Associated Press
A former Penthouse centerfold accused of running a brothel out of a mansion in an exclusive suburban Atlanta neighborhood is planning appearances at strip clubs in Detroit and Canada to help pay her legal bills.
Lisa Ann Taylor, 42, was arrested last week along with Nicole A. Probert, 30, on prostitution, racketeering and drug charges.
Gwinnett County District Attorney Danny Porter says Taylor and Probert were operating a call-girl service, offering sex with clients for as much as $10,000. The women also are accused of procuring drugs for their clients and friends. Both Taylor's and Probert's lawyers deny the charges.
Taylor, who is also known by her professional name, Melissa Wolf, said she is looking forward "to working so I can pay my attorney and pay my bills."
Next week, she will appear at the Toy Chest in Detroit and at Cheetah's of Windsor, Ontario, said Renaldo Agostino, marketing director for Katzman Enterprises, which owns both adult clubs.
Taylor will perform and give private dances in VIP rooms, which Agostino said will be much less expensive than $10,000.
He said the media attention about her case "definitely caught our attention, but she's always had a good fan base here. She's a really nice girl."
Porter said the trip is legal because staying in Georgia is not a condition of her bond.
Taylor's attorney, Max Richardson, said the case has drawn undue attention from both the prosecutor and the media.
"She has been placed under a microscope like she killed someone," Richardson said.
Taylor earns a living as a professional dancer, Richardson said, adding that she was not as well paid as the district attorney claims.
Police seized Taylor's Corvette and her truck when they arrested her Jan. 3. And the district attorney has placed a lien on her million-dollar mansion, with an eye toward seizing it if she is convicted on racketeering charges.
Taylor said some of her neighbors have offered signs of support and that she has been getting fan mail since news of her arrest broke.
"I'm holding up, with help from Victoria's Secret," Taylor joked.
She said she also still plans to attend church on Sundays. But she would not say which church she attends, saying she did not want to bring the church into the media spotlight.
"I'm already scared that I'm going to burn the (church) doors down," she said.
Probert - who used the stage name Naughty Nikki - is also having a hard time, said her attorney, Steven Sadow.
"She is back at home, getting better, getting stronger each day as the initial stress dissipates," Sadow said Thursday. "It's more of the stress of being arrested, having your house searched, being unfairly and inaccurately portrayed as a prostitute."
Taylor's attorney Max Richardson was not immediately available for comment.
Sadow described Probert's business activities, such as appearing in adult videos or dancing in public or for private customers, as an "entirely legal" expression protected by the First Amendment.
Probert, a former commercial real estate agent, began working on-and-off in the adult industry about two years ago, Sadow said.
Meanwhile, police and prosecutors have been going through records seized after the arrest, looking for evidence to make more arrests and to bolster their case.
Both women are free on bail and Porter said he expects to bring them before a grand jury sometime within the next 30 to 45 days.
Gwinnett County police obtained as many as four new arrest warrants Tuesday evening connected to the prostitution case, Porter said. The warrants are for charges related to drugs and pandering, he said. Police said the charges are misdemeanors.
In addition to the warrants issued Tuesday, the district attorney's office expects to make at least four more arrests of customers later, Porter said.
The women's customers have been described by Porter as doctors, lawyers and businessmen.
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