CHARLOTTE, N.C.— Sallie Wamsley-Saxon, 58, of Charlotte, Donald Verdery Saxon, 53, of Charlotte, and Glen Fox, 58, of Taylorsville, North Carolina, were sentenced by the Honorable Frank D.Whitney in U.S. District Court in Charlotte today to 24 months in prison, 21 months in prison, and 15 months in prison, respectively. While all three defendants have been overseen on pretrial release since the filing of the charges, the Court ordered today that Sallie Wamsley-Saxon be taken into custody by U.S. Marshals. The court has ordered that Defendants Donald Verdery Saxon and Glen Fox be allowed to self report upon designation of Bureau of Prisons facility. The facility at which sentences will be served has not yet been determined.

In the 17-count federal bill of indictment, filed in November 2007, Sallie Wamsley-Saxon, Donald Verdery Saxon, and Glen Fox were charged with one count (Count One) of conspiracy to cause individuals to travel in interstate commerce to engage in prostitution and to use the mail and other facilities in interstate commerce with the intent to distribute the proceeds of an unlawful activity. In addition all three defendants were charged with causing an individual to travel in interstate commerce to engage in prostitution. Sallie Wamsley-Saxon and Donald Verdery Saxon were charged with racketeering, and in Count 17 Sallie Wamsley-Saxon and Donald Verdery Saxon were each charged with conspiracy to commit money laundering.

The three defendants entered guilty pleas in January 2008 after the filing of formal plea agreements. Sallie Wamsley-Saxon and Donald Verdery Saxon both entered pleas of guilty to Counts One and 17, and Glen Fox entered a plea of guilty to Count One.

Today’s announcement is made by United States Attorney Gretchen C.F. Shappert, Nathan T. Gray, Special Agent in Charge of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) in North Carolina, Jeannine Hammett, Special Agent in Charge of the Internal Revenue Service-Criminal Investigations in North and South Carolina, and Chief Rodney Monroe of the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department. The U.S. Attorney credits the Charlotte-Meckelnburg Police Department with leading the investigation that resulted in the filing of these charges. The government is represented in this matter by Assistant U.S. Attorney Thomas Cullen of the U.S. Attorney’s Criminal Division in Charlotte.

According to official court documents and testimony in today’s sentencing hearings, Sallie Wamsely-Saxon, her husband, Donald Verdery Saxon, and Taylorsville photographer Glen Fox, owned, controlled, and operated from the Saxon residence in Charlotte, an Internet-based prostitution service that began in January 2001 and continued through October 2007. Their sentences, which come as a result of violations of federal criminal statutes from their individual involvement with the prostitution service, were imposed today by U.S. District Judge Frank D. Whitney for the Western District of North Carolina.

Also according to information presented to the court, the prostitution service, referred to as “HUSHHUSH,” operated under two shell companies, Soft Touch Promotions, Inc. and SW Associates. Soft Touch was a North Carolina corporation with Defendant Wamsley-Saxon being the registered agent. The prostitution enterprise operated primarily in Charlotte and catered to affluent male clients. Official court documents describe Defendant Wamsley-Saxon’s hiring and business practices with regard to employees, as well as clients. For example, Defendant Wamsley-Saxon kept one or more “HUSHHUSH” prostitutes “on-call” in Charlotte, and charged clients up to $700 per hour for a session. Wamsley-Saxon sometimes gave discounts to clients who scheduled multiple-hour sessions or multiple prostitutes at a time. Defendant Wamsley-Saxon generally allowed her prostitutes to keep 70 percent of clients’ fees, but required the prostitutes to pay 30 percent to her. Defendant Donald Verdery Saxon, husband of Sallie Wamsley-Saxon, picked up payments from prostitutes at or near the hotels in which they worked, Defendant Glen Fox conducted photo shoots of new “HUSHHUSH” employees for posting on one or more of the Internet sites managed by Defendant Wamsley-Saxon.

As part of her formal plea agreement, Defendant Sallie Wamsley-Saxon agreed to forfeit, and the court has entered its judgment of forfeiture, the following property to the United States pursuant to federal law:

(a) Approximately $55,780 in U.S. currency,

(b) Thirteen gold coins valued at $10,478 and miscellaneous jewelry valued at $37,778,

(c) Real property located at 5840 Coatbridge Lane, Charlotte, NC,

(d) Approximately $2,352 Green Dot card account balance in Donald V. Saxon III’s name,

(e) Approximately $464,267 in various Wachovia Securities accounts,

(f) Approximately $146,695 in various SunTrust account balances,

(g) One 2007 Toyota 4Runner, and

(h) A monetary judgment in the amount of $3 million representing proceeds obtained from violations of federal law.

U.S. Attorney Gretchen C.F. Shappert said, “The use of interstate commerce to facilitate a high-dollar prostitution scheme cannot be tolerated. Individuals involved in these criminal enterprises need to recognize that there are serious consequences for such conduct, including federal prison time.”

Federal prison sentences are served without the possibility of parole.

# # #