Uri
12-01-2002, 05:11 PM
By all accounts, the adult book and video section of Jerry's General Store on east Colonial Drive did brisk business.
At least it did until Tuesday, when Orange County deputy sheriffs descended on the popular family-owned store and arrested Roxie Hanna, 33, her mother, Diana Cooper, 55, and her great-aunt Eileen Hart, 75.
Deputies arrested the three women on charges of racketeering, conspiracy to commit racketeering and distribution of obscene pornography. On the conspiracy charges alone, the women could face up to 30 years in prison.
Customers drove up to the Union Park store at lunchtime Wednesday to find a locked door and a message.
A handwritten note greeted patrons: "Your tax dollars hard at work. They arrested my family. Happy Holidays!" Just inside the locked door, dozens of DVDs and videotapes with adult titles were piled up after being dropped through a return slot.
A customer who identified himself only as Keith said he was shocked by the arrests and criticized the officers' actions as overzealous.
"It looks like they have got better things to worry about than a little place like this," he said.
The store rented and sold a variety of videos, from G-rated films to musicals to XXX-rated movies.
The women's bails initially were set at $50,000, an amount that angered their lawyer, who argued that high bails should be reserved for drug traffickers and violent offenders.
None of the women has been convicted of crimes in Florida. Bill Lutz, director of the Metropolitan Bureau of Investigation, said the store's owner and staff were charged with racketeering because of past violations and their inclusion of hard-core pornography on their shelves.
On Wednesday, Circuit Judge Stan Strickland lowered Hanna's bail to $5,000, and $1,000 each for Cooper and Hart.
"I have been practicing criminal defense for over 20 years, and this is the most outrageous bond I have seen in my career," said family attorney Richard Wilson. "You would think they would have been involved in a plot to commit terrorism, not selling adult books and videos."
Authorities said Hanna flouted county ordinances and operated without a license even though county officials had warned her. The store has been the target of previous MBI investigations for offering X-rated material.
Last summer Hanna and her mother were served with notices to appear on misdemeanor charges of operating an adult business without a license. Those counts were later dropped by the State Attorney's Office, but the more serious investigation by MBI's vice squad was just beginning.
Investigators were attracted to the store by the same sexually suggestive sign used to lure customers because it was so graphic, Lutz said.
Lutz said Jerry's General Store is not zoned for an adult-oriented business, and it is too close to a residential area.
"It's a full-fledged adult store, not only with the adult videos but with adult devices as well," Lutz said. He said the store also sold sex toys.
Some of the movies bought by undercover agents were viewed by agents and then two county judges, who found probable cause for the arrests of the three women.
:nyanya: :nyanya: :nyanya: :matey:
At least it did until Tuesday, when Orange County deputy sheriffs descended on the popular family-owned store and arrested Roxie Hanna, 33, her mother, Diana Cooper, 55, and her great-aunt Eileen Hart, 75.
Deputies arrested the three women on charges of racketeering, conspiracy to commit racketeering and distribution of obscene pornography. On the conspiracy charges alone, the women could face up to 30 years in prison.
Customers drove up to the Union Park store at lunchtime Wednesday to find a locked door and a message.
A handwritten note greeted patrons: "Your tax dollars hard at work. They arrested my family. Happy Holidays!" Just inside the locked door, dozens of DVDs and videotapes with adult titles were piled up after being dropped through a return slot.
A customer who identified himself only as Keith said he was shocked by the arrests and criticized the officers' actions as overzealous.
"It looks like they have got better things to worry about than a little place like this," he said.
The store rented and sold a variety of videos, from G-rated films to musicals to XXX-rated movies.
The women's bails initially were set at $50,000, an amount that angered their lawyer, who argued that high bails should be reserved for drug traffickers and violent offenders.
None of the women has been convicted of crimes in Florida. Bill Lutz, director of the Metropolitan Bureau of Investigation, said the store's owner and staff were charged with racketeering because of past violations and their inclusion of hard-core pornography on their shelves.
On Wednesday, Circuit Judge Stan Strickland lowered Hanna's bail to $5,000, and $1,000 each for Cooper and Hart.
"I have been practicing criminal defense for over 20 years, and this is the most outrageous bond I have seen in my career," said family attorney Richard Wilson. "You would think they would have been involved in a plot to commit terrorism, not selling adult books and videos."
Authorities said Hanna flouted county ordinances and operated without a license even though county officials had warned her. The store has been the target of previous MBI investigations for offering X-rated material.
Last summer Hanna and her mother were served with notices to appear on misdemeanor charges of operating an adult business without a license. Those counts were later dropped by the State Attorney's Office, but the more serious investigation by MBI's vice squad was just beginning.
Investigators were attracted to the store by the same sexually suggestive sign used to lure customers because it was so graphic, Lutz said.
Lutz said Jerry's General Store is not zoned for an adult-oriented business, and it is too close to a residential area.
"It's a full-fledged adult store, not only with the adult videos but with adult devices as well," Lutz said. He said the store also sold sex toys.
Some of the movies bought by undercover agents were viewed by agents and then two county judges, who found probable cause for the arrests of the three women.
:nyanya: :nyanya: :nyanya: :matey: