In 2003, a criminal investigation began in Seattle known as "Strippergate" focusing on strip clubs owned by Frank Colacurcio, Sr. and his son, Frank Colacurcio Jr. According to Orwall, at least one dancer was fired for organizing last year. Its one of those wood-burl tables, for sale for $600. Still, he spends nearly every day at Talents West, the cramped, cluttered Lake City hiring headquarters for the clubs. The government seized the properties, including Sugar's, in 2010. best 10mm semi auto rifle. For Jane, she would feel much more comfortable advocating for herself and her fellow dancers by saying these kinds of things in meetings if she knew there would be no professional ramifications. "But theres so many rules that council members need to know." The King County prosecutor at the time determined that Wills was naive and there was no wrong-doing on her part. [9] In various recorded conversations, the Colacurcios and their associates dissuaded dancers and managers from reporting acts of prostitution and repeatedly returned dancers who were arrested for and caught in acts of prostitution back to the clubs. Frank Colacurcio, Sr., ran a strip-club empire and was depicted as a sort of Godfather of the Pacific Northwest. "He gives me advice on what shoes to wear.". [1], In the 1960s, Colacurcio acquired more interests in restaurants and nightclubs. She had hosted a campaign fundraising event after the Land Use Committee vote and "Al Rosellini came and added a stack of checks to what was already a stack of checks. A federal grand jury indictment unsealed today charges FRANK COLACURCIO, SR, his son FRANK COLACURCIO, JR, and four of their close associates with a Racketeering Influenced Corrupt Organization (RICO) scheme to promote prostitution at the strip clubs they operate in the greater Seattle area. "We've always been very close; he's always given me advice on everything," he says. Topless joints are cash operations and Frank learned quickly how to skim off the top, avoiding taxes. Colacurcio strongly denied it. Rather than marry, hed do the time, and did: two years for carnal knowledge. ), Despite his nearly lifelong battles with the law and local crusaders, Franks empire thrives. He finds him in a hotel room and, five stories up, opens the window and holds the guy out over the street by his neck. Male writers, anyway. In consideration of Franks perceived dotage, a judge gave him just 30 months and a $10,000 fine; Frankie got three years, with all but six months suspended, and was fined $10,000. "In adult entertainment, the beat goes on.". Each year, existing club owners like Deja Vu's Roger Forbes donated to the council around the time when the moratorium was being voted on. With this final sentencing, the government will move to take control of the Ricks, Sugars and Talents West properties and put them up for sale. The proceeds of the sales will go to the U.S. Treasury. I talked with Frank Colacurcio Jr. to see what he recalled from the 16-year-old event. Owner of 1-800-DRIVEWAY in the 203 area code. When Will Seattle Get Police Alternatives? The guys wiggling and screaming and saying, Dont drop me, I got the money, Ill give it back! Kinney believes the Colacurcios have no connection to East Coast crime families but are "their own variant of organized crime" - a notion Colacurcio has long scoffed at. Frank will be 82 if and when he gets out by 1999. . [9] In April 2010, Colacurcio Sr.'s nephew Leroy Richard Christiansen along with club manager Steven Michael Fueston, Colacurcio Sr.'s close associate David Carl Ebert, and Colacurcio Sr.'s driver John Gilbert Conte all pleaded guilty to prostitution and racketeering. The gas station and the car wash next door, owned by Albert D. Rosellini, the former Washington state governorand the lawyer who had represented Colacurcio Sr. on a rape charge back in the 40shad a strip of parking to spare. Hello, and welcome to Strippergate 101, a history lesson. This agreem is binding At Franks trial in 1971, a nightclub owner testified he once paid Colacurcio $3,000 a month for police protection. Frank Kinney, who tracked the Colacurcios and their associates for years but was never able to deal the blow that would knock them out. Colacurcio Jr. was fed up with the zoning laws and the city council not listening to his business's pleas. Colacurcio, who died in 2010, was the owner of strip clubs Sugar's in Shoreline and Rick's in Lake Forest Park. Theyll try to make sure they rack up a lot of back rent and are in debt to the club, Jane said. It ended much like it began-with some girl calling the cops. [3] Colacurcio later worked as a butcher, farm hand, truck driver, and pulp mill worker. ", First of all, Jane told me, I think if someone is blacklisted from a club they would be embarrassed to sue the clubmost of our customers are married men. And even the road to that progress is difficult for dancers who see these improvements, while necessary, as merely scratching the surface in an industry that many are desperate to change in bigger, more sweeping ways. The pinball industry in particular was loaded with competitive violence: Five car bombings linked to the pinball battles occurred in the early 1960s, but police never solved them. Having too much back rent is an easy excuse to fire a dancer. Frank Francis Jr. is called Frankie. If a dancer doesnt make enough to pay off the house rent, they basically get an IOU from the club, an amount that the manager on duty sets seemingly arbitrarily. When Jane spoke out about workplace issues last year the club retaliated in sneaky ways. She told the officers Frank had sexually attacked her during a visit to his family home in Bellevue. Frankie doesn't deny that he often turns to his father for advice. As a result, Babes, like the well-patrolled Papagayos, went you-know-what up. Still, after all the money Colacurcio earned - his 1993 divorce records listed more than $2 million in assets - he hardly lives in luxury. Frank Colacurcio Jr. agreed to a one-year prison . The investigation focused on Frank Sr, Frank Jr., and former Washington Governor Albert Rosellini for bribing members of the Seattle City Council. Wills even told The Stranger, almost laughing, that, "The Dej Vu guy [Forbes] maxes out to every council member every year, right around the moratorium. The first time, 1943, Frank was 25 and the girl, 16. . In 2003, a criminal investigation began in Seattle known as " Strippergate " focusing on strip clubs owned by Frank Colacurcio, Sr. and his son, Frank Colacurcio Jr. Crime family based in Seattle, Washington, Frank Colacurcio Sr., Seattle's legendary organized-crime figure, dies at 93, Everett strip club a front for brothel, feds say, Strip club sting foreshadows possible federal charges, Colacurcio Sr., five others indicted on a charge of conspiracy and racketeering, "Frank Colacurcio Jr. gets prison term, $1.3M fine", "Frank Colacurcio Jr. The few female reporters who encountered him then had a less kindly view: Frank was lecherous, even dangerous-drawbacks that male writers tended to overlook during happy hour. I feel [that] Frankie-if he had to run it and his father wasnt around-I dont think hes capable of doing it. For additional information please contact Emily Langlie, Public Affairs Officer for the United States Attorneys Office, at (206) 553-4110. The key to a good business, he says, is consistency. Ann Forbes, also of Consolidated, maxed out to Wills in the spring of 2001. While clubs are required to make changes, the laws are still going through the rule-making process with Washington State Labor & Industries and many clubs are waiting until those rules are finalized to implement blacklists and panic buttons. The U.S. Senate Rackets Committee ordered Frank to show up for its hearings on organized crime back in the late 1950s after Frank was accused of threatening bodily harm to four Seattle businessmen for not buying into his operation. He says he plays cards, dabbles in real estate and gives advice to his son and other associates who run the strip joints. In 2008, local police and federal agents raided Colacurcio's home and business. Millions of dollars, several prison terms and dozens of headlines later, what's most striking about Frank Colacurcio Sr. is what he's not: ominous, regretful or totally retired. Jane said that the clubs are worried theyll get sued by customers. In 2008, local police and federal agents raided Colacurcio's home and business. Frank, today bespectacled, gray hair thinning, a bit heavier at 200 pounds, is in reasonably good health as he heads toward his 80th birthday next June-although his doctor, Dr. Frank Gleeson, says Frank has polycythemia rubra vera, a condition that can lead to thrombophlebitis, or blood clotting. Junior, 48, pleaded guilty to a racketeering-conspiracy charge in June 2010. Frank Colacurcio. Forbes contributed $600 to Wills in the spring of 2001. Frank Colacurcio, Sr., 93, remains the sole defendant in the RICO case. But there have been several meetings with the adult entertainment advisory committee. Granted, it was on a snow day for Seattle Public Schools and most dancers couldnt find childcare, Cole said. "I did not know what they were. Three rows behind her sat Frank Colacurcio, Jr., a friend of Dadi's and onetime heir . I waited in line with two friends-both female-outside the popular Nitelite, often crowded beyond capacity. COLACURCIO, JR. agreed to forfeit $1.3 million in cash, all interest in the strip clubs and related property worth more than $6 million, and a $1.7 million property at 8600 Lake City Way which houses the Colacurcio company Talents West. COLACUCIO, JR. was sentenced to one year and a day in prison as called for in the plea agreement signed in June 2010. "Not until I'm in the grave.". [3][6][7][8] The strip clubs owned by Colacurcio were being used as fronts for brothels. The pay can be good, $100 a day and up to $300 on a great day, mostly in tips. Cole was one of the original dancers who took her complaints and vision for change to the Seattle City Council around two years ago. The divorce settlement left her with several properties in addition to the Poulsbo house and $3,000 a month, but she says she is hardly living in luxury. That's been my one drawback. In 2010-2011, a massive FBI crackdown completely crippled their entire organization. Frank appealed his conviction, and in the meantime, in 1974, was found guilty in a second tax evasion case. gs, conclusions and a eements will be bin' upon the Parties, th . Francis Colacurcio Sr. (June 18, 1917 - July 2, 2010) [1] was an American mobster and boss of the Seattle crime family known for running strip clubs in Seattle, Washington. Wills was fined $1,500 for not disclosing her Rossellini meeting on the record. frank colacurcio construction. In front of us, a big man began drunkenly banging on the door, tired of waiting. The final defendant in the case, Frank Colacurcio, Jr., 48, of Seattle, Washington, and MM MR RM Corporation will be sentenced September 24, 2010. "None will last if not run properly.". [4] In the 1970s, Colacurcio met with Bonanno crime family member Salvatore "Bill" Bonanno in Yakima, WA to discuss a business relationship. Frank Colacurcio Jr., 47, of Seattle, is the heir to his father's strip club empire, which has waned in recent years as cities have restricted nude dancing. Not all clubs use back rent, according to Frank Colacurcio Jr. (Yes, that Frank Colacurcio Jr. ), whothough banned from running strip clubs in Washingtonis a consultant for Kittens Cabaret. What is he, 100, 150 years old? A bill partially unwinding a 2021 policing reform clears the Legislature. He did four years, got out in 1985, and went right back at it, hiding his interests through frontmen and continuing to pocket untaxed profits. Frank Colacurcio, Sr. died in June 2010, still under indictment for the RICO conspiracy. (She got the Lincoln, the $350,000 house in Kitsap County, stocks, and other property. We've all done things that weren't right up to kosher.". At the time Strippergate had happened, Wills had been a city council member for five years. Barnett.) But hey, Franks a macho guy. We dont know anything, we tell her. I feel like Frankie, if he had to run it and his father wasn't around, I don't think he's capable of doing it.". Each year, they voted to extend it. He also got a reprimand from his exs lawyers for the bad habit of lying to a judge: Clearly, says an entry in court papers, the respondent [Frank] did not make a forthright and candid disclosure of his assets and financial affairs. In his 1974 federal court tax-evasion trial, Colacurcio conceded he had interests in a number of establishments but said he often kept his interests secret to avoid being denied liquor licenses by the state Liquor Control Board. With money earned from these businesses, Colacurcio started investing in bars, restaurants, and clubs. He received this advice from Rick's attorney Gilbert H. Levy, who was friends with and received guidance from Rossellini, according to the Seattle Weekly. This was Franks favorite place. He stroked it like a golf club on the customers head and back. Coming up in Bellevue, Washington, he grew up during the so-called "rackets era," where drugs, gambling, prostitution and corruption ensnared businessmen, government officials and police alike. That must have put a crimp in those father-son picnics. "I have no way of knowing," he says. [10] In June 2010, Colacurcio Jr. pleaded guilty to a racketeering and conspiracy. But it wasnt until 1971 that he was first convicted of racketeering-conspiracy and importing illegal bingo cards into Washington-and served two years in federal prison. A nightclub owner testified he paid Colacurcio $3,000 a month for police protection. COLACURCIO, JR. agreed to forfeit $1.3 million in cash, all interest in the strip clubs and related property worth more than $6 million, and . Robert Payton a.k.a "Bobby" - Right-hand man of Frank Sr. He was a stocky rock of a man, 5-7, 180 pounds, a fisherman when he wasnt angling for money and women, who flashed a well-practiced angelic smile. As part of his plea agreement, FRANK COLACURCIO, JR. is barred from participating in any adult entertainment enterprise in the State of Washington for the three year term of supervised release which will follow his prison sentence. I was among those who talked with Colacurcio back in his more expansive days. A report issued by the State Patrol Organized Crime Unit to law-enforcement agencies in 1979 alleged that Colacurcio controlled a crime group operating topless taverns and other businesses in the state. He was 93. In the end, crime never pays, and the results of this investigation prove that.. Mostly, she wants the clubs to believe women. They sized up their odds, took a deep breath, and pleaded guilty. Among . If passed, the property tax levy will help fund behavioral health infrastructure in the region. 2003 epilogue: Frank Colacurcio Sr. was eventually released from prison, is retired, lives in Seattle, and fishes in Alaska regularly. Which he did. Besides nude dancing and doing time, their common interests apparently include a longing for females. Dont hit me no more, the guy pleaded, crying. The indictments alleged Colacurcio Sr . It is unaltered from its original form. Frankie lives with his wife and 14-year-old daughter in Arlington, Snohomish County, drives a 1991 Corvette and collects muscle . The Seattle crime family, also known as the Colacurcio crime family[1][2][3] or Seattle Mafia, is a crime family based in Seattle, Washington. A federal grand jury indictment unsealed today charges FRANK COLACURCIO, SR, his son FRANK COLACURCIO, JR, and four of their close associates with a Racketeering Influenced Corrupt Organization . Yet he is consistently vague about how many dancers he employs and how many clubs he runs. He dresses in golf shirts and a simple gold chain and drives a used Lincoln worth $1,500. So were talking, and this woman comes up and starts looking at the coffee table between us. facts management parent login. She would also like to change restrictive zoning laws and end prohibition in clubs across the state (it is illegal to consume alcohol in Washington strip clubs.). Legally theyre not allowed to retaliate, Jane explained. No problem, said the judge. I dont want them to feel like they cant speak.. Frankie holds down the Lake City fort of Talents West, Franks longtime dancer-recruiting agency where girls looking for waitressing jobs usually wind up disrobing for male customers in nudie joints. Frankie lives with his wife and 14-year-old daughter in Arlington, Snohomish County, drives a 1991 Corvette and collects muscle cars as a hobby. project zomboid . "It's not for lack of trying," says former vice-unit supervisor for King County Police, Sgt. In 1981, Junior testified as a hostile government witness "I look at Frank Colacurcio as my dad, my friend and a very special person." They were in separate prisons, notes a Seattle detective. Oftentimes, thats through back rent. Business was too good and they couldn't fit all their patrons in their lot. Still, he professes to not even know a ballpark figure of either his income or his net worth. This is where the women are. "And they say theres no greater teacher than experience.". Says a former Colacurcio employee today: I dont know about the cars, but we used dynamite caps on [rivals] slot machines. Media attention became rampant. In 2003, law enforcement launched a criminal investigation in the Seattle area known as "Strippergate. Frankie pleaded guilty to a single felony tax charge. All except Frank Sr. reached plea deals with the government resulting in his four remaining clubs being . As president of his dads company and combined interests, Talents West and Huns Entertainment of Seattle, Frank Jr. finds himself facing the same nagging problems as Frank Sr.: cops, moralists, probation officers, and zoning laws. He liked the setting, the quiet. Although Colacurcio never testified, Committee Counsel Robert F. Kennedy did question him about his alleged racketeering activities in Seattle. "Some people would call it extravagant," the younger Colacurcio says of his lifestyle. For less than a million dollars, you can own the home of deceased organized crime boss, Frank Colacurcio. In 1959, Colacurcio was subpoenaed by the U.S. Senate Rackets Investigating Committee to testify in a nationwide probe of the coin-machine industry. "[7] The investigation focused on Frank Sr, Frank Jr., and former Washington Governor Albert Rosellini for bribing members of the Seattle City Council. July 2, 2010. The Strippergate scandal was first broken by the North Seattle Star, now-defunct Lake City paper. "I never pay attention," he says every time he's asked. Whack, whack! Frank said no way! Which is not to say that the story of Frank Colacurcio, 79, Seattles next-best thing to a criminal godfather, has necessarily reached its final chapter. Other Colacurcio brothers had run-ins with the law. Everyone calls Frank Francis Colacurcio Sr. just plain Frank. "The majority of the attention we got wasn't deserved.". I freaked out, she said. "I've never been an extravagant person," he says, quickly adding, "I have what I desire.". In declining health, Colacurcio died at the age of 93 of heart failure, on July 2, 2010, at the University of Washington Medical Center in Seattle;[1] he was buried at Acacia Memorial Park in Lake Forest Park. This was a big disappointment to the head of the party, who was Franks old friend. I saw another side one night in the late 1970s. One of the main sticking points for the clubs is the customer blacklist that would ban bad acting customers. Seattle, it turns out, has a storied and very puritanical past when it comes to strip clubs, and The Stranger had a wealth of articles on the subject for me to dig into. In the early 1990s, Colacurcio pleaded guilty to tax fraud at strip clubs he ran in Alaska and was sentenced to two and a half years in prison. One day were sitting in the lobby of the Lake Quinault Lodge, by a big fireplace, talking business, says a former employee. In 1991, Frank Sr. and Frankie were back in court. Nicholas Furfaro a.k.a "Nick" - Nightclub manager, known member since 1963 and high ranking member. Writers liked him. For the fifth time in 52 years, Frank went off to prison. The moratorium gave Seattle's existing strip clubs "a lock on the market" and "a competitive lock on the dancers," according to Stranger reporting from the time. Colacurcio strongly denied it. Not surprising, Frank and his busy cash registers caught the eye of authorities. I talked with Frank Colacurcio Jr. to see what he recalled from the 16-year-old event. According to Jane, in the months after the bill was passed, she spent a night consoling a 19-year-old dancer who had been assaulted in a VIP room. Bill was convicted in 1980 of racketeering and gambling in New Orleans. It is headed to Gov. "How do you define criminal?" The city needs an experienced council member, Wills said. And no fishing trip. "At some point, the issue was brought up that no ones going to look at [the lot]," Colacurcio Jr. said, declining to say who told him this. For decades, his name conjured up a seamy underworld of handshake deals, bare-breasted women and bundles of cash. Besides nude dancing and doing time, their common interests apparently include a longing for females. His appeal on the first tax conviction failed, however, and Frank went off to the federal lockup. Some in law enforcement believe Colacurcio's time in prison opened the door to competition, and today the Detroit-based Deja Vu chain has the edge on the number of local strip clubs. Susan Byrnes, Katherine Long, Louis T. Corsaletti. It was finally ended in 2007, but during that 18-year period no new strip clubs could be operated in Seattle. Former Councilmember Mike OBrien referred her to Working Washington which jumpstarted this whole thing. In some cases he owns the property; in others he works as a "consultant.". Cole would like to make it illegal. He's been banned from working in the adult entertainment industry for life and said he is currently a "consultant" for a strip club called Kittens Cabaret in Georgetown. Brutal spasms aside, Frank never quite made the criminal big time. He says his one indulgence is his boat, a 38-foot Bertram called 4PLAY, worth about $80,000. Federal agents say the three men, along with Colacurcio, Sr.,93,and Frank Colacurcio, Jr., 48,conspired to force club dancers to sell sex in order to pay hefty payments to club managers and keep . In the following years Colacurcio continued to expand his strip-club business. The indictment further details how credit card machines and ATMs were used to facilitate the prostitution and how the proceeds of prostitution were laundered through various bank accounts. The other boys joined in, eventually setting up an office in Seattle. Mr. Colacurcio had been in declining health for some time, suffering from congestive heart failure. Their old pal, an ex-con named Gilbert Kapuha Pauole Jr., to whom they had loaned $200,000 to start up the clubs, had skimmed the profits at the direction of Frank and Frankie. And despite his highly publicized trials and convictions, Franks sentences havent been necessarily harsh-he got only 30 months in prison and five years probation for the 1991 conviction because the judge figured Frank was a harmless old man. [5], In 1943, Colacurcio was convicted for having sex with an underage girl. You light the fuse and then just slap the cap onto the underside of the machine and walk out. The brothers later sold the coin-op business when the city refused to re-license them, but it didnt end there. Frank Colacurcio Sr., 92, left, and John Gilbert "Gil" Conte enter the federal courthouse in Seattle on Friday for arraignment on racketeering charges. Immigrating first to New York, William followed other relatives to Seattle and became a hard-working truck farmer in South King County. COLACURCIO, JR. agreed to forfeit the Talents West building at 8600 Lake City Way, admitting it was used as part . FRANK COLACURCIO JR, 48, and corporate defendant MM MR RM CORPORATION were sentenced today in U.S. District Court in Seattle for conspiracy to commit RICORacketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations. He dropped out of school before completing the eighth grade and started a produce-hauling business. Frank was breaking up with laughter when the unknowing politico raced up to the bar and ordered more drinks for me and my girl. As Bob Payton, Franks personnel director (and house-sitter when Franks off doing time) said in court last year, the young job seekers regularly tell him, I have no money, Im broke, my boyfriend left me, my husband beat me, Im on welfare, can I get paid under the table-things like that. Frankies plea bargain in the 1991 case allowed him to continue running the current six topless clubs (neither he nor anyone at Talents West returned calls or would comment for this story). Two of Franks other brothers, Patrick and Daniel, also pleaded guilty to criminal charges connected to the Phoenix and Tucson topless operations. By 1962, Colacurcio had an interest in several bars, restaurants or nightclubs, including a beer garden at the World's Fair, and had brought topless dancing to Seattle. In a manner that history has not publicly recorded, the farm business evolved into a coin-operated machine business. In court, the judge looked down and saw a much younger Frank this time. For example, Levy contributed $600 to Heidi Wills on April 27, 2001; the moratorium was renewed on April 30, 2001. The corporations and three of the individual defendantsLeroy Richard Christiansen, 68, of Seattle, Washington, David Carl Ebert, 62, of Monroe, Washington and Steven Michael Fueston, 62, of Tacoma, Washingtonare barred from operating any adult entertainment business in Washington State for the next five years. In 1957,[2] he was subpoenaed to testify before the U.S. Senate Rackets Committee. Last year, strippers (also called dancers) organized with Working Washington to get their concerns about the industrya highly regulated mess that has created a virtual monopoly in the stateheard by legislators. But the dancers often arrive needy and vulnerable. Colacurcio, the eldest son in a family of eight children, was convicted of "carnal knowledge" with a 16-year-old girl. Hes one good-lookin broad! He was self-employed for many years. Still, in divorce papers filed in 1993, Frankie's mother, Jackie - Colacurcio Sr.'s wife of 36 years - said she believed her ex-husband was still running the show. public synchronized void methodint i string msg. That mentality seemed to be at play in a much larger issue: A strip club moratorium that had been in place since 1988.
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