El Capitan adult entertainment centre. (File photo)
PHILIPSBURG--The Court of Appeals on Thursday upheld the convictions imposed by the Court of First Instance of the owner, manager and supervisor of El Capitan and Le Petit Chateau brothels in the so-called “Pompeii Investigation,” which dates back to 2016.
The investigation involved charges of human trafficking, exploitation of brothel workers, deprivation of liberty and illegal employment. In this case, brothel owner Etienne “Tochi” Meyers was sentenced to three years and 10 months, two years of which were suspended, on three years’ probation. He was also sentenced to payment of NAf. 1,718,197, or three years in case of non-payment.
El Capitan’ manager Dulcea Felomina Florentina was sentenced to 34 months, 18 of which were suspended, on three years’ probation, and payment of NAf. 186.669 of her net salaries.
Le Petit Chateau’s supervisor Louella Marianella Rog received 17 months, 9 of which were suspended, on three years’ probation.
In the Court of First Instance, which ruled in this case in April 2019, Meyers was sentenced to payment of a NAf. 1 million fine and three years’ imprisonment suspended on two years’ probation.
Three years ago, Florentina was sentenced to two years suspended on three years’ probation and a NAf. 500,000 fine and Le Petit Chateau’s supervisor Louella Marianella Rog received one year suspended on three years’ probation and a NAf. 250,000 fine. Assistant R.R. was acquitted of all charges for lack of evidence.
The Court of First Instance found Meyers, Florentina and Rog guilty of crimes committed between January 2014 and November 2016 against 42 women from the Dominican Republic and Colombia who were employed at the two brothels.
The Prosecutor’s Office had called for a prison sentence of four years, one of which to be suspended on two years’ probation for Meyers. Florentina should have been sentenced to three years, one of which to be suspended on two years’ probation, the prosecutor said at the time.
During the second day of appeal hearings on Thursday, October 20, the Prosecutor’s Office maintained its demands for Meyers and Florentina, albeit on one-year probation instead of two years, whereas Rog should be sentenced to 24 months, 12 of which were to be suspended, on one-year probation.
In the appeal case, the solicitor general laid down dispossession claims of $1.2 million for Meyers and Florentina, or three years imprisonment in case of non-payment, and of $186,639 for Rog’s salaries, or six months detention in case of non-compliance.
The three brothel operators appealed their sentences as they were of the opinion that they should not have been prosecuted or should be exonerated because prostitution in St. Maarten is being tolerated.
Only Florentina was present when a judge of the Appeals Court in Willemstad read the verdicts via video conferencing. She heard that the Court of Appeals found her and her two co-defendants guilty of human trafficking and exploitation.
Coercive measures were used and the women were exploited by making them pay for housing, transport and work-related items. They were forced to have sex with clients and were kept behind lock and key at night, the Appellate Court stated, which also considered deprivation of liberty and illegal employment proven.
Between January 2014 and November 2016, the three suspects had violated the human dignity and personal freedom of a large number of women and made these subordinate to their own interests, the court said.
In sentencing, the court held it against the defendants that they had not shown any remorse, and in fact, had shown indignation about the fact that they were being prosecuted.
The fact that regulations and policies on prostitution in St. Maarten are not always clear, and that despite several letters from the Prosecutor’s Office urging the Minister of Justice to act in this regard, no action was taken, did not release the suspects from their own responsibility not to commit criminal offences, the Appeals Court said.
