Only in New York, kids.
A husband and wife who ran a sex tourism travel agency in Florida were sentenced Monday to five years’ probation for setting up johns with hookers in the Dominican Republic — where prostitution is legal.
Jennifer Cotten, 49, and Alfred Cotten, 50 , of Fort Myers, Florida, pleaded guilty to promoting prostitution for running the lucrative sex tourism company Tropical Adult Vacation.
The clients paid a deposit for the trip and the Cottens would keep a percentage of that payment. But Alfred insisted that the johns paid the prostitutes directly when they arrived at the resort in Boca Chica.
New York has a unique law that bans the promotion of prostitution — even in a jurisdiction where the “profession” is legal.
“What right does this court have to bring me up on charges that are bulls–t,” said Alfred shortly after he was sentenced in Manhattan Supreme Court.
“What I did was legal in the Dominican Republic. I paid my taxes for the business I ran. I never paid the prostitutes directly. These were consenting adults. And this was legal in Florida where I live.”
The Manhattan DA’s Office saw the couple’s ad on backpage.com and set up a sting.
An undercover contacted the couple to arrange a bachelor party that included adult entertainment, which gave them jurisdiction.
The couple were arrested when they stepped off a cruise in Florida and were extradited to New York.
Alfred’s defense lawyer Emanuel Moore said the charges were “like legislating morality.”