my worst nightmare

[josephga]

Well the worst has happen. I was raided. I have been charged with operating a business with no license, locks on the front door, must have a health certificate posted. no list of employees, keeping of records, no separate enter or exit . i havent a clue what too do court date is september the 9th. without this job im screwed.

[BgMstr4u]

I am so sorry to hear this. My only suggestion is to get a really good lawyer asap. There must be some folks on here in Atlanta who would have some good suggestions.

I know we'll all be thinking of you.

[Kevin Slater]

My only suggestion is to get a really good lawyer asap.

 

It will likely be an unpleasant journey from here to resolution, but how you fare will largely depend on your legal representation. Ask people you trust for recommendations and be sure you feel comfortable with whom you hire. It is still a sad fact that those who can afford good lawyers make it out of these situations far better than those who cannot.

 

Kevin Slater

[Romann]

Oh gosh guy! I'm SO sorry to hear about this. I'm going to make some calls to a few lawyers in the next few minutes that I know who may have some contacts in your area with the hopes that they have some serious contacts. If I am able to dig anything up, I will surely get in touch with you through private message.

 

Is there any way that you can have the court appearance delayed till you're properly staffed with an attorney that has some major guns under their belt?

 

I wish you the best of luck and will be thinking of you through this difficult time. Chin up, stay positive and work your contacts as someone out there should be able to help you.

 

We're a large family and should help one another out!

[josephga]

I have no money for a lawyer. I have 1500.00 to my name. iv had to cancel all bookings due to fear of taking them. im 17.000 in credit card debt due to medical problems and have no car. if i could get a car i could do out calls. plus theres my rent other bills. this is what went down. guy calls book a therapeutic massage. he called yesterday. today at 10 am he shows up. I do the massage 100% by the book. {thank god} he tells me if the phone rings its his wife and he must take it. 45 minutes into the massage his cells go off.{ guess it was the cops} he tells the person pretending too be his wife that he is leaving publex where in claimed to work in 10 minutes. he asked me to remove the massage lotion with the steam towels. he said rates 75 i said yes he said here 105. he dressed shock my hand. soon as the door closed i get the knock. its the cops saying joe we need to talk about what just went down. they came in and i was given 5 tickets. one for having locks on the door, must have a inter and separate exit, keeping of records, list of employees even though its just me, health certificate. i wasnt charged with massage or escorting or anything just what i listed here. all i know is im broke and just want to die right now

[+ Lucky]

All in all, these look like minor civil violations. The fines you might have to pay could be less than the cost of a lawyer. I do think that you should talk to lawyer. He might advise you on how to proceed on your own to settle the matter. One thing to remember, lawyers cannot undo the evidence of a crime. If you got caught red-handed, the best he can do is to try to mitigate the situation.

 

Having said all of that, I too am sorry to see that this happened to you.

[Guest greatness]

Have you considered filing for unemployment benefits?

 

I'm really sorry to hear that. Are you eligible to file for unemployment benefits?

 

 

I have no money for a lawyer. I have 1500.00 to my name. iv had to cancel all bookings due to fear of taking them. im 17.000 in credit card debt due to medical problems and have no car. if i could get a car i could do out calls. plus theres my rent other bills. this is what went down. guy calls book a therapeutic massage. he called yesterday. today at 10 am he shows up. I do the massage 100% by the book. {thank god} he tells me if the phone rings its his wife and he must take it. 45 minutes into the massage his cells go off.{ guess it was the cops} he tells the person pretending too be his wife that he is leaving publex where in claimed to work in 10 minutes. he asked me to remove the massage lotion with the steam towels. he said rates 75 i said yes he said here 105. he dressed shock my hand. soon as the door closed i get the knock. its the cops saying joe we need to talk about what just went down. they came in and i was given 5 tickets. one for having locks on the door, must have a inter and separate exit, keeping of records, list of employees even though its just me, health certificate. i wasnt charged with massage or escorting or anything just what i listed here. all i know is im broke and just want to die right now

[josephga]

I wonder if I could change my ads too free massage and let people just tip money. since i wont be asking for a rate

[MsGuy]

I've tried to post to this thread 3 times, but everything I could think to say just seemed come out trite or stupid. You've always struck me as one of the good guys here. I'm sorry you're having to go through this and hope that things will work out better than you anticipate.

 

You might want to call some others in the business and find out if this is part of a general crackdown on massage therapists or if it's only you. Possibly someone has a friend or client who can find out from the cops what the hell is going on.

 

Edit: Lucky's post makes sense. On the face of it, these are just minor business code citations. Go find out Atlanta's massage regulations, cure the violations and maybe pay a small fine. Still that seems like an awful lot of effort for the cops to go through to write a few business code tickets. For that matter, why were the cops there instead of whatever city inspector that normally handles code enforcement? If I were Joseph, I'd want to know whether this is the end of it or whether the cops are giving him a warning that next time they will set up a massage with extras. The former is nothing to lose sleep over; the latter puts him out of business and creates a particularly awkward to explain criminal record.

[Romann]

Good advice but at the same time, I think speaking with a lawyer would be good because he might be able to get some free advice on how to proceed whether that be on his own or with council. I would hate to see someone go into the court room blindly when more could have been done.

 

All in all, these look like minor civil violations. The fines you might have to pay could be less than the cost of a lawyer. I do think that you should talk to lawyer. He might advise you on how to proceed on your own to settle the matter. One thing to remember, lawyers cannot undo the evidence of a crime. If you got caught red-handed, the best he can do is to try to mitigate the situation.

 

Having said all of that, I too am sorry to see that this happened to you.

[Romann]

That's a good question but before doing that I think you should talk to a lawyer about it first as you don't want to draw additional attention to you and risk getting into further trouble.

 

Hang in there.

 

I wonder if I could change my ads too free massage and let people just tip money. since i wont be asking for a rate

[josephga]

yeah i had a guy due here at 12 pm i canceled the appointment. i tried calling him and the phone acted funny, then the second time a woman answered so i told her i had the wrong number. he called 15 minutes b4 the appointment asking again for the building number and i canceled the session. anyone can help me financially please feel free to pvt i need anything i can get.. its been a horrible day my best friend attempted suicide last night over the break up of his 8 year relationship and is currently being held for observation in a mental ward

[+ Travis69]

I would try to find out why it happened first. General crack down? Complaint from neighbor? Complaint from landlord? Complaint from customer you pissed off? Advertised in a place that triggered a complaint? If it is a general crack down you could see regulars who you trust. Find it strange the "client" gave you $105.00 on a $75.00 massage. Is it important the money changing hands was over $100.00??

[josephga]

all the tickets i have are for not following laws, ticket 1, door locks, doors cant be locked during business hours. ticket 2.. entrance, exit code 7-252

ticket 3. keeping of records, ticket 4, no list of employees , ticket 5 health certificate required. there's no police report. just copies of these tickets. the police told me i was busted through the craiglist and they have seen my home page.

[MsGuy]

I Find it strange the "client" gave you $105.00 on a $75.00 massage.

 

I also found that odd. Maybe the client was in fact unconnected to the cops. Even if they were pokeing around to find guys who would volenteer an offer of extras, the tip makes no sense. Cops have to account for any cash used in a sting operation.

[josephga]

when i gave the money back they even had a paper in their hands with a scan of the money. they looked to make sure i had given it all back and matched those bills

[josephga]

i found it odd he let me do all of the massage except for the last 15 minutes. release was never mentioned.. i was fully clothed for the whole massage, he never talked much other than saying his wife could call..

[KMEM]

Is this a total scam? You may not be the "real" target and there is the possibility these cops were not real or were off duty. You need some expert advice and friendly advice is what you find here but not expert.

 

Best regards,

KMEM

[josephga]

im sure its real the tickets are on city of duluth police department tickets.

they had their badges. all the same info you would find on my drivers license is listed on these tickets and i never showed them my license. I have to appear in court on september 22th according to the tickets

[KMEM]

Not picking on you josephga, but Duluth is a very small town. I have to think they are picking on you somehow and for some reason. I understand that is not much consolation in your present circumstances but you need expert advice.

 

Best regards,

KMEM

[josephga]

I wonder if they told the leasing office at my apartment complex.

[+ sf westcoaster]

Joseph,

I understand your emotion, frustration and despair but you must do something about this situation. As Lucky said these seem to be violations of code and therefore are correctable. You need to understand what the laws and regulations are for your type of service, for example, you say that you need a certificate of some kind - start the ball rolling on getting that certificate. A list of employees would seem simple enough to create etc. It seems to me that the most important thing is to understand what truly prompted the police sting and weather or not you could ever meet the requiremtns for a continuation of your business.

[josephga]

the only way i can see staying in business is too do out calls only. no way will the city give a permit to give massages in a home apartment or condo.

[alanalt]

I've tried to post to this thread 3 times, but everything I could think to say just seemed come out trite or stupid. You've always struck me as one of the good guys here. I'm sorry you're having to go through this and hope that things will work out better than you anticipate.

 

This goes for me too. Wish I had something more tangible to offer than good wishes but they're yours...

 

Alan

[Romann]

I spoke to a client about your situation and he said that you should look up information on the free legal aid that is offered in almost all cities, especially since you're in a large city at that. This may help because it's a free service that is paid by your tax dollars so why not check it out, get some advice and maybe they can offer you legal council at a discount if not for free.

 

Hope this is helping.