LEBANON, Ohio -- A Miamisburg man who worked as the night manager at a Franklin strip club has pleaded guilty to trafficking cocaine, among other charges.
Michael Reese, 37, also pleaded guilty to possession of cocaine, two counts of permitting drug abuse and illegally operating a sexually oriented business before Warren County Common Pleas Court Judge Timothy Tepe on Tuesday.
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Plain clothes law enforcement officers witnessed Reese handing cocaine to co-defendent Courtney "Giselle" Rogers in January 2017 at the New York, New York strip club, according to a news release from Warren County Prosecutor David Fornshell. Rogers is accused of then selling the cocaine to customers.
Reese told officers that the dancers received a portion of the proceeds from the drug transactions and that he was allowing nude dancing to occur past midnight in violation of the law.
“Today’s guilty plea by the manager of New York, New York conclusively demonstrates that the club, its management and its dancers engaged in numerous instances of drug trafficking and other illegal activity that law enforcement and Franklin city officials had long suspected was regularly occurring at the club,” Fornshell said. “Our office will continue to proceed with the prosecution of the related cases in order to hold to account the club and the remaining defendants for their role in perpetuating this criminal enterprise."
Reese will be sentenced at a later date.
Fornshell commended the joint investigation involving law enforcement officers from the Franklin Police Department, the Ohio Investigative Unit and the Warren County Drug Task Force, along with Assistant Prosecutor Derek Faulkner and Legal Assistant Brenda Berry for their work on the case.
