Wow, talk about being saved by a convoluted mess. A New Mexico state judge decided that a website run by a former University of New Mexico president who was accused of aiding the operation of an online prostitution ring is legal.
F. Chris Garcia (second image) and Fairleigh Dickinson University physics professor David C. Flory (third image) were part of a group busted last June for allegedly promoting prostitution through a website titled Southwest Companions. Investigators later determined that the prostitution ring included 14,000 members and 200 prostitutes.
The “service rates” ranged from $200 for any random sex act to $1,000 for a full hour, and the prostitutes were paid in cash.
The case was supposed to go before a grand jury this week, but this decision leaves prosecutors with limited options at the state level because New Mexico has no laws aimed at prostitution. However, federal laws may still sink Garcia and his partners.
[via the Huffington Post]
