Florida couple accused of running sex resort in Dominican Republic

Seachange

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Jan 13, 2004
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Jennifer and Alfred Cotten, of Fort Myers, Florida, have been charged with promoting prostitution; the couple is accused of running a sex tourism operation that set up customers with prostitutes in the Dominican Republic.

The married couple was arrested after a 10-month investigation into their company, Tropical Adult Vacation. Alfred (50) and Jennifer (49) were charged with promoting prostitution for allegedly managing the women who were sold for sex between July 2011 and August 2015.

According to Assistant District Attorney James Lynch, they were living in Florida and advertised all over the country, including Manhattan. The Cottens first caught the eye of authorities in New York, when officials noticed some suspect bank transactions.

The website for Tropical Adult Vacations promises the "best erotic dominican republic adult sex vacation." The business calls itself a "reputable adult sex resort," news-press.com reported.

According to nydailynews.com, lawyers for the couple said they have never been in legal trouble before and shouldn?t be now, because prostitution is legal in the Dominican Republic.
 

curlando

Bronze
Jul 23, 2003
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This couple advertised on the backpage website. At least they were locked up in a US jail.
 

zoomzx11

Gold
Jan 21, 2006
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This is sounding more and more like the war on drugs. If you are not Dominican the worlds oldest profession is not for you in the DR. This point has been made very clearly yet we still have arrests. Some learn the hard way.
 

DRob

Gold
Aug 15, 2007
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These people were arrested with 55 pounds of gold coins.

Seeing that each is worth about $1,100, they could have sold the coins and (almost) bought Jose O'Shay's outright, and enjoyed life holding court on the beach.

Stupid is as stupid does....
 

DRob

Gold
Aug 15, 2007
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maybe they do not like jose o'shay.

I'm sure they'll enjoy it a lot more than Rikers....

They were in the hospitality business, and they liked money. Big Frank's shop offers both, with the added bonus of no SWAT teams kicking in the front door.
 

drescape24

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Nov 2, 2011
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These people were arrested with 55 pounds of gold coins.

Seeing that each is worth about $1,100, they could have sold the coins and (almost) bought Jose O'Shay's outright, and enjoyed life holding court on the beach.

Stupid is as stupid does....
Since when owning gold a crime? Having that much in thier home is questionable, but it shouldn't be news.
But if they were that smart they wouldn't be advertising on backpage.
 

DRob

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Aug 15, 2007
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Since when owning gold a crime? Having that much in thier home is questionable, but it shouldn't be news.
But if they were that smart they wouldn't be advertising on backpage.

Not a crime at all. My point is they had more than ample funds to pursue something legit and profitable.

That said, who leaves 55 pounds of precious metals around the house? No safe deposit box? How about burying a treasure chest in the backyard? some sort of precautionary measure? Or let me guess, these folks were waiting for the world to go all "Mad Max" on them....

Stupid is as...you get my point.
 

Tamborista

hasta la tambora
Apr 4, 2005
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Not a crime at all. My point is they had more than ample funds to pursue something legit and profitable.

One might assume by the hoarding of precious metal coins in their house, that maybe, just maybe they were avoiding paying tax, by hiding assets?

According to the article, it was the bank transactions on line that tripped the investigation in the first place.

I am sure you will spin this another way, as you usually do.
 

DRob

Gold
Aug 15, 2007
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One might assume by the hoarding of precious metal coins in their house, that maybe, just maybe they were avoiding paying tax, by hiding assets?

According to the article, it was the bank transactions on line that tripped the investigation in the first place.

I am sure you will spin this another way, as you usually do.

Not sure if that last line was called for, but whatever.

I don't know what their reasoning was. Most smarter people who make money through illicit means but all their assets in a basket and take it down to the laundromat. That said, it is true it is easier to get away with robbing a bank by putting on a mask and grabbing a shotgun, then by committing bank/wire fraud.

All I'm really saying is if I had a spare 700k-1M and wanted to live/work/play on a DR beach in a biz that's already reasonably successful, I'd go talk to Big Frank. You get to keep the harem (and peace of mind that comes with knowing you're not on any agency's "hit list"), all while enjoying the relative blessing and protection of the local politicians.

Trust, I can think of worst ways to spend the second half of your life. This couple and Cuba Dave are getting a taste of that now.