Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: FRIDAY, August 11, 1995 TAG: 9508110068
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL PAGE: A-5 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: LOS ANGELES LENGTH: Medium
A federal jury convicted Fleiss of conspiracy, tax evasion and money laundering. The panel was unable to reach verdicts on two counts relating to a loan application, and the government said it probably won't retry her.
Under federal sentencing guidelines, the 29-year-old Fleiss faces a maximum of about five years in prison. Sentencing was set for Nov. 13. Prosecutors also will try to make her forfeit $550,000 in cash and property.
Fleiss, who was convicted earlier in state court of pandering and drew three years in prison, sobbed as the verdicts were read. The jury deliberated six days.
Fleiss was found guilty of concealing at least $300,000 in income from her sex business through her family's bank accounts and through her purchase of a $1.6 million Beverly Hills estate once owned by actor Michael Douglas.
Prosecutors said she made it appear as if her father, Dr. Paul Fleiss, was the buyer.
They said Fleiss' 1992 tax return listing income of $33,000 strained credulity since she boasted to one prostitute that she was making nearly twice that every month and tooling around in a new black Corvette convertible.
Fleiss' lawyers contended that she ran a dating service, not a prostitution ring, and that her taxes were accurate and that she may have even overreported her income and deserved a refund.
Three of Fleiss' prostitutes and three of her customers were called as witnesses. The women testified that Fleiss would send them across the country and the globe for sex assignments, sometimes at $10,000 a job.
The men, including actor Charlie Sheen, told of arranging for women through Fleiss and paying huge sums for sex - at least $53,000 by Sheen alone in 1992.
by CNB