A DeKalb County grand jury indicted five people on Wednesday on charges of racketeering and conspiracy connected with a prostitution ring in Dunwoody, a press release from the DeKalb district attorney said.
Among those indicted are a Marietta couple: Samuel Leon Crenshaw and his wife Darliene L. Crenshaw. Each is charged with one count of violation of the racketeer influenced and corrupt organizations act (RICO). One of the operations was run across the street from the Dunwoody police station at the Savannah at Park Place apartments, the district attorney said.
George Moore, Tara Lee Gilleo and Giovene Burkhalter face identical RICO charges for their activities within the organization, the district attorney said. Fifty-seven other men and women are charged with either prostitution, pandering or possession of cocaine in the 58-count indictment returned on Tuesday.
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According to an investigation cited by the district attorney, the Crenshaws operated the sex enterprise under the business names “Gold Club” and later “Lipstick and Shoes.” The indictment allages the Crenshaws rented apartments in DeKalb and Fulton counties for their illegal business, hired women to work as prostitutes, hired calltakers and other employees.
In the apartments rented by the Crenshaws, the women they hired would perform sexual acts for money, according to the indictment. The prostitutes gave 40 percent of the money they made from those acts to the Crenshaws.
Moore, according to the indictment, assisted the Crenshaws with running “Gold Club” and “Lipstick and Shoes” by recruiting women, setting up utility services at the apartments, making payments on the apartment bills, and driving the prostitutes to and from the apartments. The indictment says that Moore also purchased supplies for the apartments — such as condoms, mouthwash, wet wipes, toothbrushes and envelopes — and disposed of all trash at the apartments, helping to conceal criminal activity.
According to the indictment, Moore also made false statements to the Dunwoody Police Department and is charged with pimping. The indictment says he recruited at least eight women to work as “models.” On Oct. 13, 2016, police found $3,900 in cash in Moore’s car.
Lee Gilleo and Burkhalter worked as calltakers and managed appointments between the women and customers, the indictment says. They screened the customers, kept schedules for the “models” and provided information to the customers about how to access the apartments.
Several examples of text messages that Lee Gilleo and Burkhalter sent to the “models” discussing payments, appointments and customers are cited in the indictment.
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The indictment accuses all five defendants of using false information and leasing units at four Dunwoody apartment complexes for the purpose of pairing “models” and clients to engage in paid sexual activities between Feburary 2015 and August 2016.
All five defendants are accused of conspiring to recruit employees, advertise, secure locations and manage appointments and payment systems in furtherance of their criminal enterprise, the district attorney said. The defendants were arrested following a months-long investigation and subsequent sting by the Dunwoody Police Department in December 2016.
Samuel Crenshaw and Moore were among seven who were initially arrested when the business was raided on Dec. 29, 2016. More than 60 were arrested after the investigation, including an assistant district attorney from Gwinnett County, who police said was caught on camera having sex with a prostitute.
A trial date has not yet been set.
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