Ex-strip club owner sentenced

Judge orders probation, fine for sexually oriented incidents

2/1/2014
BY MARK REITER
BLADE STAFF WRITER
Younes Dia appears in Lucas County Common Pleas Court before Judge Robert Christiansen, who sentenced him to probation for the seminude dancing that occurred in the Toledo strip club Platinum Kisses in March, 2012.
Younes Dia appears in Lucas County Common Pleas Court before Judge Robert Christiansen, who sentenced him to probation for the seminude dancing that occurred in the Toledo strip club Platinum Kisses in March, 2012.

The former owner of a North Toledo strip club received a year’s probation and 18 months suspended jail time for misdemeanor convictions related to a state investigation nearly two years ago at the Telegraph Road site.

Younes Dia, who operated the Platinum Kisses club under the corporate name Alexis Entertainment LLC, was sentenced Friday in Toledo Municipal Court for incidents involving sexually oriented activity and seminude dancing.

Judge Robert Christiansen told Mr. Dia if he failed to abide by his probation conditions, including not to have any similar violations, he could face up to 18 months in jail. He also was fined $3,000.

Mr. Dia, 44, of Perrysburg had pleaded no contest Oct. 22 to six counts of personal liability of organized conduct for activity that occurred in the club.

The convictions stem from state agents’ March, 2012, undercover investigation into prostitution, drug use, and seminude performing at Platinum Kisses. Agents with the Ohio Investigative Unit of the Department of Public Service initiated the investigation after receiving complaints about activities at the club.

Vesper Williams II, Mr. Dia’s attorney, told Judge Christiansen his client had sold the club and no longer had any interest in the establishment, nor does he want to operate a similar club.

He said Mr. Dia had been involved in the adult-entertainment business for 18 years and, while owning Platinum Kisses, had cooperated with law enforcement investigations of various incidents and crimes in the surrounding area.

Acting on a complaint filed by the state Attorney General’s Office, the Ohio Liquor Commission revoked the license held for Mr. Dia’s business in October following a hearing a month earlier, said Sarah Creedon, the commission’s executive director.

As part of the plea agreement Mr. Dia accepted, prosecutors dismissed 24 counts of illegally operating a sexually oriented business and 15 counts of personal liability of organized conduct.

Technical defects in some complaints and legal issues related to sentencing exposure Mr. Dia could face for other alleged violations led to those charges’ dismissal, Toledo Law Director Adam Loukx said.

Contact Mark Reiter at: markreiter@theblade.com or 419-724-6199.