Head of a Canada-wide prostitution ring pleads guilty in Montreal

[2fast2slow]

Head of a Canada-wide prostitution ring pleads guilty in Montreal

Project Migration revealed the network operated for five years in Quebec, Ontario, western Canada and in the U.S.

montrealgazette.com

low on details.

who has canada-wide agencies? i thought the police were concentrated on 'trafficing' cases and when there were minors involved...does not seem to be the case here.

 

[Esco!]

Head of a Canada-wide prostitution ring pleads guilty in Montreal

Project Migration revealed the network operated for five years in Quebec, Ontario, western Canada and in the U.S.

montrealgazette.com

low on details.

who has canada-wide agencies? i thought the police were concentrated on 'trafficing' cases and when there were minors involved...does not seem to be the case here.

Cops will still get involved if girls are pimped out against their will (as they should be).

Even though the link says girls worked for him voluntarily, they may have been too scared to testify

 

[2fast2slow]

Cops will still get involved if girls are pimped out against their will (as they should be).

Even though the link says girls worked for him voluntarily, they may have been too scared to testify

he has a prior for animal cruelty, so lets assume he is not the thoughtful, sensitive type

 

[CaptRenault]

I agree that it's hard to say exactly why the Crown decided to arrest and prosecute Verdieu.

It might have something to do with the following:

• Verdieu was operating a network across Canada and even into the USA. Such a network is harder to ignore than agencies that operate only in the local markets of the most liberal cities in Canada such as Montreal, Toronto and Vancouver.
• Let's not forget that Canada still has a law on the books that bans pimping ("living off the avails"). This law could be used by prosecutors and the police anytime they want to against any escort agency if and when it gets out of line in the eyes of police and prosecutors. I'm guessing that operating a nationwide network constitutes stepping over the line.
• Dumb thugs like Verdieu simply cannot resist bragging about making a lot of cash from unlawful activities. He circulated this photo of himself (maybe on social media, maybe among friends) and it was published in the Journal de Montreal story about his arrest.
  
  
  
• Though it's not mentioned, he and his girls and bookers easily could have been involved with drugs. I'm guessing they were.

The involvement of the female customs agent (at the Montreal airport) in the case is pretty funny. An article in La Presse about her conviction reveals that she was a childhood friend of Verdieu. When she noticed (in 2021 or earlier) that he had been flagged for a second check when arriving in Montreal, she decided to tip him off via email. Her motivation (as a woke white female) was that she thought her white colleagues were all racists! She fully understood why he was being checked out but she let her wokeness overcome her duty to uphold the law.

She got caught because another law enforcement officer found out that other thugs (probably associates of Verdieu under surveillance) had access to her email warning. She was convicted, lost her job and got probation. A ironic example of "go woke, go broke."

 

[NataliaLatina]

I know a few girls who used to work for lucifer as he was known by.. they made the same money on their calls as other girls working for an agency.. ‍

 

[masterP]

• Though it's not mentioned, he and his girls and bookers easily could have been involved with drugs. I'm guessing they were.

He only plead guilty to "living off the avails". No one ever pleads guilty and gives up the right to a trial unless the prosecution gives up something in return. I think it's a safe bet that charges for other crimes he had committed were bargained away.

 

[jmioffe]

WGs who say they discriminate on race frequently give this reason. It has nothing to do with physiques. They're wary of being forced into someone's stable and have someone take a portion their earnings for doing nothing.

 

[Cap'tain Fantastic]

So we will never know what reasons the Trust Us folks had for going after this guy.

Exactly, his guilty plead is surely part of a deal done with the prosecution. Now he will be on the spot after his release, I bet you it wont be long before returning behind bars.

 

[2fast2slow]

I know a few girls who used to work for lucifer as he was known by.. they made the same money on their calls as other girls working for an agency.. ‍

im sorry, i dont understand your point. So you are saying he was 'fair' with the girls? as claimed by the defense?

 

[2fast2slow]

WGs who say they discriminate on race frequently give this reason. It has nothing to do with physiques. They're wary of being forced into someone's stable and have someone take a portion their earnings for doing nothing.

im sorry, but i need help understanding. WG means 'white girls'? who refuse black clients? because they dont want to end up 'pimped'? is that what you are saing?

 

[CaptRenault]

When Verdieu was arrested about one year ago, the Montreal Police issued this press release.

L’EILP recherche des victimes potentielles du présumé proxénète Verdieu Registre Junior - Service de police de la Ville de Montréal - SPVM

spvm.qc.ca

It doesn't say much but it emphasizes the international and transnational aspect of the charges. Verdieu was arrested in the Dominican Republic to which he had fled months earlier while using a fake identity and fake passport.

The operation was conducted under the authority of investigators from the "l’Équipe intégrée de lutte contre le proxénétisme" (EILP, Combined force fighting primping). It sounds a bit like a publicity seeking operation. It was called "Operation Migration" and was composed of cops from various police agencies (Montreal, Quebec provincial police and RCMP). It sounds like it was formed in reaction to the hysteria about "sex trafficking" that has been in the news for the last several years.

When the government pressures police to "do something" about a problem, whether real or imagined, the police go looking for a scalp to justify the time and money spent on the operation. Verdieu was the unlucky target of the operation. But based on his looks and behavior he fits the public's image of a pimp. Everyone seems happy with this episode.

Verdieu got 39 months plus 3 years probation. He has been in jail for a year and he gets 1.5 times credit (so 18 months) for his time served so he only has 21 months left to serve. With good behavior he could be out much sooner.

A story in La Presse mentions that the escorts gave their money "en partie ou en totalité" (in part or in whole) to the bookers and Verdieu. If some girls were giving all of their earnings to Verdieu and his bookers, then that is obviously a huge red flag. Even if all the girls were not willing to say in court that they were being exploited, some were being exploited. That could be another reason that the police went after Verdieu and his bookers.

 

[jmioffe]

im sorry, but i need help understanding. WG means 'white girls'? who refuse black clients? because they dont want to end up 'pimped'? is that what you are saing?

apologies, WG meaning working girls, or SW.

I was just thinking about this thread that I saw:

https://www.reddit.com/r/SexWorkers/comments/9weid7/_/e9lecqb

 

[NataliaLatina]

im sorry, i dont understand your point. So you are saying he was 'fair' with the girls? as claimed by the defense?

According to my friend.. she feels he was targeted because he was black.

 

[2fast2slow]

interesting

 

[Flabert]

According to my friend.. she feels he was targeted because he was black.

A lot of black operators in this field and they don't get targeted. I would bet white or black, running a network that extends to the US puts you at risk.

 

[Flabert]

This story reminded me of this hilarious onion article

Chinese Laundry Owner Blasted For Reinforcing Negative Ethnic Stereotypes

SAN FRANCISCO—Second-generation Chinese-American laundry owner Raymond Chen is under heavy fire this week from Bay Area activists who call him "an insulting caricature that perpetuates long-outdated, grossly prejudiced images of Asian Americans."

www.theonion.com

This pimp really reinforced ethnic stereotypes. If only they could legalize women and men controlling their body and selling it so the law could deal with true coercion and tax evasion - the real crimes in some of those situations.