HARRISBURG – Pennsylvania Attorney General Dave Sunday, along with Erie County District Attorney Elizabeth Hirz and Pennsylvania State Police, announced charges against the owner of Erie-based Totally You Fitness and Spa and three managers for using the business as a front to provide commercial sex to dozens of buyers.
Owner Tina Silveus and the three managers — her children, Keyvon Silveus and Corrine Wilcott, and her son-in-law, Roscoe Carroll Sr. — are each charged with corrupt organizations, dealing in proceeds of unlawful activities, promoting prostitution, and conspiracy to commit these crimes.
The charges stem from an investigation and recommendation by the 51st Statewide Investigating Grand Jury.
All four are being held on $45,000 bond each, and were ordered to have no contact with current or former employees.
Also charged are 52 commercial sex buyers who frequented the business at 1812 Peach Street. The Erie County District Attorney’s Office will prosecute those cases.
“This proposed fitness center was actually a highly-organized commercial sex-selling operation with employees who were targeted due to their vulnerabilities and trained not to disclose the full nature of the business and their income,” Attorney General Sunday said. “The business owner and her associates recruited employees who were homeless or dealing with addictions. This despicable behavior has no place in the Commonwealth, and I commend the grand jurors, our Human Trafficking Section, and our law enforcement partners for shutting down this criminal enterprise.”
“These arrests are part of our continued effort to confront and dismantle the cycle of exploitation created by commercial sex trafficking,” Erie County District Attorney Elizabeth Hirz said. “The individuals charged with these crimes represent the demand side of this criminal enterprise. We are committed to investigating and prosecuting those responsible for the exploitation of vulnerable individuals through prostitution and trafficking.”
The years-long investigation found that since at least 2016, Silveus employed 20 to 30 people as commercial sex workers — under the guise of massage therapists at the business.
Investigators confirmed that none of the employees ever had valid licenses for massage therapy. Instead, employees were referred to by stage names, and were instructed not to report their full income, which was primarily tips from customers paying for sex, and to be aware that police might investigate their conduct.
When investigators searched the business, they found evidence of commercial sex, including condoms and other items, and a log book of customers.
This case was investigated by the 51st Statewide Investigating Grand Jury, Pennsylvania State Police – Organized Crime Unit, Erie County Detectives, and the Office of Attorney General Human Trafficking Section. The cases against business management are being prosecuted by Assistant Chief Deputy Attorney General Summer Carroll, and the sex buyers are being prosecuted by Erie County Chief Deputy District Attorney Steven Liboski.
Criminal charges, and any discussion thereof, are merely allegations and all defendants are presumed innocent until and unless proven guilty.
# # #