UPDATE: Kennebunk (ME) Prostitution Case

4-5-13
Mark Strong Sr. was released from jail today, five days before the end of his 20 day sentence.  Would you, or I, get this kind of special treatment. What gives?????  I realize that “criminals” get time deducted for good behavior, however, this case had a smell to it from the beginning. Did Strong have more on them than they did on him? Was there selective prosecution and double standard of justice in this case?

4-2-13

Alexis Wright, her attorney Sarah Churchill, and York County prosecutors have been meeting in negotiations behind closed doors. Wright has pleaded not guilty to 106 counts, including several felony counts, the most serious of which is punishable by up to 10 years in prison.

On Friday, March 29th, Wright pleaded guilty to 20 charges that she worked as a prostitute for more than a year and a half in her Kennebunk Zumba studio.

Wright was ordered to pay $57,000 in fines and restitution to the state.

The deal reached Friday did not include an agreement on jail time. Prosecutors are recommending Wright serve 10 months in jail. She is due to be sentenced May 31.

In return for the guilty pleas, prosecutors reduced three felony charges for federal tax and state welfare violations to misdemeanors. Atty. Churchhill stated “The hard part in this case is, there’s a whole lot more to this story. Just because the story doesn’t come out in the criminal case doesn’t mean it won’t come out. There’s obviously a backstory to why this all started and why it went on for as long as it did and whether my client wanted it to happen.”

“The lead prosecutor in the case, York County Deputy District Attorney Justina McGettigan, said Wright’s plea does not end the case. So far, 66 of more than 140 people in Wright’s records have been charged. Police put charges against others on hold while the cases against Wright and Strong dominated their attention. It remains to be seen, of the others, how many will be charged.”

How does a federal income tax alleged violation get prosecuted in Maine Superior Court and minimized to a misdemeanor?

People are still questioning if the DA made the deal so the other prominent names do not become public. They wonder why the Press Herald or the News Media have never gone after that list. 

Update of 2-14-13 Freedom of Access requests. FOIA – clarification, February 7, 2013

FOIA response from D.A. Kathryn Slattery, dated February 14, 2013 claiming the remaining suspects have not been charged.

Is there a smell to this? Did Strong have more on the Kennebunk PD than they had on him?

Read the complete compilation here: http://unmasker4maine.wordpress.com/category/kennebunk-prostitution-case/