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23 arrested in Central Coast prostitution sting

September 7, 2013

arrestOfficers from San Luis Obispo, Pismo Beach and Arroyo Grande police departments arrested 23 people during a three-night prostitution sting.

Police investigators placed advertisements on the internet for prostitution services to be conducted in local hotel rooms. Suspects then contacted the “prostitute,” who was actually an undercover agent. When the “John” arrived at the hotel and exchanged money for agreed upon services, undercover agents would arrest the alleged “John.”

Police also had an undercover male officer who would respond to online ads for prostitution, ask the poster to meet him in his hotel room, and when money was exchanged for the agreed upon services, the alleged prostitute was arrested.

On September 3 in Arroyo Grande, the following people were arrested:

John Franta, 51, of Grover Beach, on a charge of solicitation of prostitution

Michael Armijo, 21, of Arroyo Grande, on a charge of solicitation of prostitution

Kristina Lara, 27, of Reno, NV, on a charge of prostitution and for a warrant

Dorothy Houlden, 24, of Reno, NV, on a charge of prostitution

On September 4 in Pismo Beach, the following people were arrested:

Michael Hartman, 60, of Atascadero, on a charge of solicitation of prostitution

Julio Lopez, 34, of Santa Maria, on a charge of solicitation of prostitution

Mark Anderson, 61, of San Luis Obispo, on a charge of solicitation of prostitution

Shukla Bhargav, 27, of Paso Robles, on a charge of solicitation of prostitution

Kevin Huber, 54, of San Luis Obispo, on a charge of solicitation of prostitution

Bonnie Key, 54, of Nipomo, on charges of prostitution and possession of cocaine

Kimberly Romero, 27, of Bakersfield, on a charge of prostitution

On September 5 in San Luis Obispo, the following people were arrested:

Spencer Napier, 21, of Arroyo Grande, on a charge of possession of narcotics for sale

Ethan McCallum, 22, of Oceano, on a charge of solicitation of prostitution

Jose Velasco, 26, of Delano, on a charge of solicitation of prostitution

Jose Leon, 25, of Morro Bay, on a charge of solicitation of prostitution

Andrew Cochran, 48, of Santa Maria, on a charge of solicitation of prostitution

Joseph Goldberg, 54, of Nipomo, on a charge of solicitation of prostitution

Diana Rocha, 49, of Pismo Beach, on a charge of prostitution

Jerrica Dhaliwal, 25, of Antioch, on a charge of prostitution

Charlene Dhaliwal, 26, of Antioch, on a charge of prostitution

Nicole Dowling, 26, of Porterville, on a charge of prostitution

Nadie Estrada-Bamber, 20, of Sacramento, on a charge of prostitution

Tara Logan, 36, of San Luis Obispo, on charges of prostitution and possession of drug paraphernalia

Prostitution and the solicitation of prostitution are misdemeanor crimes.

Police said they conducted the three-night operation to dissuade prostitutes and their clients from doing business in the area and to bring the public’s attention to the hazards of prostitution.

 


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If anybody here read a newspaper they would know there was violence against prostitutes that preceded this operation. http://www.sanluisobispo.com/2013/09/06/2670715/prostitution-sting-in-slo-nets.html Paul Krugman has a nice column in today’s NY Times explaining how the right only gets stories and “news” that it wants to hear. http://www.nytimes.com/2013/09/09/opinion/krugman-the-wonk-gap.html?ref=opinion Helps explain how Turdblossom was so sure Romney would win.


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If YOU actually read the same article you cited, you would have noted the following:


“While this week’s sting was partially in response to Erwin’s alleged crimes, [Deputy District Attorney Dan] Dow doesn’t believe the stings will prevent truly violent individuals from committing a crime.


If you are going to be snarky, it’s a good idea to pay attention to detail. And I strongly advise against citing Paul Krugman as a source on how the right only gets stories and news that it wants to hear, considering that he does the EXACT same thing himself.


Either way, there were other incidents of violence unrelated to prostitution. Do you really think that a good solution is to subject these people to public humiliation, jail time, and fines in order to “protect” them? Out of all incidents of prostitution that occurred, what percentage is represented by these two incidents?


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There was no public humiliation in the Trib. Just reporting. Names posted at CCN.


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Just think how many peace officers were involved in this operation. Then ask yourself how many died or will potentially die from this. Then think about how many idiots on 46 could have been arrested for going two fold over the speed limit, and a life or lives saved (count the 46 deaths this year) from these idiot tourists who just cant wait to get back to Fresno or Bako. Then be glad to know the 3rd phase of the 46 project is $45,000,000. Yet we can afford any officers to patrol and save life’s on a Blood alley? Good job Moonbeam & Caltrans.


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So the undercover cops lead them along, promising who knows what, then bust them? Is that not Entrapment?


Think of how much money this is all going to bring into the city/county legal system. The part I had the most issues with is:

“Police said they conducted the three-night operation to dissuade prostitutes and their clients from doing business in the area and to bring the public’s attention to the hazards of prostitution.” – what HAZARD was there in any of these cases? The only HAZARD I see is that one may not get what they pay for because a “Law” enforcement employee is being dishonest.


More and more nickel and diming from LEO’s. Are there no chiefs left to stand up to this garbage? Must the police forces be reduced to petty political cash machines?


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In the days of street walking where neighborhoods were affected I could understand the crack downs but this latest stunt is utterly ridiculous. Posting adds on the internet looking for someone with a boner or trying to give them one, shame on the LE. Just legalize it.


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The .gov isn’t taxing it, so of course it is illegal.


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You might think your little statement is amusing, but it makes no sense. How is the government not taxing it? It would be taxed just like any other service business. All income from any enterprise (illegal or not) is subject to income tax and all service businesses require a business license.


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Divorce attorney stimulus package.


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Isn’t there enough real criminals for the police to arrest, than to have to create them by entrapping people. The reality is they never committed a crime because they were not soliciting real prostitutes and the act was never going to happen. It’s bogus, who knows how far the police went to entice people into this and if they would have ever done it if the cops didn’t use the tactics they did. Not sure why its even illegal. Consenting adults shouldn’t be arrested if no one is harmed. There are no victims here.


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They should bust the two johns we have on the board of Sups.


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just think of all of the bed tax (10%) that these cities will be losing. Most politicians are prostitutes in their own way, they will do anything for a vote, so I think this will all be nullified and made legal.


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What a waste of time and money. What these people want to do to get laid is their damn business. Some marriages amount to no more than prostitution. When a woman meets a man in a bar and she thinks he has money so she sleeps with him, THAT is a form of “prostitution.” We have narrowly defined it to include only people who are simply direct and honest about what they want, so that others can feel self righteous and better about themselves. Judge not lest ye be judged. I think even Ted Slanders will agree with that.


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I have one major disagreement with your statement. When prostitution is illegal, it brings in other unsavory elements — like forced prostitution, desperate druggies, etc. If it was legal, much of that would disappear. I don’t understand why society chooses to make activities that do minimal or no harm in an open setting into illegal actions that encourages the low-lives to become more involved. Is it just pandering to an irrational ideal of moral superiority by many voters or is it because they have to give the cops something to do that allows them easy victories?


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I don’t think we disagree at all, actually.


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I agree with you and what a lot of people don’t think of is the sexual diseases that are transferred.


What happens if some has AIDS or Hep C, we are just suppose to over look that part of prostitution?


And what about under age people who are run aways and decide to do this to support themselves.


I think the police did a great job getting this scum off the street for awhile.


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What happens if someone who has AIDS or Hep C and goes to the bar every night and brings home a different person? People need to accept responsibility for their own decisions. Yes, you are supposed to overlook that part of prostitution as well as most other things people choose to do. You can think of WHAT IFs and let fear drive all of your policy decisions all day long and it’s just going to create other unintended problems you didn’t think of. People need to worry about themselves and the police need to be worried about violent crimes and property crimes.


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Also, with regard to your concern for underage runaways… If prostitution was legal then these services would be readily available for people, almost eliminating the black market entirely. And THAT will remove the opportunity for under age kids to get involved.


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