Late last week, prosecutors in Snohomish County, Washington, charged Carmela Panico with promoting prostitution and laundering the proceeds. What's unusual is the venue for the alleged sale of sex acts: Drive-thru coffee carts. Panico, a 52-year-old former nude dancer, owned and operated a fleet of Java Juggs coffee stands north of Seattle, featuring bikini-clad baristas.
Baristas told investigators that they earned $15,000 and $30,000 a month, mostly from tips. Panico hauled in more than $2 million in three years, and kept much of that cash hidden from the IRS, prosecutors say. Police found $250,000 in cash in Panico's house. Deputy prosecutor Bob Hendrix alleged in the charging documents that Panico would take a fixed cut from each of her seven stands, letting the baristas keep the rest: "The sales goals were effectively rent that the girls paid to have the opportunity to perform lewd conduct or acts of prostitution."
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