Zumba Scandal: Prostitution Run Inside of Fitness Studio, Instructor Indicted [UPDATE]

Zumba Scandal: Prostitution Run Inside of Fitness Studio, Instructor Indicted  [UPDATE]

A popular Zumba instructor has pleaded not guilty to charges that she ran a brothel from her fitness studio and secretly filmed illicit encounters with clients.

Bangor Daily News reported:

Alexis Wright, 29, appeared in court today charged with 109 counts including prostitution and tax evasion. Miss Wright, of Wells, Maine, is alleged to have taped herself having sex with men who were unaware they were being filmed and kept meticulous books suggesting she made as much as $150,000 from prostitution. Police have issued summonses to Wright’s alleged 150 customers, some of whom are well-known, who visited the brothel at her Pura Vida studio in Kennebunk  

Some clients were expected to be charged next week after police conducted a five-month investigation into the illegal goings-on at the gym. Anonymous tip-offs led police to the scandal occurring after hours at Pura Vida, according to the Bangor Daily News. Mark Strong Sr, a 57-year-old insurance agent and Wright’s alleged business partner, also pleaded not guilty to 59 counts of promoting prostitution, invasion of privacy, and conspiracy at the Portland courthouse.

Here's the details on her indictment:

Wright has been indicted on 106 counts involving alleged prostitution and violation of privacy, as well as 15 tax-related counts. She faces multiple counts of:

• engaging in prostitution, a Class E misdemeanor
• and violation of privacy, a Class D misdemeanor

All of these offenses allegedly occurred between October 2010 and Feb. 13, 2012.

• The tax-related counts include failure to pay taxes and unsworn falsification, Class D misdemeanors. Class D crimes can carry a sentence of up to 364 days in jail and a $2,000 fine.
• Wright also faces two counts of theft by deception of greater than $10,000, a Class B crime, and evasion of income tax, a Class C crime. Some of the tax charges date back to 2008.
• A Class B crime carries a maximum sentence of 10 years in prison and a $20,000 fine. A Class C crime is punishable by up to five years in prison and a $5,000 fine.

Strong’s lawyer, Daniel Lilley, said his client loaned money to Wright in the belief that her Zumba studio was a good business venture.

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UPDATE on Oct. 15, 2012:  The police announced 21 names of men who were issued summons for engaging in prostitution with a 29-year-old Zumba instructor who's charged with turning her dance studio into a brothel in this seaside community and secretly videotaping her encounters.

The rumors are likely to continue in the weeks ahead as police release the names of other accused johns in police activity reports that are issued every other week listing people charged with offenses ranging from allowing dogs to run at large and marijuana possession to driving under the influence.

Police said more than 150 people are suspected of being clients and many of them were videotaped without their knowledge.

In town, residents heard the list could include lawyers, law enforcement officers and well-known people, heightening their curiosity.

The list of names was delayed Friday by legal action by an attorney representing two of the people accused of being johns. The lawyer, Stephen Schwartz, said releasing the names will ruin people's lives, even if they're acquitted of the misdemeanor charges against them.

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