It's the seedy side of a business you see everywhere: bikini baristas who serve more than coffee. Everett thought it put a stop to a major prostitution ring more than a year ago but a Problem Solver investigation discovered the, "booty shake," business at the same locations is alive and well.
There's a stretch of Highway 99 just south of Everett where a string of three violently purple coffee stands almost always seems to do brisk business. Off and on over the course of a month, the Problem Solvers hidden cameras recorded lines of cars, driven almost exclusively by men. Once at the coffee windows we saw some customers would even get out of their car and stand at the window. Customers would linger three, five, ten, even 15 minutes, before finally driving away, sometimes without even a cup of coffee.
"They're selling not just coffee," says barista Emily Wood. Wood of Gourmet Latte has been a barista for two years and says it's common knowledge what goes on in those stands. She says she was trained to make a good latte in a minute and a half, tops. If it's anything more than that, Wood believes something else is going on. "Obviously they're not trained to make a cup of coffee there, they're trained for something else.
But back to those purple stands, they are three of the six stands once operated by Carmela Panico, self-confessed coffee stand madam, who pled guilty to promoting prostitution and money laundering in September. Police and court records indicate Panico had long been connected to the adult entertainment industry through Talents West and the four strip clubs owned by Frank Colacurcio, Sr. . He died after the feds charged him and his son, Frank, Jr., with racketeering. Frank, Jr. pled guilty in 2010 and spent a year in prison.
Police reports indicate that from 2010 to 2013 Panico banked more than two million bucks from her sex-acts-driven coffee business, while her baristas made thousands putting on sex shows for customers; exposing their breasts and genitals and in some cases engaging in prostitution.
Everett PD says looking into Panico's crime ring was one of their largest investigations. "It was very important to not only stop the criminal activity," says Captain Bill Deckard, "but the quality of life issue that it generated within the community."
But despite Everett PD's intentions and Panico's guilty plea, sources told KOMO 4 that little had changed. So the Problem Solvers went to work. In addition to surveilling the stands, we sent an undercover producer through the coffee line with hidden cameras.
At two of the three stands, we found that without asking for anything but simply handing over a $20 tip, baristas began exposing their breasts and their genitals and encouraged our producer to return for more.
We asked Captain Deckard to explain why the business didn't appear to be shut down. "We indeed are working on it and the investigation is continuing."
Our investigation found that the three stands are all leased by a Samantha Lancaster. According to court records, Lancaster had been Panico's manager of the coffee stand business and in lease agreements Lancaster was to pay rent to Carmela Panico - $4500 per month for the three stands.
We tried to track down Lancaster to ask about the business. At the address listed on Lancaster's coffee stand leases a neighbor told us she hasn't been there in months. And at her three coffee stands, as soon as we announced we were with KOMO TV windows slammed shut. Through closed windows we asked the baristas why, if they were legitimate businesses, no one would talk with us? The only answers were obscenities and warnings to leave.
Everett PD admits that, a year and a half after the original arrests, it knows the sex acts are continuing and Panico is still getting at least some of the money. "It's totally frustrating to us." But Capt. Deckard adds it is one step in the city's three part plan. First are the arrests and the criminal prosecutions. Next, it's seizing the business's assets. In Panico's plea deal she agreed to forfeit the coffee stands and the equipment inside. Last week, the day after the Problem Solvers submitted a public records request asking about the status of that forfeiture, Everett sent letters telling Lancaster to vacate the coffee stands and surrender all equipment.
Capt. Deckard: "the best way to stop that is to take everything financially that we can from those parties."
But shutting down the operation can't come soon enough for some neighbors, including Glenn Wallace, "I think it's a tragedy that our young women are doing this and I personally think it needs to end."
The third part of Everett's plan to get rid of coffee sex stands is legislation. The city is working now on beefing up city ordinances with stronger regulation, including fining owners if baristas serve more than coffee.
For More Information:
Police search warrant in the case
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