FRANKLIN, Ohio -- A strip club faces charges ranging from trafficking cocaine to illegally operating a sexually oriented business, according to Warren County Prosecutor David P. Fornshell.
Fornshell on Thursday announced indictments containing 23 charges against New York New York Cabaret, two managers and one dancer.
Michael Lee Reese, 37, of Miamisburg, was indicted on two counts of trafficking cocaine, two counts of possession of cocaine, three counts of permitting drug abuse and illegally operating a sexually oriented business.
Mark G. Butterfield III, 27, of Cincinnati, was indicted on a charge of permitting drug abuse.
Courtney A. “Giselle” Rogers, 25, of Springfield, was indicted on four counts of trafficking cocaine and three counts of possession of cocaine.
“Although there have been strong suspicions for several years, through this investigation, law enforcement officers were able to directly observe significant drug trafficking and other illegal activity at New York, New York strip club. On one occasion, several customers were at the club waiting to buy cocaine,” Fornshell said.
Plain-clothes police officers started the investigation in December 2016, Fornshell said. Officers saw Reese give cocaine to Rogers, who then sold the drug to customers. At least one of these transactions happened in front of Butterfield.
Reese and New York New York Cabaret were also face misdemeanor charges of permitting nude dancing in the establishment after midnight.
Two other dancers at the strip club -- Allison “Cash” Hindy, 24, of Point Pleasant, West Virginia, and Brandi “Camden” Hatter, 21, of Franklin -- were previously charged with prostitution while working on the premises. They both pled guilty in Franklin Municipal Court earlier this year.
Reese, Butterfield and Rogers will be arraigned in Warren County Common Pleas Court.
