Recent Articles, Posts, and News: Alycia Martin

Tuesday, October 21, 2008
Woman arrested in sex sting asks judge to end case
Jennifer Chambers / The Detroit News
TROY -- The woman arrested in a prostitution sting involving the spouse of U.S. Sen. Debbie Stabenow has no money to comply with the terms of her probation and is asking a judge to close her case.

Alycia Martin is unemployed, receives no financial support from her family and has no money to pay for drug and alcohol screens, monthly probation fees for her case or for the gasoline to get to the court-ordered appointments, her lawyer Frank Cusumano Jr. said.

Martin, arrested Feb. 26 at the Residence Inn and charged with prostitution, was allowed to plead guilty to the lesser charge of trespassing. Troy District Court Judge William Bolle placed Martin, who was 20 at the time of the offense, on probation under the state's Youthful Trainee Act, which allows her criminal record to become nonpublic if she completes six months of probation.

Compliance with the random screens, monthly probation fees and fuel expenses will cost Martin $745 over the six-month probationary period. If Martin -- who is more than five months pregnant -- cannot pay for the drug tests, Cusumano says, she risks violating probation and going to jail.

"Ms. Martin does not want to go to jail, especially pregnant," Cusumano wrote in a motion to the court requesting that Martin's probation be shortened from six months to time served.
Cusumano also is asking the judge to consider the alternatives of allowing Martin to pay the fees at the end of the case or to revoke her Youthful Trainee Act status and sentence her immediately.

Troy City Attorney Lori Bluhm said she had no objections to the requests.

Martin's case made national headlines when Stabenow's husband, Thomas Athans, was questioned and released as part of the investigation into a prostitution ring at the Troy hotel.
Athans, who was pulled over by Troy police the night of Feb. 26, admitted to officers during a traffic stop that he met a woman online and paid her $150 for oral sex at the hotel. Troy police learned Athans had a suspended driver's license but released him without arrest, expecting his cooperation in the criminal case against Martin.

Athans was never charged in the case and never testified. Martin, whose lawyers attempted to get the case dismissed, did not provide police information on whom she worked for.
Martin's motion is to be heard Nov. 4.

You can reach Jennifer Chambers at (248) 647-7402 or jchambers@detnews.com.

OTHER LINKS

http://www.experienceproject.com/uw.php?e=348668

http://www.nydailynews.com/opinions/2008/07/26/2008-07-26_in_prostitution_raids_lets_remember_men_-2.html

Celebrity Insider - Photos And News: Alycia Martin Causes Heartache To Senator

http://www.alyciamartin.blogspot.com/

Open Letter to People of Southeastern Michigan

I am willing to work, and I am not looking for a hand out. I want to work. I want to be proud that I can do it on my own. I am just having trouble finding a job in this economy so I thought maybe someone out there knows a place that is hiring or has a business that could use a dedicated, reliable and honest young woman. I "have" to work vs. just working. When you "have" to work you always show up cause you can't afford not to.The City of Troy has me paying probation oversight fees of $300 that I am already behind on. Judge Bolle ordered drug testing and I have passed the tests, but they charge $25 per test, and I did not have enough money for gas to get to Troy, so I was charged $45 for the last test closer. I told my probation officer, and now the lab is charging me on account for the tests. I am going to owe alot when this is over, if Judge Bolle doesn't just violate me for not paying the fees. I don't want to go to jail again, but if I can't find a job, the Judge in Troy will probably find me in violation of probation and I'll be sent to jail.I am trying to better myself, not sell myself. I will not resort to selling drugs or my body, or anything illegal. I am honest and hard working. If you can help me with employment I can guarantee you will not regret it. I have experience in many areas and I am willing to do what it takes to prove myself in this society and economy. Please contact me if you can find it in your heart to extend a job not a hand out, I am not a charity, please don't get me wrong, I am simply trying to work for what I have and basic needs. I am not looking for a gift. Any job leads can be directed to my attorney at frankcusumanojr@gmail.com.

Ypsilanti's Response to Prostitution - Enforce Laws Equally Against Johns and Prostitutes and Provide Services To Get Prostitutes Off the Streets.

Ypsilanti Township steps up prostitution crackdown

by Tom Gantert The Ann Arbor News
Sunday October 19, 2008, 8:15 AM
LEISA THOMPSON THE ANN ARBOR NEWS

During stings conducted from April 18 to Oct. 2, more than 20 prostitution arrests were made at the corner of East Michigan Avenue and Johnson Road in Ypsilanti Township.
Along East Michigan Avenue in Ypsilanti Township, business owners say prostitutes are part of the landscape.

They loiter, day and night, waiting for men to stop and pick them up.
Vinay Lakhnkia said he got so fed up that he banned known prostitutes from his business, A&W Party Store, because they solicited customers. Last year, Lakhnkia said, prostitution was rampant on East Michigan Avenue. "It was like ants," he said.

But earlier this year, Ypsilanti Township officials took aim at the problem, using an approach that includes arresting prostitutes and their customers, as well as providing services to get prostitutes off the streets.

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"You know where there is a prostitute, there is a dope guy," Hage said. "The dope goes with it."
Radzik said the township's efforts center on enforcement and follow-up.
Undercover sting operations are nothing new. But taking aim at the "johns" and trying to help the prostitutes is a different approach.

When deputies catch men soliciting prostitutes - or undercover female deputies posing as streetwalkers - they confiscate their vehicles. For $750 and a promise not to return, police will agree not to go forward with civil forfeiture proceedings to permanently take the car, Radzik said."

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Glynnis Anderson, director of Home of New Visions, regularly visits the county jail to meet with as many as 10 women being held on prostitution charges.
Anderson assesses which women most need housing and mental health counseling and reports her findings to the court.

Home of New Visions offers six-month and 12-month programs, individual and group therapy, and temporary housing.

Anderson said three former prostitutes are in the program.

"Prior to what we are doing now, they would be back on the strip prostituting again," Anderson said.

Full story at http://www.mlive.com/news/ann-arbor/index.ssf/2008/10/ypsilanti_township_steps_up_pr.html