Ex-County Attorney Charged with Running ‘Nice Guys’ Prostitution Ring
A former assistant county attorney in Minnesota has been charged with running a high-priced “nice guy” prostitution ring, receiving payment in free or reduced-price sex for his efforts.
John Paul St. Marie was charged with six felony counts of promoting prostitution, according to the St. Paul Pioneer Press and the Minneapolis Star Tribune.
St. Marie, a quadriplegic since the age of 8 when he contracted polio, left the Hennepin County Attorney’s office four years ago because of health reasons, his lawyer, James Dahlquist, told the Pioneer Press. He worked on civil matters. Police began investigating St. Marie more than two years ago.
St. Marie is accused of setting up trysts between well-to-do businessmen and expensive prostitutes at top hotels in Minneapolis. One prostitute charged $500 an hour, the Star Tribune reports.
Police began the investigation after receiving a tip that St. Marie was advertising the service online. The Pioneer Press describes efforts of police who put the Raddison University Hotel under surveillance and bugged a room at the Doubletree Hotel. After hearing a man discuss payment for sex at the Doubletree, police “immediately entered the room,” the story says. Investigators also posed as clients.
Dahlquist told the Pioneer Press that it was a sad day. “The John St. Marie I know is a person who’s been recognized for his contributions to society and the legal profession for the last 35 years” he said. The charges are much in contrast to that.”
