Undercover prostitution sting nets 4 arrests in Jackson
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JACKSON, Tenn. — An undercover prostitution sting nets four arrests at hotels near Interstate 40 in Jackson, according to police. Four of the suspects appeared in court on Tuesday. Parent Rodregus Ozier said he is not surprised. “This is Tennessee,” he said. “Prostitution [is] all over the world. It’s just sad that we gotta have it here.” Stephanie Lee, Shana Pitts and Alexandra Dacus each appeared in Jackson City Court on Tuesday on a prostitution charge. Jeremy Santifer is charged with promoting prostitution, tampering with evidence and drug counts. “We know, we have an idea of what is going on, and that’s why we take the proactive approach is to address those issues before it gets out of hand,” Jackson Police Officer Derick Tisdale said. Police said Dacus and Pitts offered officers sex for money, then met investigators at a motel on North Highland Avenue. Officers said they met Lee at a different hotel on Sunday where investigators paid her money for a massage and a “happy ending.” Jackson City Court Judge Blake Anderson ordered the three women be tested for HIV. Police picked up Santifer after they said he called Pitts to warn her about the police. Officers said Pitts told them she paid him $20 per customer to protect her. Ozier said he is glad to see police trying to clean up the streets. “Who wants to be in a hotel room with their family and got things like this around them?” he said. Lee, Pitts and Dacus are being held at the Madison County Jail in lieu of $10,000 bond each. Santifer is being held in lieu of a $25,000 bond. Lee also faces a drug charge because police said they found a brown powder substance believed to be heroin in an area she had access to. According to an affidavit, Lee told investigators the substance was heroin. Officers said Santifer had what appeared to be marijuana and a white powder substance when they picked him up. According to an affidavit, Santifer admitted the white powder substance was cocaine.
