Aphrodite Companions Information Update

UPDATE on 13 August 2013 @6:45PM:

It appears that the case against the owners of Aphrodite Companions is closed, which of course makes no sense as there are no documents filed on this - just the notation on the docket report that the case is terminated as of 12 August 2013. The only time I see this sort of conclusion is if a case was filed in a different Circuit. Also, according to the BOP Inmate Locator, both Vincent and Melissa Lombardo are still in MDC Brooklyn with an "unknown" release date. This is some sort of game, but your guess is as good as mine as to what is really happening in the case.

Aphrodite Companions 13 August 2013 (Vincent Lombardo)

Aphrodite Companions Case Closed 13 August 2013 (Melissa Lombardo)


END OF UPDATE


I have read and reread the Aphrodite Companions Complaint numerous times. I suppose that I'm trying to analyze the situation or at least why it happened to this company specifically and perhaps that is an exercise in futility. When you think about it, the how and the why is immaterial. It is what it is, right?

Any escort business that makes the choice to operate in multiple states, or globally as Aphrodite Companions did, could be the next candidate for federal indictment. I figure it's time to discuss it as the indictment may be filed tomorrow or it could also be filed next year or never. I'm not going to sit around and theorize for that long. The feds may not be in any hurry to file that indictment, so I won't be checking PACER on a daily basis, but I usually visit to research a couple of times a week anyway and will check at that time. As of the time of this posting, the indictment has not been filed.

One issue must be stated clearly first: Detective Myles Mahady is an anti-prostitution crusader and he has extensive experience in the field. Whatever he's decided to do by filing that complaint first, you could assume that he knows what he's doing. Most federal prosecutions are by indictment and I'd venture a guess that Mahady is in the midst of a major investigation.

Some Background on Detective Myles Mahady

There is some interesting information on Mahady in the book, "Client 9: The Rise and Fall of Elliot Spitzer," and I happen to have a copy. I found it (new paperback) on sale on Amazon for under $3 around Christmas. Now (this minute) it's on sale for $3.61. Definitely worth a read if you are currently doing business in Manhattan or ever intend to.

While I did not realize it until it was brought to my attention, I know more about Mahady than any book reveals, so I'll leave the information in the book where it is and the decision to read it up to you and tell you something that I already knew. Mahady was the lead detective on the NY Confidential case. In case you are not already aware, Jason Itzler owned NY Confidential and Natalia (Natalie McLennan) was his main escort for most of the duration of that business. Her book is titled, "The Price: My Rise and Fall as Natalia, New York's #1 Escort," though it has a rather high price at the moment.

I have spent much of my spare time blogging about the Paul Bergrin prosecution and trials on the Paul Bergrin Blog this year and on my Accused Madam Blog last year. However, I have no documents from Bergrin's NY state case. Paul Bergrin was Jason Itzler's attorney when Itzler owned NY Confidential (and prior to that) and eventually pleaded to a misdemeanor count in the case just to make it go away as he faced a much worse fiasco of a prosecution in Newark. Natalie McLennan testified for the government in the last Bergrin trial.

Jason Itzler was not called as a witness in Paul Bergrin's last trial and all of Natalie's testimony was really hearsay --- Jason told me this and Jason told me that etc.... So while I considered Itzler an informant in past as a result of statements he made to news reporters, he did not testify in the Bergrin trial. Really, I think he's just a clown. Why? Well, his many statements to news reporters in past. I also blogged about Natalie McLennan during Bergrin's trial:

Tweeting from Tahiti

In the Land of Make Believe

Detective Mahady worked closely with FBI Special Agent Shawn Brokos in connection with Paul Bergrin's NY state case and held-off on filing it until the feds were ready to file the Newark indictment. Brokos is a real piece of work, but you could read more on that in:

The Blind and Unbridled Ambition of a Narcissistic FBI Agent

Back to the Aphrodite Companions Case

Take a moment to check a few names in the Bureau of Prisons Inmate Locator and you'll see that Paul Bergrin is in MDC Brooklyn. Other than one week immediately after his trial when he was vindictively transferred to Essex County Jail and separated from all of his legal papers, Bergrin has been in MDC Brooklyn for over 4 years. Guess who else is in MDC Brooklyn... Check the BOP Inmate Locator for Vincent Lombardo and Melissa Lombardo. Interesting indeed.

If you know the Lombardos, you can always write a letter, but I would not attempt to discuss the case with either of them:

Melissa Lee Lombardo - #80711-053

MDC Brooklyn

Metropolitan Detention Center

P.O. Box 329002

Brooklyn, NY 11232

Vincent Lombardo - #80712-053

MDC Brooklyn

Metropolitan Detention Center

P.O. Box 329002

Brooklyn, NY 11232

On a different note, I did some reading on The Erotic Review (TER) last night and consider the situation improved in reference to reviews since my last visit over a year ago. Perhaps the majority of explicit reviews published these days were written by law enforcement or a few idiots. I am not a member and can't access the "juicy details," but site participants do not seem to be as insanely explicit in the discussions as in past.

I did note that one person commented in numerous discussions that the Aphrodite Companions arrest could be attributed to doing business with clients in other countries and several others picked-up on that and used the "foreign commerce" statement from the complain; however, they all omit the "interstate" part of the statement. For the record, any federal indictments or complaints related to escort or prostitution businesses use the terms together.

Any conclusions as to what caused this investigation that resulted in prosecution are theories at this point. It may have been a wire transfer from Dubai to an Aphrodite account or it may simply be the interstate operation business model. It could also be enemies making police complaints - I state this after reading the "rip-off reports" by a vindictive escort or two and the statements of a complaining escort on the ECCIE forum. I have heard a variety of theories and they are all exactly that.

Mentioning the complaining escort on ECCIE, what in the world gave this woman the idea that Aphrodite Companions would pay for her attorney in her solicitation arrest? If this was some promise made by an Aphrodite representative (Pamela) as the woman claims, I can see why Melissa and Vincent Lombardo were arrested and are being prosecuted. But note that I seriously doubt any such promise was made to the complaining escort.