Virginia- The Richmond police investigation of a Richmond strip club has focused on prostitution and illicit sex, as well as illegal public nudity and possible drug distribution.
Federal and state agents also joined a weekend search of Club Velvet to look for evidence of possible illegal financial dealings, firearms violations and alcoholic-beverage violations at the Shockoe Bottom club, which features seminude dancing and is promoted by outdoor spotlights that beam into the sky.
The investigation already has resulted in the arrest of the club’s owner, Samuel J.T. Moore III, on two charges of contributing to the delinquency of a minor.
“There may be more” charges against Moore, Richmond Commonwealth’s Attorney Michael Herring said yesterday.
Moore, who was released on bond, could not be reached for comment yesterday. He lives on the second floor of the Club Velvet complex at 3 and 5 S. 15th St. and 1501 E. Main St., according to a search warrant issued Friday afternoon and carried out Saturday about 2:45 a.m., when he was arrested.
A club employee said yesterday that she did not know Moore’s whereabouts or where he lives.
Moore is scheduled to appear tomorrow morning in Richmond Juvenile and Domestic Relations District Court on the two Class 1 misdemeanor charges, each of which carries a penalty of up to 12 months in jail.
Herring said the charges were not related directly to the investigation but stemmed from events at the club last week. He said he would not elaborate until after Moore’s court appearance.
He also said the investigation is not related to Moore’s plans to open a nightclub in the former Julian’s Restaurant on West Broad Street, across from the Children’s Museum of Richmond and the Science Museum of Virginia. Floor plans for the Julian’s building were among the items seized in the search.
At the same time, however, Herring made clear his own feelings about Moore’s plan for a new club — as a father and taxpayer, as well as the city’s top prosecutor. “It’s my personal hope . . . that we don’t see another strip club on West Broad Street,” he said. The investigation has been under way since last year. The search warrant cites state laws against prostitution and profit from it, illicit sex and the running of “a bawdy place” for immoral purposes. Among the evidence sought by the warrant were “documents and papers reflecting operation of a business whose nature is prostitution.”
The warrant also cites a state law against distribution of illegal drugs and a city code prohibiting public nudity.
Richmond police are leading the investigation, which was joined by the Virginia Department of Alcoholic Beverage Control, the Internal Revenue Service and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives.
The search sought bank records, business books and transaction records, address books, and contact numbers of business associates, employees, customers and financial institutions. Other evidence sought included photographs and films that demonstrate illegal activity.
The items taken in the search included computers, hard drives, videocassettes, cameras, documents, money and four guns (a shotgun, rifle and two pistols). Also taken was a last will and testament.
Herring said the investigation would move at a painstaking pace, as police, federal and state agents sort through the items seized Saturday. He predicted that no indictments would be issued for at least a month.
“You never know which direction the investigation is going to take you,” he said.