The alleged ringleader of a St. Thomas prostitution ring had secret codewords shared with migrant smugglers, round-the-clock surveillance at his employees’ home, and may have been warned about law enforcement activity by “corrupt government officials,” according to court records.
Federal officers raided Tootsys Gentlemen’s Club in Red Hook on April 17, arresting the club’s manager, a driver, and 56-year-old Hussein Jamil, a man prosecutors described as “the consummate pimp” in legal arguments that Jamil be held without bail.
“ … Jamil engaged in a pattern of intimidating and controlling behavior relating to the women whom he exploited at Tootsys. According to witnesses, Jamil was always armed and had surveillance cameras inside and outside Bolongo 25 to monitor the women’s movements. Indeed, the Tootsys employees living at Bolongo 25 were not permitted to leave the residence between the hours of 4 a.m. and 7 a.m. to ensure they did not see clients ‘on the side,’ thereby cutting into Jamil’s bottom line,” prosecutors told U.S. Magistrate Judge G. Alan Teague Wednesday.
Investigators seized evidence related to a commercial sex operation from the home and the club, according to court records. They also found evidence related to operating a business, including ledgers, notebooks, receipts, checkbooks, and blank checks, money bags and cash, a laptop, phones, a DVR player, phones, and personal items, including zip ties, a yet-unidentified white powdered substance, a wallet, a U.S. passport, and a British Virgin Islands visa. In addition, law enforcement uncovered two firearms — one from a safe within Tootsys and another from Jamil’s bedroom in Bolongo 25 — and related magazines and ammunition, now in custody of the U.S. Virgin Islands Police Department, according to court records.
Officers arrested club manager 39-year-old Magda Castro Santos and Julio Hidaldo De Pena, 65, who allegedly ferried women between the club and the Bolongo home.
All three were charged with conspiracy to transport for purpose of prostitution, conspiracy to commit interstate and foreign travel or transportation in aid of racketeering enterprises, and conspiracy to harbor aliens for financial gain — punishable by a maximum of 10 years in prison, according to the U.S. Department of Justice.
Law enforcement officers also made contact with nine dancers, most of whom were without lawful immigration status, who were working at Tootsys during the execution of the search warrant.
Multiple witnesses told federal officers Jamil had St. Thomas connections that provide advanced notice of potential law enforcement actions at his clubs, prosecutors said.
“For example, witnesses have stated that illegal alien dancers were told to stay at Bolongo 25 rather than come into Tootsys when Jamil was alerted of a potential immigration raid at the club. Witnesses have also indicated that, on multiple occasions, illegal alien dancers working at Tootsys were instructed to change into regular clothes from their dancing outfits to and to sit and mingle among the customers when immigration officials were expected to appear. Witnesses have also stated that Tootsys’ employees would flash the lights in the club to alert the presence of the authorities so that the women could act accordingly. These specific anecdotes from witnesses documenting Jamil’s apparent ties to corrupt government officials or other knowledgeable sources of information provide additional bases for finding that Jamil is a serious risk of flight in this case, given that these same sources likely are capable of facilitating his flight from the jurisdiction in one form or another,” prosecutors wrote.
They claimed Jamil was at Jet Blue Airlines three times and American Airlines once between April 15 – 17, and made 16 visits to his bank between April 12-17.
Prosecutors said not only did Jamil take a percentage of his employees’ tips as dancers and sex workers, but also instituted fines and payments meant to force the women into longer-term employment and a more lucrative payout for himself. Some of the women were allegedly allowed to work off their smuggling and housing debts through sex with Jamil, according to court records.
Jamil contacted many of the women through social media and then moved their conversations to encrypted communications, prosecutors alleged.
“He also has directed at least one witness in this case to use code words for smuggling, such as ‘planes’ or ‘packages’ in lieu of ‘boats.’ Given his command over coconspirators, knowledge and use of secret or encrypted communications, and documented witness tampering, it is even more likely that he can and would use such means to ‘obstruct or attempt to obstruct justice, or threaten, injure, or intimidate, or attempt to threaten, injure, or intimidate, a prospective witness or juror’ in this case,” prosecutors wrote.
Teague ordered Jamil, De Pena, and Castro Santos held without bail.
