Wow, talk about a world-class cat fight!
ATLANTA — After the luxurious Club Onyx started taking business from other strip clubs, the operators of rival Platinum 21 dreamed up ways to shut it down.
They tried littering the place with roaches, then filling it with rats. And when all else failed, prosecutors say, they tried to burn the place down.
The January 2007 fire shut down Club Onyx for six months and caused $1.8 million in damage and lost sales, according to court documents. It also led to a federal case against three employees of Platinum 21, who are scheduled to be sentenced Tuesday on conspiracy to commit arson charges.
The three face five to 20 years in prison.
"Regardless of motive, arson is a crime of violence," said Gregory Gant, the head of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives' Atlanta bureau. "These men should consider themselves lucky that no one was hurt as a result of their deliberate and malicious acts."
Competition is heated among the 35 or so strip clubs in the Atlanta area, said a local lawyer who represents the adult industry, adding that he's aware of at least two other arson plots since the early 1980s among dueling club owners. The crowded market is fed by a steady stream of convention attendees and other tourists, coupled with laws that allow drinks to be served at all-nude clubs.
"Atlanta has the very rare combination of alcohol and nude dancing, which you don't find in many places in the country," said Alan Begner, whose clients have included adult book stores, clubs and strippers. "And that also means there is competition."
Club Onyx shook up Atlanta's adult entertainment scene in late 2006, hosting parties for high-profile rap stars and attracting an upscale young clientele. The club's sudden emergence hurt the bottom line of Platinum 21, an aging club in northeast Atlanta, according to court testimony by Howard "Bit" Thrower, the club's corporate manager.
Thrower told his employees in November 2006 that their pay would be cut if the club's revenues continued to drop. He told ATF investigators that he hired Sandeo Dyson, the club's head security guard, to "solve the Club Onyx problem," according to a federal affidavit.
But when rodents and bugs didn't work Thrower testified he and Boyd Smith, the club's manager, paid Dyson $5,000 to burn it down.
The blaze devastated the club, but it left an internal surveillance system intact. The videotape showed a man starting the fire and then scurrying out of the building. Still, the case went unsolved for six months until ATF agents zeroed in on Thrower.
He led them to Smith and Dyson, an Army medic who was moonlighting at Platinum 21. Thrower and Dyson both pleaded guilty and testified against Smith during a six-day trial in February.
At the trial, Smith's attorney argued his client had nothing to do with the blaze and that prosecutors were relying on unsavory witnesses worried about protecting themselves. The jury deliberated for four hours before convicting Smith last February.
Comments
Wow, talk about a world-class cat fight!
No surprise here. The lowest forms of life usually run those places.
And we in Augusta are interested in reading about this because...?
Bit Thrower.... the same Bit Thrower that used to own Dolls Downtown here in Augusta on Walton Way? That was in trouble with the feds here as well? Strange, huh.
Please. Let's wait for all of the facts. This crime is alleged only. There are many fine folks in the adult entertainment industry. Most of the girls are either working their way through college or are merely on the dance circuit while trying to make their way into the film industry. The guys who run these places are providing a necessary service to the community and helping young girls to have the opportunity for a much better life. I'm sure the AWM is simply trying to sensationalize this story because there are people of color involved. Shame on all of you!
Alleged....I believe the article said a jury convicted Smith last February. Sounds like more than allegations to me. And get real...most girls that enter the adult entertainment industry stay. They don't suddenly stop after finishing college and most don't make it into the film industry unless it's adult films. The money is too good and as for helpin gthem have an opportunity for a much better life. I'm sure if you asked these girls, I doubt that they would tell you dancing nude in a club night after night is the better life, no matter how much money they make.
Dixieman, I'm interested because I like those clubs! Wanna tag along on a road trip?
willienelson, I understood the ironic humor in your post. Others are beyond help.
Dixieman, Howard Thrower has ties to Augusta.
Fighter Zack, you are a clever young devil. Here are the article.
http://chronicle.augusta.com/stories/121401/met_070-5934.000.shtml
http://chronicle.augusta.com/stories/121501/met_098-6727.000.shtml
I also see your humor willie......but I for one will say exactly what I think about these places, they are trash and the people who run them are trash, as a working wife and mother I have seen how hard it is for women to be taken serious and to get promotions and equal pay, women who work in these places bring women down and degrade women and the men they work for are feeding off them and they don't have enough sense or enough pride in themselves to realize it. Just because you may have a beautiful body doesn't mean yu have to get naked for money, how about using your brain? And regardless of what people say, it isn't just college girls trying to go to school who strip and lots of girls go to college without relying on stripping to pay for it. And before someone chimes in, no I am not jealous, nor fat nor ugly, I just ahppen to think that women of all sizes and colors and from all walks of life should take more pride in themselves.
Nude or partially nude dancing and entertainment is as old as humanity itself. If the girls are willing and paid for their services, and the patrons are not violating any laws, then there are no victims here. Unfortunately these environments are sometimes frequented by drug users and trouble makers. Throwing alcohol into the mix can accelerate issues quickly. Monitor their compliance and shutdown the establishments that can't or won't control their employees and patrons.
Funny, wish we had 35 strip clubs
Dixieman, we are reading this because nothing must be shaking today in Orangeburg.
5o'clock, you are right. Young girls should have more pride and self worth. Unfortunately, many don't. Many young teenage girls are involved in sexting. Sending nude pictures of themselves and their friends via camera phones. Parents must do a better job. When your daughter chooses to dress too provacatively, say no. Low rider pants that actually expose pubic hair and way too much plumbers crack should be unacceptable to any parents. Low cut tops that have the boobies just hanging out aren't good. I'm not saying that every little girl who does this will be a discoteque queen but.....we must start somewhere.
I got it too, willienelson. The parents that allow that are beyond hope. The parents are more concerned with being their child's "friend" and "encouraging them to express themselves" than parenting.
Man I miss Dolls Downtown.....nothing like gettin' wanded before goin' in a strip club!
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