THOUSAND OAKS, California - She was a tall blond mom with a license to sell real estate. He was her distinguished ex-husband with the words "Equal Justice" affixed to his Canoga Park paralegal business, family yacht and the license plate of his Jaguar.
But behind their suburban facade, prosecutors allege, the duo ran a Web-based prostitution ring that operated in their upscale homes in Thousand Oaks and Agoura Hills and their yacht in Marina del Rey.
Bonnie Lee Weiss, 49, and Craig Riley Fawcett, 74, were arrested Jan. 12 on suspicion of pimping and conspiracy to solicit prostitution and jailed with bail set at $50,000 each.
"These people weren't exactly discreet," said an official close to a six-month investigation by the Ventura County Sheriff's Department and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement. "They were advertising on the Internet."
Court documents outline a steamy tale of racy Web ads and rave online reviews over sultry afternoon trysts arranged by the elderly ex-grocer for his younger ex-wife - a Doris Day lookalike billed as "Brieanne: The Ultimate Courtesan" - as well as other women from Beverly Hills and Newport Beach.
It was in June that deputies received a tip from an anonymous informant worried that Weiss, a registered Realtor, was performing "prostitution services" at her Thousand Oaks home while her 11- and 13-year-old children visited on weekends, according to an affidavit in support of a search warrant filed by Ventura County sheriff's vice detective John Wright.
"The (citizen informant) is concerned because the prostitution activity is occurring while the children are in the home," Wright wrote.
The informant stated that Weiss, 6 feet tall with shoulder-length blond hair, had been doing business as "Brieanne" since February at Fawcett's home, according to the affidavit.
But while neighbors recalled the minivan motorist as the put-together lady who would sometimes complain about her ex, detectives described a woman who advertised her services on the popular craiglist.com Web site or while posed seductively on a bed in a photo posted on her own Web site.
"The cost for a 60-minute session with her is listed as $350," Wright said of the nearly 50-year-old Weiss.
According to the affidavit, a sign next to one of her racy Internet ads, when enlarged by detectives, depicted a certificate of appreciation from a "Giants" sports team entitled "Great Team Mom."
Records also said Weiss, a former resident of Van Nuys and Encino, married Fawcett in 1980 when she was 23, he 48, and divorced him five years later. She was hired by a real estate broker in Sherman Oaks, who fired her last week because she never came to work.
Records indicate Fawcett has listed involvement in numerous businesses in the San Fernando Valley, including Big Tool Inc., and currently operates Equal Justice legal services in Canoga Park.
During their nearly six-month surveillance, deputies described Fawcett as the go-between for Weiss and three other suspected prostitutes - including a 56-year-old woman from Newport Beach - during a string of afternoon engagements with middle-aged men.
In December, a judge issued search warrants for Fawcett's and Weiss' homes and the yacht in Marina del Rey known as Equal Justice. During Dec. 20 searches, deputies seized $2,550 in Weiss' bedroom, as well as craigslist ads, nude pictures of Weiss and $1,150 at Fawcett's home, plus computers and other evidence.
Neighbors described Fawcett as a gregarious man with a yellow Labrador named Scooby who lived with his adult daughter in a large mock Tudor and who often talked of flying off carrier decks as a young Navy pilot, or of setting sail for Catalina Island and sites unknown aboard his yacht.
"I'm in total shock," said Joe, 59, who lives across the street from Fawcett and declined to give his last name, of the 6-foot-2-inch ex-Navy pilot who once ran a grocery store in the Sierra foothills. "He was the type of neighbor I never would want to leave.
"People used to come to his home all the time, but I figured (they) were part of his business."
