facing 47 charges involving 17 clients, …

Financial adviser’s sentencing delayed

Sentencing arguments have been delayed until Oct. 14 for a Calgary financial consultant who bilked at least 17 investors of more than $335,000. Provincial court Judge Frank Maloney agreed with a joint application by Crown prosecutor Jane McLennan and defence lawyer Patrick Fagan to adjourn the case in order to have a pre-sentence report completed. The accused, 45 — originally charged with 47 counts of fraud, theft and uttering forged documents — pleaded guilty earlier this year to one count …

Financial consultant makes court appearance

A Calgary financial consultant who has been charged with bilking investors out of more than $335,000 made a brief appearance in court on Friday. Commercial crime investigators with the Calgary RCMP allege the accused, 44, misappropriated cash and forged numerous portfolio statements within a one-year period. The accused faces 47 charges of fraud and theft under the Criminal Code. At least 17 people are alleged to have been scammed. An agent for defence lawyer Patrick Fagan asked a provincial court …

Fund salesman faces 47 counts of bilking clients

A Calgary financial consultant who has been charged with bilking more than $335,000 from unsuspecting investors will face a tribunal of his peers in February. Commercial crime investigators with the Calgary RCMP allege the accused misappropriated the cash and forged numerous portfolio statements within a one-year period. He faces 47 charges of fraud and theft under the Criminal Code. The Alberta Securities Commission has also commenced administrative proceedings against the accused and will decide in February whether to revoke his ...