Manager, Pimp or Ultimate WhiteKnight,  which is this guy? Or is he a dumbass or a victim?
Prostitutes for 'nice guys' ... charges for him
Former assistant Hennepin County attorney accused of operating prostitution service for well-to-do businessmen
By Emily Gurnon 
egurnon@pioneerpress.com
Updated: 07/29/2010 11:36:23 PM CDT
A  former assistant Hennepin County attorney, charged with six felony  counts of promoting prostitution, allegedly ran an operation that set up  "nice guy" customers for prostitutes.
   
John Paul St. Marie, 66, of Minneapolis received free or  reduced-price sex in exchange for his services, according to a criminal  complaint filed Thursday in Ramsey County District Court. Authorities said that because the crimes occurred in Hennepin  County, the case was referred to Ramsey County to avoid a possible  conflict of interest.St. Marie's attorney, James Dahlquist, said he preferred to deal with the charges in court rather than in the press.However, he said he and St. Marie were longtime friends, and that it was a sad day. 
"The John St. Marie I know is a person who's been recognized for  his contributions to society and the legal profession for the last 35  years" Dahlquist said. The charges are much in contrast to that."  
St. Marie has been a quadriplegic since age 8, when he contracted  polio, his attorney said. He worked in the civil division of the county  attorney's office until four years ago, when his health forced him to  leave, Dahlquist said. 
The Ramsey County attorney's office said the clients — the "nice guys" — were well-to-do businessmen. A spokesman for the Minneapolis city attorney's office said the  cases against the men were "being reviewed for possible charging." He  said the women will not be charged.  
According to the criminal 
complaint:  Police began an investigation two years ago after a tip from man who  had visited a prostitute and had said St. Marie was advertising the  women online. Police set up surveillance at the Radisson University Hotel in  Minneapolis in August 2008. St. Marie gave a prostitute a "customer  list" with appointments of men she would see. In return, he got free or  reduced-price sex from the woman, the complaint said. In October 2008, he reserved another room at the Radisson. St.  Marie announced online that a woman would be arriving in Minneapolis and  would be available for sex.  
During a search of the room, police found a man who said he had set up the encounter through St. Marie. The woman told police she had an agreement with St. Marie. He  would set her up with "nice guys" — men he said were safe and would pay  well. 
The next day, police installed listening devices in a room at the  Doubletree Hotel in Minneapolis, where the woman planned to meet  customers. They then overheard her and a man discuss trading money for  sex. Police immediately entered the room, and the man admitted he'd been  recruited the previous year to be one of the "nice guys." He agreed to act as an informant and gave police access to his e-mail account so officers could pose as the customer. Investigators learned St. Marie planned to bring in a woman from outside the United States to Minneapolis in November 2008.  
He picked her up at Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport  and brought her to the Radisson University Hotel. After she checked into  the room he reserved for her, she got back into his van and traveled to  his home, the complaint said. An investigator posing as a client contacted the woman to set up an appointment — telling her he was a friend of a "nice guy."  
The woman called St. Marie to confirm the man was, indeed,  approved. St. Marie told her he was. As soon as they made a deal for  sex, police stepped in. The woman was intercepted by an Immigration and  Customs Enforcement agent. She was scheduled to come back into the United States, where St.  Marie had set her up to work from a Chaska town home. She confirmed with  police that he had provided a list of "nice guys" and had paid for her  airline and hotel stays. Agents intercepted her at the airport. 
In May 2009, an investigator posing as a patron from New York had  a recorded phone conversation with St. Marie in which he admitted he  had a list of "nice guys," and that in exchange for setting up the women  with them, he received sex. He said that he was a pimp, the complaint  said, and attempted to get the "client" to set up an appointment. Several other clients were arrested and questioned. They gave  similar accounts of St. Marie's role in setting up the prostitution  appointments. 
St. Marie, who is not in custody, is scheduled to make a first court appearance Aug. 11.
        
        
        

 
        
 
        



