Sunday, June 29, 2008
News
Emory med school prof to be charged in madam case
Gwinnett County District Attorney’s Office and Emory University.
By Stephanie Ramage
Gwinnett County District Attorney Danny Porter says he’s meeting with an attorney for the Emory University Medical School professor named in court documents as a client of the “Mansion Madam” to discuss a possible plea agreement.
Porter originally told The Sunday Paper on June 3 that he planned to bring pandering charges against Emory urologist James “Jay” O. Morgan III.
Porter reiterated his intentions last week, saying “There will be charges and there will be a deposition.”
The Sunday Paper broke the story regarding the impending charges against Morgan in its June 8 edition after Porter complied with a request made by the paper under the Georgia Open Records Act to gain access to the court files in the now-notorious prostitution case. After reviewing the files and finding copious references to a transaction between Morgan and the so-called “Mansion Madam,” 42-year-old former Penthouse Pet Lisa Ann Taylor, The Sunday Paper asked Porter why there was no arrest warrant for Morgan.
Porter told The Sunday Paper that charges had not been brought against Morgan because “It was an oversight,” and added, “But I can’t just leave that hanging out there.”
It was The Sunday Paper’s inquiry regarding the arrest warrant for Morgan that prompted Porter’s renewed interest in the case.
Morgan’s conversations with Taylor, who worked in the adult entertainment industry under the name “Melissa Wolf,” were captured on Gwinnett County law enforcement wiretaps applied to Taylor’s mobile and home phones. The Sunday Paper listened to the recorded conversations, which were among approximately 1,000 audio files made by investigators. Some of those recordings are available at www.sundaypaper.com.
Emory University released a brief press statement on June 20 that read,
“We have recently learned of the allegations concerning Dr. Morgan’s personal life and take those allegations seriously. Dr. Morgan is currently on a leave of absence.”
Porter initiated the investigation into the goings-on at 2800 Sugarloaf Club Drive, the address of the aforementioned “mansion,” in late 2006, resulting in Taylor’s arrest in January 2007. Taylor pled guilty in October 2007 to charges of prostitution, keeping a house of prostitution, and cocaine possession. Prostitution is a misdemeanor; more serious charges of racketeering were dropped. Taylor was sentenced to seven years probation, and ordered to pay a $150,000 fine and undergo treatment for drug and alcohol abuse.
All charges against Nicole Alaine Probert, another woman arrested for prostitution in connection with the case, and against her alleged client, Daniel Marfione, were dropped in exchange for their cooperation with law enforcement.
Kerry Kruzel, a chiropractor whose home address is listed in Cumming, Ga., and Alexander “Billy” Rider, whom court documents identify as a member of the sales team at Bill Heard Chevrolet, were also arrested and charged with pandering—that is, being prostitution customers, or “johns,” a misdemeanor—based on evidence gathered through surveillance, bank records and witness testimony, all of which was corroborated by information gleaned from wiretaps. Last December, Kruzel and Rider were sentenced to 12 months probation and required to pay a $1,000 fine.
District Attorney Porter alerted the Internal Revenue Service to records on Taylor’s property that showed about $150,000 in unreported income, but the IRS will not confirm whether it pursued an investigation based on Porter’s tip. Similarly, the Federal Bureau of Investigation has so far declined to comment on evidence of interstate prostitution cited in the case files. SP