Case offers details into Tokyo Massage operations
JOSHUA WOLFSON Star-Tribune staff writer | Posted: Saturday, January 10, 2009 12:00 am
The investigation of Tokyo Massage began to take shape last year after a disturbance involving the spouse of a man who allegedly had sex with a prostitute there.
The man told a responding investigator that he passed on a sexually transmitted disease to his wife after paying a prostitute at the massage parlor $200 for sex, according to an affidavit signed by Natrona County Sheriff's Investigator Aaron Shatto.
In October and January, Shatto interviewed several other men who said they paid for sex at the parlor, which has long been rumored to be a house of prostitution. The investigation - by local, state and federal law enforcement agencies - led prosecutors Friday to file prostitution-related charges against four people.
The charges come two days after authorities searched the massage parlor, which sits in plain sight just east of Natrona County International Airport, and a Casper apartment. The parlor has subsequently been closed by order of the sheriff's office.
Four people whom authorities suspect are connected to the business appeared in Natrona County Circuit Court on Friday morning. Three of the defendants were women who authorities found at the parlor when they searched the business.
The women all required a Korean translator during the court hearing. None appeared with an attorney.
Prosecutors have charged two of the women - Kyong Stodolka, 57, and June Wilhelmi, 60 - with promoting prostitution and conspiracy. Each charge carries a prison sentence of up to three years.
In an interview with investigators, Wilhelmi identified Stodolka as the massage parlor's madam, according to the affidavit. Wilhelmi is suspected of serving as acting madam in the spring of 2007 while Stodolka was away.
Stodolka told the court her home was in Minnesota. She was investigated in that state for running a business similar to Tokyo Massage, Assistant District Attorney Dan Itzen said in court.
Itzen called Stodolka an "extreme flight risk" and said authorities had seized large amounts of cash in her bank account. Judge Michael Patchen set her bond at $75,000 case and ordered her to surrender her passport prior to leaving jail.
The judge set the same bond and passport seizure requirement for Wilhelmi, who told the court she lived in Minnesota and had only been in Casper three weeks.
Wilhelmi has convictions in Georgia for masturbation for hire, Itzen said.
She and another woman, Okki Shoffler, 53, also face a charge each of prostitution. In Wyoming, prostitution is a misdemeanor and carries a maximum sentence of six months in jail.
Even with help from a translator, Shoffler appeared confused during the hearing. She told the court she was from Columbus, Ga. and had only been in Casper for several days.
Itzen said Shoffler has been charged in the past with promoting prostitution, resisting arrest and carrying a concealed weapon.
Shoffler pleaded not guilty to the prostitution charge. Patchen set her bond at $5,000 and ordered her to surrender her passport before making bail.
The other women didn't enter pleas because they are charged with felonies. They are expected to be back in court sometime in the next several weeks, when a judge will decide whether there is enough evidence for their cases to move forward.
Through a translator, all three women told the court they wanted to hire their own attorneys.
Prosecutors have also filed a conspiracy charge against Ken Robertson, a 60-year-old Casper resident suspected of doing a number of jobs at the parlor, including ordering condoms and taking care of any problems the girls had. Robertson told investigators he would also transport women to Denver after they were done in Casper, according to the affidavit.
Patchen set Robertson's bond at $5,000, prompting the defendant to say he didn't have the money.
Shatto's affidavit, which was filed in circuit court, offers new details about the alleged operations at Tokyo Massage. For example, one confidential informant who spoke with authorities claimed he had sex with roughly 55 women in the 11 years he'd gone to the parlor. He told investigators Stodolka had, on average, two girls working for her. The girls would rotate through Tokyo Massage every three to four months.
In her interview with investigators, Wilhelmi said Stodolka had found prostitutes by advertising in a Korean journal and the Washington Post. Wilhelmi said Stodolka would take half of a customer's payment, giving the other half to prostitutes.
Reach crime reporter Joshua Wolfson at (307) 266-0582 or at josh.wolfson@trib.com.