Southeast Wisconsin Sex Trafficking: FBI File Notes

The following page covers a series of gentleman’s clubs in southeast Wisconsin, each linked with Boro and Radomir Buzdum. Crimes (both alleged and proven) range from simple ordinance violations to human trafficking, wire fraud and even ties to the Russian Mafia.

This information is not in strict chronological order, but is divided into three parts by location for the purpose of making the pieces more clear and the overall story less convoluted. As with many things on this website, it is in a very rough draft. 

Note: This is not meant to be a fully-formed article. It is merely a repository of information at this time.

 

FBI Files and other public documents can be found here: https://kingsridgemedia.com/MM/fbi-files/

Part One: Germantown

Since 2001, Boro Buzdum has operated a tavern known as Diamonds Pub and Grill, located at W188 N10515 Maple Road in Germantown, Wisconsin. When Buzdum first operated the tavern, he leased the property.

In August 2005, Buzdum decided that he would begin offering nude or semi–nude dance entertainment for the customers at his tavern. It is his intention to operate a sexually–oriented business that has, as a significant part of its business, the showing of specified anatomical areas or specified sexual activity. If allowed by law, he would operate as an “adult cabaret” “365 days a year,” offering nude and semi–nude dancing “all the time.”

Buzdum would offer primarily female dancers, but on occasion would offer male dancers, such as during “deer hunters’ widows’ balls.” He would offer “the deer hunters’ widows’ balls” “when all of the men go hunting.” Deer hunting season begins “right before Thanksgiving and goes for two weeks.” Further, Buzdum intends to operate as an adult business while continuing to serve alcohol. Buzdum learned that he could not lawfully present nude or semi–nude dance entertainment according to the Germantown ordinances as they stood at that time.

In enacting § 12.24, the Village assembled extensive legislative record to support the regulation of sexually oriented businesses. The legislative record supporting § 12.24 contains more than 1,200 pages. The record contained studies, court decisions, ordinances from other cities, and other materials all supporting the Village’s rationale that sexually oriented businesses should be regulated to reduce harmful secondary effects.

On January 16, 2006, the Village Planner sent Buzdum a letter. The letter advised that “a change to an adult oriented business … shall comply with all Local regulations listed within the Code.” He further advised that “[a] change in operation to an Adult Oriented Business, without obtaining the proper licenses and approvals, may result in enforcement action.”

Boro Buzdum filed an action on February 6, 2006, challenging the constitutionality of Germantown’s sexually oriented business ordinance, § 12.24, the zoning scheme as it relates to adult expression, and the prohibition on nudity and semi–nudity in establishments that hold a liquor license, § 12.02(7)(i). On February 24, 2006, Buzdum filed a motion for a preliminary injunction seeking relief from the prohibition on nudity and semi–nudity in establishments with a liquor license.

On March 20, 2006, Germantown repealed § 12.02(7)(i), which prohibited nudity or semi–nudity in establishments that hold a liquor license. After the repeal of the prohibition, Buzdum decided to present an evening of erotic dance entertainment at his tavern on April 8, 2006. On April 7, 2006, during an alcohol license check, Germantown police officers observed a flyer inside Diamonds announcing the nude dancing show.

To arrange for the strippers on April 8, Buzdum contacted “Tiny,” someone who worked for his brother’s sexually oriented business known as TNT in Clyman, Wisconsin (see next section). Buzdum knew that Tiny had connections with “some girls that were dancers, and he could ask them if they were interested in dancing.” Buzdum told Tiny “something to the degree that I needed some dancers for a one–night show and if he had any girls that he could call and have them show up.” Buzdum anticipated that Tiny would follow through and that strippers would be coming to his establishment on April 8, 2006.

Diamonds charged a $5 cover to its patrons that evening. Neither he nor Tiny checked into whether the strippers had a license or permit to dance as adult cabaret dancers. Buzdum’s expectations for the strippers that evening were that they were going to dance and entertain people just like strippers do at Silk Exotic or some of the other adult cabarets he has been to in Milwaukee. He expected that after the strippers go up on stage and dance for a few songs, they would come down to the floor and socialize with the men, soliciting lap dances or otherwise walking around clothed or unclothed. Buzdum anticipated that the strippers would show specified anatomical areas. Further, it would have been his expectation that the strippers mingle with the men with their breasts exposed.

On the afternoon of April 8, 2006, Germantown Police Captain Michael Snow received information about the police officers’ observations the prior evening and he decided to meet with Buzdum. Captain Snow told Buzdum that he could not present the erotic dance show and that if he did, the police would shut him down. Buzdum said that he could show Captain Snow in the ordinance that he was allowed to put on a show, but that he did not have a copy of the ordinance with him at the bar. Captain Snow said he was on his way off duty and asked Buzdum to call Lt. Schreihart if he wanted to continue the discussion. After their meeting, Captain Snow advised Lt. Schreihart that the meeting “went well” and he believed Buzdum would not proceed with the show.

Later that afternoon, Buzdum contacted Lt. Schreihart and explained that he had paperwork from the law firm of Crivello, Carlson & Mentkowski, S.C., indicating that § 12.02 had been repealed. He explained to Lt. Schreihart that he (Buzdum) had challenged the constitutionality of several ordinances in federal court, that the ordinance that prohibited nudity in taverns had been repealed, and that his attorney had advised him that he could have this type of event, as long as he did not do so “regularly.”

Lt. Schreihart then spoke to Attorney John DeStefanis who advised that Diamonds did not have a sexually oriented business license and, even if it did, such a business is not permitted to serve alcohol. Lt. Schreihart re–contacted Buzdum and shared this information. Buzdum said that he wanted to follow the law, but that he had to follow the advice of his own attorney as to what the law allowed. Lt. Schreihart advised that if Buzdum continued with the show, the Germantown Police Department would have no choice but to respond to Diamonds and stop the show. Buzdum went ahead with the erotic dance entertainment presentation which began at 8:15 p.m. that night.

At 7:00 p.m., the Germantown Police Department sent a plainclothes officer to observe the activities inside Diamonds and to monitor for violations of the tavern’s license. At about the same time, Tiny arrived with five strippers and advised Buzdum that the strippers were ready. The undercover officer observed several dancers go up on stage, take off their shirts and expose their breasts and nipples, collect gratuities, engage in lap dances, and walk about the room with their breasts exposed. The undercover officer then advised his lieutenant of the ordinance violations which he had observed.

After the undercover officer reported the activity, officers, led by Captain Snow, entered the tavern and assembled a line on the north wall. Captain Snow announced: “This establishment is closed, and I need you all to leave,” or words to that effect. Captain Snow then spoke with the club’s representative and another officer directed the bartender not to serve any more alcohol. The officers asked patrons to leave due to the fact that the tavern was being shut down. The officers met with no resistance and patrons and dancers cooperated and complied with the officers’ request.

Buzdum approached the Captain and was advised that he was in violation of the law. “I explained to him that my attorney advised me that we could do a one–time special dance, and he said no, and he asked all the patrons to get up and leave, and then that took a few minutes and then they went into the dressing room and interrogated the girls or talked to the girls and pretty much emptied out the building and locked us down.” If the police had not arrived that evening, Buzdum would have continued putting on the performance. More specifically, he would go back to his attorney “as often as I could” for advice on whether or not he could put on another show. In fact, he would contact his attorney every week to ask whether he could put on another adult entertainment show.

As a result of the April 2006 show, Diamonds was issued a citation for operating a sexually oriented business without a license. At no time while the officers were present in Diamonds and communicating with its representatives or patrons was any force used against the tavern’s representatives or patrons. The dancers were not physically touched or restrained in any way and voluntarily cooperated by agreeing to be escorted into the dressing room where they dressed and provided the statements as contained in the police report. The officers did not have a search warrant. At no time was Buzdum restrained or physically escorted from the tavern. No arrests were made.

On April 26, 2006, Buzdum filed a motion for partial summary judgment addressing the facial validity of the repealed prohibition, § 12.02(7). Buzdum was granted leave to file a supplemental complaint alleging “as applied” constitutional violations.

In October 2006, Buzdum thought of putting on an all–male erotic dance program for the “deer hunting widows.” Because he had been charged with a violation of the ordinance the previous April, he decided not to put on the show without also asking the Germantown Police Department in advance if they would approve of such a program, even after consulting his own attorney. Buzdum had his bar manager, Tammy Maddox, talk to Captain Snow to obtain the approval of the Village before going ahead with the presentation. Captain Snow said he had no problem with the presentation that Buzdum had in mind, so Buzdum was able to put on that show on November 18, 2006.

On November 20, 2006, Germantown amended § 12.24. Many of the changes removed requirements relating to the information the operator of a sexually oriented business must provide to the Village in the application, such as fingerprints, social security number, federal tax identification number, and conviction history relating to specified criminal activities. Amendments were also made which removed specified criminal activities and violations or noncompliance with provisions of the Village’s ordinances as grounds for disallowance of an operator’s license application. In addition, the amendments changed the zoning to include commercial or industrial zones, and reduced from 1,500 feet to 1,000 feet the required distance that a sexually oriented business must be from another sexually oriented business, residence, park, church, or school. The amended ordinance does not include the phrase, “regularly, commonly, habitually, or consistently.” The subsection pertaining to persons who engage in exotic or erotic dancing or performances that are intended for sexual interests or titillation of an audience or customers was removed from the ordinance.

On December 1, 2006, both Buzdum and Germantown filed motions for summary judgment.

In 2007, Buzdum purchased the Diamonds property for $550,000 and was the sole owner. The tavern had a Class B liquor license and was licensed to sell alcoholic beverages by the drink.

Buzdum also was the owner of Family Fun Land (W189 N 11161 Kleinmann Drive), a children’s play and party venue in Germantown that closed in 2010 after being in business for about 19 months. “I decided to be a wholesome person and run Family Fun Land, like a Chuck E. Cheese’s, but that didn’t do enough business,” he said.

Part Two: Watertown and Clyman

Since 2001, Radomir Buzdum has owned Tequila Nights, Inc, the parent company of TNT Gentleman’s Club and the Dew Drop Inn (1027 North Fourth Street, Watertown).

April 2002: Radomir purchased the building that houses TNT.

In 2006, when one dancer became pregnant, pimp Christopher Childs sent her back to live with her parents. Two months after the baby was born, Childs had her move to Green Bay to live with a friend of his – directing her to resume stripping and going on prostitution dates for his financial benefit. Childs, before moving to the Dodge County area, had been active in Appleton, Wisconsin.

2007: Radomir sold the original TNT location (942 Main Street, Clyman) to Don Rafaelli and Michael Siegel, who began operating it as a strip club called the Hardware Store.

On August 13, 2015, J.C., a dancer working for a pimp named Christopher Childs, communicated with Siegel using Facebook Messenger. J.C. explained that although Childs already had talked to bartender Scott Hoeft, J.C. wanted to make sure that Siegel approved of her working at the club. Siegel responded that J.C. was “part of The Hardware Store family.”

In a conversation on November 13, 2015, [Victim-2] stated that she wanted to return Childs’ phone and “be done” working for him. Childs told her, “You’re not done” and “Don’t make me come find you.” Childs stated he would never let her leave, noting that he put too much “work and effort into you to let you just walk away.” Childs stated that [Victim-2] could not become a “lost investment” and added, “I’m not gonna let you fuck up my plans.” When [Victim-2] countered that there was nothing Childs could do, Childs replied, “There’s a lot I can do and if you’d like me to show you I will.” Childs further warned [Victim-2] not to “underestimate” him. Childs then asked if [Victim-2] wanted to leave because [Victim-1] had begun working for him. [Victim-2] begged Childs to “replace” her with [Victim-1] and let her leave “peacefully.” Childs stated that he was “getting real pissed off” and told [Victim-2], “You are my property.”

On July 29, 2016, a conspirator sent J.C. a Facebook message asking if J.C. recalled Siegel setting her up with a particular commercial sex customer and asking whether J.C. could work on July 30, 2016, because Siegel needed a “reliable pretty girl” for a different commercial sex customer.

On July 30, 2016, J.C. sent a Facebook message to Siegel to explain that she was running late, and Siegel replied that the clients were waiting for J.C.

In a Facebook conversation on August 6, 2016, Childs directed [Victim-1] to torture herself as “punishment.” Childs told [Victim-1] that she must sleep with a bottle inserted into her rectum for 3 weeks and that she had a week to force her fist into her vagina. When [Victim-1] told Childs that trying to stick the bottle into her rectum “hurts so bad,” Childs responded, “I want it to hurt.”

On August 29, 2016, Siegel exchanged Facebook messages with J.C. regarding a dispute over the number of champagne rooms she had performed the prior evening. Immediately after the exchange, another conspirator sent Childs a message asking that he call Siegel.

On November 13, 2016, a conspirator employed by the Hardware Store sent a Facebook message to Childs to advise that J.C. had money waiting at the club.

Between February 14 and February 16, 2017, Childs exchanged Facebook messages with a conspirator employed by the Hardware Store regarding whether one of the women for whom he served as a pimp had been using drugs.

May 16, 2017: ([Victim-1]) tells the police Christopher Childs has forced her to engage in prostitution at TNT and the Hardware Store for almost two years, and he would take all the money she received from this. The woman said Childs would beat her, make her sleep on a bathroom floor, choke her until she vomited, and forced her to insert a hot curling iron into her vagina. She said the staff at TNT was fully aware of what was going on in the “champagne room” and knew some of the dancers had pimps. Use of the champagne room was $150 for a half hour, which was split between the dancer and the club. The victim said Christopher Childs’ son (Chris Jr) and Kendrick “Ball” Hayden were also pimps; Hayden was a “gorilla pimp,” a pimp known to control his women with violence.

On August 1, 2017, the Portage Police Department responded to the home of a 20-year-old female who had cut her wrists and was expressing suicide ideations. Officers asked the young woman why she had cut herself. She explained that she was a dancer at TNT and had been working during the overnight hours between July 28 and July 29, 2017. She stated that she was intoxicated and agreed to have sex with a customer in a back room at TNT. After the customer penetrated her vaginally, she told him that she did not want to continue. The customer replied that it was “already happening” and continued having sex with her. The victim tried waving her hand under the door to attract attention, but no one noticed her. She then tried pushing the customer off, but he held her down by her wrists until he finished, ejaculating on her chest. The responding officers noted and documented bruises to the inside of the victim’s thighs, which she indicated were from the incident.

During the sexual assault victim’s interview, she denied engaging in prostitution at TNT during this incident or otherwise, however she stated that prostitution commonly took place in the champagne rooms there. According to the victim, Tim Miller and the other staff of TNT knew that prostitution was taking place inside the club, and this was the reason there are no cameras in the champagne rooms. The victim also stated that she had seen Miller giving dancers condoms in the back of the club near the vending machines. She recalled a specific instance in which, as she was headed back to a champagne room with a client, she saw Miller hand the client a condom. The victim explained that TNT keeps half of all champagne room fees paid. When the sexual assault suspect was interviewed, he stated that the victim had asked him if he wanted to go into a champagne room with her and indicated to him that there were no cameras. He admitted to paying $200 for the use of the champagne room for 30 minutes and to having sex with the victim, but he claimed that the sex was not an act of prostitution and was consensual.

A shooting that took place in the early morning hours on August 2, 2017. When Dodge County Sheriff’s Office deputies arrived on scene, they found Tim Miller outside with a flashlight. Miller told the deputies, “There was these black guys in here and these guys claim they got shot.” Miller added that the males told him they needed an ambulance but ended up leaving in an Audi and a Durango. The two victims were later identified at a hospital in Madison. The area was canvassed and law enforcement recovered brass firearm casings, suspected blood, two cell phones, a path of trampled grass, and an uprooted fence post with barbed wire attached to it on the south side of the TNT property and in the field behind it.

August 2017: TNT manager Timothy Miller is fired. Jacob Maroo, a bouncer, is promoted to manager.

On September 20, 2017, having been fired from TNT in August, Tim Miller reached out to the Dodge County Sheriff’s Office to offer information about Buzdum and TNT. Miller stated that Buzdum had fired him due to recent events at TNT, including a shooting that occurred in the parking lot there on August 2, 2017. Buzdum had promised him $25,000 in severance pay, only $9,000 of which had been paid at that point. Miller indicated that on one occasion, while he attempted to negotiate the terms of his severance with Buzdum, Buzdum placed a gun on the desk between them in order to intimidate Miller. Buzdum had also attempted to get Miller to sign a non-disparagement contract and to return TNT’s books, which Miller had taken with him, in exchange for additional severance pay. Miller stated that Dawn Buzdum had separately offered him an additional ten percent if Miller would deliver TNT’s books to her instead. Miller declined these offers. Miller said that he originally began working for Buzdum as a bouncer, and then a manager, at the Roadhouse.

When the Roadhouse closed, Miller filed for unemployment benefits. Buzdum offered to keep Miller on and give him a managerial position when he reopened the Roadhouse as TNT. Miller continued to collect unemployment for several months while working at TNT. During this time, Buzdum paid Miller $100 cash per day. Once Miller could no longer collect unemployment, Buzdum began paying Miller $15 an hour for 40 hours per week, half by check and half in cash. Miller indicated that Buzdum did this in order to avoid paying unemployment insurance. Miller was aware that Buzdum refused to pay other employees, including [CoopWitness-1], by check for similar reasons. Former bartender Lewis Miller (no relation to Tim Miller) was the only employee paid entirely by check. Employees who received paychecks used to pick them up at TNT or at Buzdum’s home. According to Miller, however, they now pick them up at Sanft Accounting. Miller recalled that former bouncer Russ Klein had broken his ankle while working at TNT. Buzdum offered Klein a decent sum of money if Klein would file his workers’ compensation claim through his other employer, which Klein did. Buzdum, however, never paid Klein what he had promised.

Over the years, Buzdum put increasing pressure on Miller to make TNT profitable. Miller said Buzdum paid him a $1,000 cash bonus for every thousand dollars that TNT made over the weekly target of $9,000. Miller stated it was not unusual for TNT to make $15,000-$16,000 per week while he was manager. Originally, Dawn Buzdum did TNT’s bookkeeping using two laptop computers. Miller later took over when, according to Miller, Dawn got sick of being involved with TNT. Miller kept four separate notebooks that tracked different sources of income at TNT, including the till (bar), tip out collected from the dancers, the lap dance room, and the champagne rooms. Miller said that after he once lost one of the notebooks, he had [CoopWitness-1] start transferring everything in them into a single master notebook but never finished.

According to Miller, lap dances cost $25 per song. Of that amount, the dancer received $15, and TNT received $10. A champagne room cost $200 per girl for a 30-minute rental, and a “mini champagne room” cost $150 per girl for 15 minutes. The dancers and TNT split the champagne room fees evenly. Miller explained that fees collected from the dancers were tallied in the tip-out notebook. If a dancer arrived when the club opened at 7 p.m., she paid $10 to dance. For every thirty minutes after 7 p.m., a dancer would have to pay an additional $5, up to a maximum fee of $40 to dance. Miller remarked that Buzdum “wanted money from everyone.” There was not a notebook for tracking cover charges. Cover was $5 on weeknights and $10 on weekends. Miller said he often let customers in without charging cover, however TNT still made around $800 per week in cover charges, which he and Buzdum split. Income from TNT’s gambling machines was not tracked in a notebook either. Miller said that the machines at TNT and the Dew Drop easily make $10,000 to $15,000 per week, however Buzdum does not report this or any other cash income on his taxes.

It used to be Miller’s responsibility to collect cash from the  gaming machines each night, however Buzdum now does this himself. Miller stated that cash revenues from TNT were deposited into zippered compartments inside the door of a gun safe in the basement of the Dew Drop Inn. Miller stated that there was no predictable pattern to how cash was kept there. One day there might be as much as $80,000-100,000 inside the safe, and the next it might be empty. Miller said that if the money was not brought to the Dew Drop Inn at the end of the night, it was brought directly to Buzdum at his home on Boje Court. Miller had the combination to a safe at Buzdum’s home. If Buzdum was not home when Miller brought the money (although he usually was), Miller would let himself in and deposit the cash into the safe or leave the money in a bag underneath the front seat of Buzdum’s minivan. Miller also stated that [CoopWitness-1] would sometimes bring the money to Buzdum’s home the next morning in an envelope.

Miller indicated that when Buzdum and Dawn were negotiating their divorce in 2015, Buzdum stopped keeping cash at home or at the Dew Drop Inn, moving it instead to his brother Boromir’s bar in Germantown, Buzdum’s Pub & Grill. Miller stated that Buzdum wanted as few assets in his name as possible during the divorce. For this reason, Buzdum titled a van owned by TNT for picking up dancers and club supplies, as well as a Chevy pickup truck, in Miller’s name. Miller now believes Buzdum also did this in order to avoid liability in the event of an accident or lawsuit. According to Miller, Buzdum told him that he did not go through with the first divorce because he wanted additional time to “tie up some loose ends” and conceal assets in order to come out better financially.

Miller recalled that Buzdum would make false claims of business expenses on his taxes in order to reduce the amount he owed. According to Miller, Buzdum would have him go to office supply stores and purchase blank invoices. These invoices would be filled out to document fictitious expenditures for improvements to TNT. Miller said he actually spent approximately $25,000 of his own money on construction materials for improvements to TNT because he believed that one day he would be part owner of TNT with Buzdum. Buzdum never reimbursed Miller for these materials, but he did use Miller’s receipts to support his own tax write-offs. Miller used to pay TNT and the Dew Drop Inn’s bills by check using one of four checkbooks for accounts held in Buzdum’s name at BMO Harris Bank. Miller also made cash deposits on Buzdum’s behalf at BMO Harris and the Bank of Lake Mills. Miller stated that everyone at the Bank of Lake Mills knows Buzdum and that Ty Neupert, the owner’s son, has a personal financial interest in TNT. Miller believed that Neupert had bought into TNT and was paying for club advertising in the form of billboards in Fort Atkinson. Miller said that in September 2017, he overheard Buzdum tell Neupert, “Don’t worry; you will make money once we get this shit taken care of.”

Miller stated that Buzdum regularly paid dancers at TNT for sex. If Buzdum still owed these dancers money at closing time, Buzdum would have Miller pay them from the club’s till. When Buzdum lived in the apartment above the Dew Drop Inn, Buzdum would also have Miller drive TNT dancers there to have sex with him. According to Miller, Dawn found out about Buzdum’s infidelities through her son, Justin Gillis. Dawn then began offering dancers money to record themselves having sex with Buzdum and bring the evidence to Dawn. Miller recalled that one dancer, a minor, took Dawn up on this offer. When Buzdum learned that this minor had a recording of him having sex with her, Buzdum ordered Miller to seize the minor’s phone. Miller said he did so. Miller stated that Buzdum hired several minors and got fake IDs for them so that they would appear to be of legal age to dance at TNT.

Miller admitted that the champagne rooms were supposed to be for lap dances; however, “other things” went on there. The club took a cut of all champagne room fees, but any other proceeds from the sexual activities that occurred within a champagne room were considered “extra” and negotiated directly between the dancers and the customers. Miller was reluctant to say that TNT sponsored prostitution occurring in its champagne rooms. He did, however, name several dancers known for engaging in prostitution at TNT or working for pimps, including Childs and Ball.

According to Miller, Ball denies being a pimp, but Miller believes he is because he often travels to Atlanta and talks about how many pimps are there. Miller also described the women who worked for Ball as “all beat up.” He also recalled an instance in which he saw a dancer give a $30,000 tip she had received from a client to Ball. Miller said the last time he spoke to Childs was when Childs accused Miller of not paying “Jada” (Jennifer Campbell) her champagne room fees. Miller reviewed TNT’s surveillance cameras and observed Campbell taking money out of her envelope and hiding it in her shirt. Miller told Childs what he had seen.

On October 31, 2017, police interviewed [CoopWitness-2]. [CoopWitness-2] worked as a bouncer at TNT from the time he was 18 (approximately 2015) through the summer of 2017, when he was terminated along with Miller and [CoopWitness-1]. During his tenure at TNT, [CoopWitness-2] witnessed acts of violence that occurred at TNT between pimps and the women who worked for them. [CoopWitness-2] said that on at least one occasion, he had to physically remove Childs from TNT because [CoopWitness-2] had seen Childs physically assault Jennifer Campbell. [CoopWitness-2] also saw Ball physically assault Sixxx.

On December 20, 2017, following an incident involving an act of prostitution taking place in one of the club’s champagne rooms, Siegel provided false information to law enforcement, claiming that the Hardware Store fired any dancer suspected of engaging in sexual activity.

In January 2018, STR, LLC notified the City of Juneau of a change in membership and sought approval for a change of agent, as is required by Wis. Stat. § 125.04(6). The successor agent for whom STR sought approval was Michael Siegel.

On January 19, 2018, Hoeft exchanged text messages with Childs regarding how “Chrissy,” a woman working for Childs, was performing.

On January 20, 2018, Siegel and another conspirator exchanged messages regarding the fact that Childs was “Chrissy’s” pimp.

On February 1, 2018, Hoeft texted Childs to ask whether “Chrissy” could work at another strip club operated by Siegel.

On February 14, 2018, the City of Juneau issued a Class B Retail License for the sale of Fermented Malt Beverages and Intoxicating Liquor to STR, LLC, with Michael Siegel as agent, for the period March 13, 2018 to June 30, 2018.

On March 9, 2018, the Watertown Police Department arrested Miller for Stalking and Second Degree Sexual Assault of a Child under Watertown Police Department Case 18-386. These offenses were unrelated to the investigation into Childs and TNT. When officers made contact with Miller, they located two iPhone cell phones in his vehicle. The Watertown Police Department obtained a search warrant for the phones, and on April 11, 2018, the phones were imaged by Detective Wacker of the Watertown Police Department. During Detective Wacker’s review of the phones, he noted that the phones contained information pertaining to TNT’s operations. Detective Wacker made the following observation: The phones contained several photographs of females, some of whom appeared to possibly be minors, dressed in attire meant for stripping. Based on the context, it appeared likely that these females were dancers at TNT.

March 29, 2018: Christopher Childs is arrested for sex trafficking.

On March 29, 2018, case agents interviewed Ryan Joms, who was then working part time as a bouncer at TNT. Joms was familiar with Childs as a pimp from both of these locales. Joms could not recall having seen Childs inside TNT or the Hardware Store but said he often saw Childs in the parking lots of these clubs. Joms had been a regular client of [Victim-1] and paid for sex with her on numerous occasions through December 2016. Joms was aware that [Victim-1] and Campbell worked for Childs and that they conducted prostitution dates outside of the clubs. Joms initially stated that [Victim-1] and Campbell “possibly” also did dates inside the champagne rooms at the clubs. He later admitted to doing prostitution dates with [Victim-1], as well as another dancer, inside TNT.

Joms was also aware that Childs was violent with the women who worked for him. Joms had heard from these women that Childs would sometimes painfully squeeze the backs of their necks to get their attention while they were inside the clubs, but he would do it in such a way that an observer would think he was just giving them a neck massage. He also knew that Childs would sometimes call Miller to say that Campbell would not be coming in to dance at TNT for a few days and that this would signify that Childs had beaten Campbell.

Joms recalled an incident in January 2017 when the Hardware Store’s manager told Joms to take [Victim-1] home because she had come to work high. Joms took [Victim-1] inside [Victim-1]’s home, where she passed out on her bed. Joms then fell asleep on [Victim-1]’s couch. Later, Joms was awakened by the sound of [Victim-1]’s phone ringing repeatedly, followed shortly thereafter by the sound of Childs pounding on [Victim-1]’s back door. [Victim-1] urged Joms to exit through the front door, and Joms did so without encountering Childs. Joms believed that Childs had come inside [Victim-1]’s house after Joms was gone and either “scolded or beat” [Victim-1]. Joms believed that Miller was formerly a pimp in Chicago before becoming the manager at TNT. According to Joms, if a dancer who worked at TNT had a pimp, and the pimp knew Miller, Miller would report to the pimp how much the dancer had earned thus far in the night.

On March 29, 2018, police interviewed Jacob Maroo. Maroo had worked on and off as a bouncer at TNT for approximately seven years. He stated that he quit in the fall of 2016 because there were lots of gang members and shady characters frequenting TNT, and he feared the.re would be a shooting. After Miller was fired in August 2017, Maroo agreed to come back on board as TNT’s manager. Maroo is presently employed by Buzdum in that capacity. Maroo described Buzdum as a “good guy” and “family-oriented.” Later, however, he described how Dawn, Buzdum’s wife, had caught Buzdum having sex with one of TNT’s dancers in a champagne room at TNT. He also admitted to driving dancers to Buzdum’s apartment above the Dew Drop Inn for a few hours at a time.

Maroo stated that Buzdum pays him every two weeks. He receives his pay as $592 via check and $900 in cash. According to Maroo, Buzdum suggested splitting Maroo’s pay this way so that Maroo and his then-pregnant wife and children would continue to qualify for public benefits. Maroo said that Buzdum personally signs all of TNT’s payroll checks and drops them off on Tuesdays or Wednesdays. Maroo is also regularly paid cash bonuses of anywhere between $40 and $290 a night, depending on the night of the week.

As a part of his job responsibilities, Maroo tracks TNT’s income from the register, room fees for the lap dance room and champagne rooms, and house fees from the dancers each night. At the end of the night, Maroo places the reports of these sources of income into a safe located behind the bar. Maroo has also been keeping a second set of books since November 2017, which he stores in his car. Maroo stated that TNT has two safes and that the bartenders all have the codes to the safes. He said that they may contain as much as $10,000 total at any given time. If the club was running low on cash during business hours, Maroo says he would go to Buzdum’s house (N9661 Boje Court) and retrieve additional cash that was stored in Buzdum’s 2014 Blue Toyota Sienna Sport van.

According to Maroo, TNT’s business was approximately half in cash and half in credit. Customers who want to use a credit card to get cash can do so at the bar for a 10% fee. TNT also has an ATM that is serviced by a private company. Maroo said that he sent both Buzdum and Dawn text messages to their phones with TNT’s sales figures each night at 10 p.m., midnight, and closing. Maroo also said that Dawn used to come into TNT on Sunday nights to do a weekly inventory. At that time, Dawn would pull tapes from the point of sale system and place them in the safe. Maroo said he used to run a separate copy of TNT’s income reports for Dawn that was placed in the liquor cabinet at the bar, however Dawn told Maroo in April 2018 that she no longer needed her own reports.

Maroo was aware that Buzdum and TNT use the Bank of Lake Mills as their primary financial institution. He believed that Buzdum knew someone there. Maroo stated he did not have signature authority on TNT’s bank accounts, however he was given a credit card with which to buy pizzas, water, soda, and other supplies for TNT.

Since Maroo has been managing TNT, most of TNT’s bills have been mailed to the Dew Drop Inn. Maroo indicated that Buzdum’ s main office is in the basement of the Dew Drop Inn. According to Maroo, Buzdum normally drops off TNT’s employee payroll checks at the club on Tuesdays or Wednesdays. Buzdum also comes to TNT every day between 9 a.m. and noon and places a green bag in the primary safe with money for the cash register.

Maroo stated that TNT has five champagne rooms, each large enough to fit a couch and a table. Maroo estimated that the champagne rooms are used six to eight times on weeknights, eight to ten times on Thursday nights, and about 14 times on the weekends. Maroo was aware that TNT currently charges $250 for the use of a champagne room for 30 minutes, or $175 for 15 minutes. He stated he has heard that dancers can earn $100-300 in additional “tips” from customers inside the champagne room. Maroo believed these tips were in exchange for sex acts, though he claimed to have no direct knowledge or confirmation of this.

Although there were cameras all over TNT, which Maroo attributed to Miller being “paranoid,” there were no cameras in the champagne rooms. The cameras elsewhere in the club could be monitored in real time from Buzdum’s house.

Dancers were given a cut of the room fees they had brought in for TNT at the end of each night in an envelope. Maroo said Miller had previously seen Campbell and [Victim-1] taking money out of their own envelopes and hiding it.

Maroo understood that Campbell, [Victim-1], and [Victim-2] worked for Childs, whom Maroo saw at TNT while Maroo was a bouncer there. He further understood that Campbell was Childs’ “eye and ears” when Childs was not at TNT, and that she would report back to Childs about what the other girls who worked for him were doing. Maroo observed that the women who worked for Childs came in with bruises “a lot more often than not.” He recalled seeing [Victim-1] with multiple bruises and seeing [Victim-2] with a black eye. Maroo helped [Victim-2] hide from Childs after one such occasion.

[Victim-2] told Maroo that Childs was raping her in an effort to get her pregnant so that she could not leave him. Maroo said [Victim-1] and [Victim-2] frequently talked about leaving Childs while they worked for him. They would try to save toward that goal by hiding it, however one would usually end up telling Childs about the other’s plans in order to protect herself. Maroo also remembered Campbell talking with Miller about wanting to leave Childs. Campbell, [Victim-1], and [Victim-2] would discuss the rules that Childs imposed on them, such as not doing “extras” with black men. Maroo believed that Childs’ violence toward his victims went in cycles. He stated that the victims would “misbehave” for a bit, that they would “learn their lessons,” and that the bruising would subsequently stop for a time before the cycle began again.

March 30, 2018: ([Victim-2]) talks to police about Childs, saying she worked for him over two years. He would control what she ate, drank, and when she could use the bathroom. He would beat her and urinate on her if she broke his rules. She explained that she learned how to be a prostitute from another of Childs’ women, identified as Jennifer Campbell. The victim said one of Childs’ rules was never to engage in sex with black men. She was caught doing this one time and had her head slammed into kitchen cabinets. She said everyone at TNT knew what was going on, and bouncer Ryan Joms was even a regular customer of ([Victim-1]).

On April 12, 2018, Siegel provided false information to law enforcement, claiming that he had no idea that Childs was a pimp. This same month (exact date unknown) Siegel resigned as president of the Village of Clyburn.

In April 2018 (exact date unknown), authorities interviewed S.B., who had been identified as a long-time prostitution customer of Jennifer Campbell. S.B. indicated that he had met Campbell at the Hardware Store and had been paying her for sex for approximately 4 years. S.B. explained that he would purchase champagne rooms at the TNT and the Hardware Store so he could have sex with Campbell. S.B. would pay the club approximately $175 for 30 minutes or $250 for an hour to use the rooms. S.B. indicated that there was an additional $10 fee for using a credit card. In addition to paying for sex with Campbell, S.B. purchased the residence in which Campbell and Childs resided and purchased a Cadillac for Campbell. Case agents have verified that S.B. is listed as the owner of the residence that had been shared by Childs and Campbell.

May 2, 2018: two Watertown men and a Reeseville man were indicted for a home invasion armed robbery on S. 15th Place in Milwaukee, on February 27, 2018. Justin M. Gillis, age 30, Amedee Mathew O’Gorman, age 28, and Andrew S. Pein, age 31, each were charged with one count of Hobbs Act robbery and one count of brandishing a firearm in furtherance of a crime of violence. The purpose of the robbery was to obtain drugs and drug proceeds. Justin Gillis was also charged with committing a robbery of a Kwik Trip in Germantown on March 3, 2018, and attempting to rob the Village Mart in Jackson and the Petro Mart in Hartford on March 5, 2018.

May 14, 2018: (Victim-4) was spoken to, and said she had been pimped by Childs many years earlier, roughly 2004-2009. They had met at a strip club in Ripon. Not long after, she was stranded in Minnesota and called Childs for a bus ticket. He agreed in exchange for having her work for him. She said she was so scared of Childs that he rarely had to use violence to keep her in line. She once went to the police after a beating, but he succeeded in stopping her from testifying in court and the case was dropped.

May 2018 (exact date unknown): Authorities spoke with (Victim-5). Victim-5 first began dancing at TNT in mid-2014, after she met Justin Gillis, Buzdum’s stepson, at a party. At the time, she was unemployed and in need of money. Gillis suggested that Victim-5 try dancing at TNT and said he could get her a job there. Victim-5 agreed. Gillis drove Victim-5 to TNT to get her signed up to dance. On the way there, Gillis told Victim-5 that she would likely meet a black male named Chris Childs at the club because he frequently hung out there. Gillis warned Victim-5 not to have anything to do with Childs because he was a pimp and a manipulator. Victim-5 listened to what Gillis had to say, but she did not think much of it at the time because she did not understand what a pimp was and did not feel that she could be easily manipulated.

Approximately two weeks after Victim-5 started dancing at TNT, Childs approached her one night after she got off the stage. Childs told Victim-5 that she was beautiful and began talking to her about her potential and how much money she could make if she would team up with him. He promised to help her triple her earnings and said he would buy her a car. Childs then told Tim Miller to open a private room for him and Victim-5. Victim-5 felt that this was more of an order than a request to Miller and saw that Miller complied right away. Based on this, she felt that Childs must have a fair amount of authority at TNT. Once inside the room, Childs told Victim-5 to get completely naked so that he could “see what he was working with.” Victim-5 felt uncomfortable but did as Childs said because she was nervous about what he might do if she refused. Childs told Victim-5 to come and sit next to him. He told her that they were going to be the next “Coco and Ice-T,” referring to a famous rapper/actor and his wife, who transitioned from stripping and pornography after Ice-T “discovered” her.

From that point on, Childs had Jennifer Campbell mentor Victim-5 at TNT. Campbell would introduce Victim-5 to her regulars at TNT at arrange prostitution dates between them. Campbell would report to Childs throughout the night about how Victim-5 was performing. One such date occurred in a champagne room at TNT. A customer requested that Campbell perform a sexual service for him in the champagne room, and Campbell suggested that he choose Victim-5 instead. The customer took Victim-5 into the champagne room and said he wanted to perform oral sex on her. Victim-5 was hesitant but felt she had no choice. She let the customer begin, but then quickly told him she was uncomfortable and wanted to stop. The customer then asked to have intercourse with Victim-5, but Victim-5 said no. The customer gave her $150. When Victim-5 delivered the money to Childs, he was extremely happy with her and told her he would get rid of Campbell so that Victim-5 could be his “main bitch.”

Another incident took place outside of the club with a couple who frequented TNT. The couple invited Victim-5 and Campbell to come to the house after their shift, and Campbell told Victim-5 they needed to go. Victim-5 did not understand initially that the purpose of the visit was for prostitution. Once at the house, everyone undressed and went into the hot tub naked together. Afterwards, they went upstairs to the couple’s bedroom where Campbell asked Victim-5 to join in a foursome. Victim-5 told them she did not want to have sex because she was on her period as an excuse to get out of it. Victim-5 tried to lie on the edge of the bed, but the other three still groped and kissed her. At the end, she and Campbell were each given $300. All of the money went to Childs.

Victim-5 stated that everyone who worked at TNT knew that Childs was a pimp and treated him with respect because of his status there. Victim-5 also said that TNT’s owner was well aware that prostitution was taking place in the champagne rooms at TNT. Victim-5 and Campbell were treated differently than the other dancers at TNT because they worked for Childs. When they arrived at the club to work, bouncers would carry their bags and valet their car. They did not have to pay the house fee or tip out the bouncers and bartenders at the end of the night like the other dancers did. They were given free drinks while they worked, even though Victim-5 was only 19 and Miller had made a copy of her driver’s license.

According to Victim-5, Childs and Miller were very close and talked regularly. Miller contacted Childs directly about his girls’ scheduling, and Childs always made sure that Campbell and Victim-5 were scheduled to work together. Seeing how Childs was treated at TNT made Victim-5 feel that Childs was very powerful. She also feared him because he would warn her that she did not want to see his “dark side.” Childs made Victim-5 contact him before and after each champagne room service she did so that he could approve the price she had negotiated. He only allowed Victim-5 to have money to get her hair and nails done so that she could continue to bring more money in for him.

Childs controlled the personal details of Victim-5’s life, such as whether she shaved her pubic hair or what phone she used. He made her choose between having a baby with him or being branded with his name and the word “loyalty” on the back of her neck. Victim-5 chose the tattoo. On one occasion, Childs coerced Victim-5 into attempting to insert a full can of soda into her vagina. Victim-5 was completely humiliated. Thereafter, she felt that she no longer controlled her own life; Childs did. Victim-5 was only able to leave Childs after a court-ordered residential program issued an internal no-contact order between her and Childs.

May 17, 2018: State Senate Majority Leader Scott Fitzgerald, R-Juneau, spoke out against strip clubs. “I think there’s been a couple of instances where, maybe they’re small victories, but they’re things we can continue to do to try and make sure that these clubs don’t flourish and that they don’t do well and then hopefully dry out and go away,” Fitzgerald said. “If we continue to just put pressure and continue to squeeze, maybe we can make them go away.”

Dodge County Sheriff Dale Schmidt agreed, saying, “Just because I’m up here in this room wearing a star on my shirt doesn’t mean I should be the only one actively involved in law enforcement. That’s all of our jobs. I need every person here to help me. I don’t have the resources to shut that club down myself, or the other ones.”

July 2018: TNT changes its name to Wild Rose Gentleman’s Club.

On July 6, 2018, attorney Jeff Scott Olson sent out the following press release: “I speak as the attorney for gentlemen’s clubs in Dodge County that are not currently subject to any criminal prosecutions and have recently had their liquor licenses renewed by local municipal bodies after careful scrutiny. The town boards and city councils in question were well advised by attorneys and found no grounds for nonrenewal. They found no reliable evidence of human trafficking by these clubs. Equally important, they understood that, while human trafficking is criminal, exotic dancing is protected by the First Amendment.

We now see that State Senator Scott Fitzgerald, R-Juneau, has released a media statement promising to try to enlist the Wisconsin Department of Justice and the Wisconsin Department of Revenue in his campaign to put our clients out of business.

These gentlemen’s clubs present exotic entertainment by scantily-clad dancers. Most folks in their communities take a “live and let live” attitude toward this sort of entertainment and feel that they can register any moral objections they have by simply not visiting these businesses, but there will always be a few who want to campaign to rid their communities of exotic entertainment, because they object to it on moral or religious grounds.

We think that Senator Fitzgerald’s desire to cater to such moral or religious objections to exotic entertainment is behind his publicity campaign, rather than any real concern with human trafficking.

There was one very bad apple named Christopher Childs, currently enjoying the hospitality of Dodge County Sheriff Dale J. Schmidt in the Dodge County Jail, who preyed upon young women, some of whom were also some-time dancers. He has been thoroughly investigated and is being prosecuted criminally in federal court. Senator Fitzgerald would like everyone to believe that all three gentlemen’s clubs in Dodge County were complicit in Childs’ crimes, but the very thorough investigation conducted thus far has produced no reliable evidence of this.

It is the lack of any reliable evidence of fault or criminal involvement on the part of the clubs that led the municipalities in which they are located to renew their licenses. Senator Fitzgerald’s suggestion that these local officials renewed the licenses because they were afraid of my law firm is insulting to the local officials involved. They certainly have the courage to act against these clubs if they have the evidence. It is not just me, but their own lawyers, who are telling them that if they act against a gentlemen’s club without evidence, they will get sued and lose – moral and religious objections simply don’t support the shutting down of expressive activity protected by the First Amendment. And saying that is not intimidation – it’s just life in the real world.

Any government action to curtail free expression is potentially actionable for damages, and this includes actions by the Department of Revenue, the Department of Justice, and Senator Fitzgerald. So we hope that these state-level officials will come to see things the same way the local officials have. Sheriff Schmidt testified that the criminal human-trafficking investigation is ongoing. When it is concluded, wrongdoers who can be prosecuted will be prosecuted. Unless and until that happens, it would be unwise for state officials to attempt to use the human-trafficking media wave as a tool to shut down constitutionally protected expression for moral or religious reasons.

The local officials and my firm have warned these clubs to ramp up their vigilance, and to scrupulously cooperate with law enforcement, to make sure that the lawful businesses they operate are not exploited by criminals who seek to prey upon their entertainers. The clubs have responded. Now the criminal cases should be allowed to run their course.”

Case agents debriefed Justin Gillis, Buzdum’s stepson and Dawn Buzdum’s son, concerning his knowledge of facts relevant to this investigation on July 24, 2018. Gillis worked as a bartender and bouncer at TNT’s Clyman location from the time he was 18 (in 2007) through October 2008. Gillis also worked at TNT’s current Lebanon location and at the Dew Drop Inn from March 2013 until sometime in 2014 or 2015. Gillis reported that Buzdum fired him over personal disputes concerning Gillis’ girlfriend. Gillis stated that TNT’s employees were paid every two weeks, and payroll was done at Buzdum’s house. Each pay period, Buzdum gave Gillis a bag with cash in it to pay the cash portion of the employees’ wages. The amount of cash in the bag was always different, but it was usually between $1,500 and $2,000. Gillis said that Tim Miller, CoopWitness-1, and Lewis Miller were paid via a combination of cash and check. All of the bouncers were paid solely in cash and were paid at the end of each shift.

According to Gillis, it was common knowledge that prostitution was available with dancers in TNT’s champagne rooms. The idea was that the champagne rooms were supposed to be used for private lap dances and include an inexpensive bottle of champagne, however Gillis stated that very little champagne was ever served at TNT. Gillis further stated that the reason his mother was divorcing Buzdum was because Buzdum himself was paying for sex with TNT’s dancers. Gillis described how Buzdum would frequently come to TNT drunk, sometimes with his brother or an entourage of friends, and use the largest private room in the back of the club. Buzdum would have a dancer or group of dancers brought into the room for him or him and his friends to have sex with.

Dawn had discovered this practice and made a recording on her phone of Buzdum having sex with one of the dancers. Gillis said that Miller was often responsible for brokering Buzdum’s paid sexual encounters. Miller once set up such a “date” for Gillis, however Gillis was too intoxicated at the time to perform. Gillis said that sex acts were generally negotiated and paid for directly between customers and dancers inside the champagne rooms. Gillis stated that the practice of allowing and encouraging prostitution in TNT’s champagne rooms stemmed largely from Miller taking over as manager and being pressured by Buzdum to improve TNT’s bottom line.

Miller began recruiting pimps, including Childs, Ball, and others, to bring their girls to dance at TNT. In time, almost all of TNT’s dancers, even those who did not have pimps, were performing sex acts for money inside the club. Gillis explained that the promotion of prostitution brought in both additional clientele, who were specifically interested in exchanging money for sex, and additional money directly to the club, in the form of champagne room fees. The champagne rooms were used almost exclusively for sex acts, allowing TNT to charge a fee substantially higher than that ordinarily charged for lap dances. This fee was paid to the bouncers and split between TNT and the dancer.

Gillis got to know Childs from seeing him at TNT. He noticed that Childs was treated with special respect. Childs did not have to pay for anything he wanted at TNT. Childs and other pimps were often allowed inside TNT before it opened for the evening and after the club closed for the night. Gillis recalled an instance where Miller even instructed Maroo to fill Childs’ gas tank with money from TNT’s till. Childs was very vocal about being a pimp and told Gillis that he had been a pimp for a long time. Childs bragged that Campbell alone made him $1,500 to $2,000 per night. Gillis did remember Campbell as one of the top-earning dancers at TNT and said that she had bought Childs a Hummer with the money she made from selling sex there. Childs also told Gillis that if TNT’s bouncers arranged dates for Campbell, Campbell would kick them back some money. It was Miller who first told Gillis that Campbell was Childs’ “bitch.” Gillis said he seldom saw Campbell at TNT without Childs being there too.

One night, after closing, Gillis observed Childs and Campbell arguing and saw Childs strike Campbell. When Gillis asked Miller about the incident, Miller said it was because Campbell had gotten drunk and lost her money. When Gillis later told Buzdum about it, Buzdum replied, “That’s Tim’s department.”

Police showed Gillis a photograph of Victim-5. Gillis recalled meeting her through a workout buddy and arranging for her to audition at TNT. Gillis also remembered that when he brought Victim-5 to TNT, he saw Childs there and warned Victim-5 that Childs was a pimp and a manipulator. Gillis told Victim-5 that she should stay away from Childs. Later, Victim-5 stopped talking to Gillis when he came to TNT, and Gillis learned that Victim-5 was “messing with” Childs. According to Gillis, Miller relayed a message to him from Childs that Gillis should not speak to Victim-5.

Childs told Gillis that his son, Chris Jr., was also a pimp and that Chris Jr. was trying to recruit Sixxx to work for him. Gillis knew that Sixxx had previously worked for a pimp known as Ball. Gillis said Ball also controlled other TNT dancers, including “Callie” and “Brooklyn.” Ordinarily, Ball would not let his girls near Gillis because Gillis was not buying sex. Gillis recalled a time when he paid for a lap dance from Callie. In the lap dance room, Callie began crying and telling Gillis that she wanted to get away from Ball. Gillis shared this with Miller, and Miller later helped Callie to leave Ball. Despite this apparent altruism, Gillis says Miller would frequently talk to Gillis about how he could send Gillis dancers to “manage” if he wanted to “get into the business.”

Gillis believed that ever since his mother, Dawn, first filed for divorce from Buzdum, Buzdum has been trying to hide money from Dawn. Gillis opined that if Buzdum were to use one of his family members to hide money, it would be Dusanka “Diane” Buzdum, Radomir Buzdum’s sister. Gillis stated that when things first went bad between Buzdum and Dawn, Buzdum stopped using the safes at the Dew Drop Inn (because Dawn had access to them) and started hiding the money elsewhere. Gillis stated that Dawn once told him she had seen a text message on one of Buzdum’s phones saying that Buzdum was giving his brother, Boromir Buzdum, $100,000.

Gillis also believed that when Boromir was going through bankruptcy several years ago, Buzdum may have put one of Boromir’s businesses into his own name and held onto approximately $70,000 in cash for Boromir so that Boromir would not lose the money in the bankruptcy proceedings. Gillis based this on conversations that he says he overheard between Buzdum and Dawn, as well as things that Dawn would relate to Gillis directly.

August 2018 (exact date unknown): Case agents interviewed Cooperating Witness 1 (CoopWitness-1). CoopWitness-1 had worked at TNT and its predecessor club, the Roadhouse, from approximately 2009 through 2017. In August 2017, Buzdum terminated CoopWitness-1 and Miller. CoopWitness-1 had dropped out of high school at age 16 in order to watch some of the club’s dancers’ children while their mothers worked. CoopWitness-1 was also paid to clean the club in the morning before it opened.

When Buzdum converted the Roadhouse into TNT, he took out a number of small booths that had curtains and replaced them with the larger champagne rooms, which had real doors. According to CoopWitness-1, this was so that dancers could more easily and discreetly perform commercial sex acts in the champagne rooms, thus bringing in more business for the club. At that time, Buzdum also had Paul Dorsey, his brother-in-law, install cameras throughout the club, including in the dancers’ locker room. The only areas of the club that did not have cameras were the bathrooms and the champagne rooms.

Even without being in the club during operating hours, CoopWitness-1 understood that prostitution was taking place inside the champagne rooms, because she would find condom wrappers, as well as used condoms, wet wipes, and tissues on the floors of these rooms when she would clean. From time to time, CoopWitness-1 would call an all-staff meeting before the club opened and exhort the dancers to clean up after themselves. CoopWitness-1 said that although no one spoke openly about the sex acts occurring in the champagne rooms, everyone who worked at or patronized TNT knew what was going on. CoopWitness-1 stated that Buzdum knew because he personally paid the club’s dancers to engage in sex acts with him. CoopWitness-1 gave examples of several dancers whom she knew Buzdum regularly paid for sex, including Jennifer Campbell. According to CoopWitness-1, Buzdum routinely came into TNT intoxicated and continued to drink while there. Buzdum would have Miller set up dancers for him to have sex with and instruct Miller to have the bartenders pay the dancers from the club’s till.

CoopWitness-1’s understanding was that Buzdum’s wife, Dawn Buzdum (“Dawn”), had filed for divorce from him in 2015 after nearly catching him having sex with a dancer at TNT. After that occurrence, Buzdum would contact Miller and ask him to bring dancers form TNT to his apartment above the Dew Drop Inn for a couple of hours at a time. Buzdum also instructed CoopWitness-1 to buy a cell phone for club use. CoopWitness-1 and Miller were to use this phone to underreport TNT’s nightly totals to Dawn. These artificially low totals were based solely on the TNT’s credit card earnings rather than its total sales. Buzdum did not want Dawn knowing about the cash sales, and he did not report any of the cash income on his taxes.

Beyond his involvement setting up prostitution dates for Buzdum, CoopWitness-1 said Miller knew prostitution was occurring at TNT because he established relationships with pimps like Childs who brought their girls to work there. CoopWitness-1 explained that Miller was under pressure from Buzdum to grow the business by any means necessary. Miller took TNT from a club that earned very little money to a successful establishment that often made $18,000 a week or more by courting pimps to bring their girls there, and encouraging a clientele that included drug dealers, gang members, and men looking to pay for sex.

Miller established pimp-friendly policies, such as not requiring the dancers who worked for Childs to tip out the bartenders and bouncers at the end of a shift. If Childs ever had an issue with how TNT was treating him or his dancers, Miller and Childs would negotiate an agreement or understanding. CoopWitness-1 said that Buzdum knew there were pimps operating at his club but did not care. After CoopWitness-1 turned 19, she began bartending and helping to keep TNT’s books. Lap dances, champagne rooms, money from the till (bar), door fees, and dancer fees and fines were all tracked using a tally system in a series of notebooks. After Miller lost one set of notebooks, CoopWitness-1 started keeping a double set.

According to CoopWitness-1, TNT kept as much as $20,000 in singles on hand in the club. CoopWitness-1 used to get these singles from her bank, but they eventually told her that she required more cash than they could conveniently provide her. If an exchange of bills over $10,000 was needed, Miller made the exchange at the Bank of Lake Mills. CoopWitness-1 believed that the owner of Bank of Lake Mills’ son, Ty Neupert, may have invested in TNT.

CoopWitness-1 explained that customers paid at the bar for champagne rooms but negotiated sex acts privately with the dancers and paid them for those services directly once inside the champagne rooms. Customers could charge any amount they desired on a credit card and receive any amount over their tabs in cash. This cash could then be used to pay for sex acts.

CoopWitness-1 learned what a pimp was early on, when she went to her first TNT staff barbecue and saw Childs and “Ball” (Kendrick Hayden) each bring multiple dancers with them. Over time, she became familiar with other pimps who brought dancers to work at TNT, including one who went by “Spider.” The dancers who worked for pimps would sometimes come into work with injuries. CoopWitness-1 remembered that Ball split the cheek of a dancer who went by “Sixxx” in 2012 or 2013, and that other times she would come in with bruises. Another one of Ball’s girls, who went by “Callie,” once came in with a split lip. Likewise, women who worked for Childs, such as Campbell and Victim-1, sometimes came in with a split lip or a bruise. The dancers tried to hide their injuries with makeup, but those who worked at the club could easily see what had happened. Although they did not speak about these incidents openly, dancers would talk quietly amongst themselves about them.

Ball had a particular reputation for violence among TNT’s staff and dancers. Ball used to come to TNT during operating hours to supervise his dancers, but Miller eventually created a rule that pimps were not allowed to hang out in TNT because they were inciting problems between the pimp-controlled dancers and the independent dancers. After several years, Ball beat Sixxx so badly that Miller and CoopWitness-1 convinced her that she needed to leave Ball. Sixxx lived with Miller and CoopWitness-1 for a time and worked as TNT’s “house mom,” coordinating the dancers’ schedules.

CoopWitness-1 believed that the women working for Childs did not have any choice about whether they worked at TNT each night. Victim-1 would often complain to CoopWitness-1 that she was exhausted working double shifts and just wanted to go home. CoopWitness-1 believed Victim-1 was only working because Childs demanded that she do so. CoopWitness-1 understood that Childs used Campbell as his eyes and ears inside the club to keep control over Victim-1 and Victim-2. CoopWitness-1 could tell that Victim-1 and Victim-2 felt on edge around Campbell. They were unusually quiet in her presence, especially when Campbell was in a bad mood. They knew that Campbell would report anything that they did or said back to Childs.

On several occasions, CoopWitness-1 saw Victim-1 and Victim-2 give Campbell their pay envelopes. Campbell used to have a lot of sugar daddies at TNT who would regularly give Campbell money and buy things for her. Over time, they learned that Campbell had a pimp. Even though Campbell would deny to them that Childs was their pimp, they would eventually become convinced that he was and complained about it to CoopWitness-1 and others. CoopWitness-1 recalled that while she was bartending, Childs and Ball would sometimes instruct her or the other bartenders not to make any alcoholic drinks for one of their girls even if they ordered one. According to CoopWitness-1, they would sometimes make drinks for these dancers in spite of the pimps’ instructions because they felt sorry for them having to live and work under the pimps’ control.

August 2018: (Victim-3) comes forward, after twice going to the police in the past with no success. She further corroborates the violence perpetuated by Childs. She said other pimps hung out at TNT, including men she knew as “Black” and “Star.”

On August 13, 2018, case agents interviewed CoopWitness-3, who had danced at TNT for a time in 2014. CoopWitness-3 recalled that Childs used to come to TNT nearly every night at that time. After CoopWitness-3 had been dancing at TNT for about three weeks, Childs approached her and tried to recruit her to work for him. Campbell likewise tried to get her to join their “team.” CoopWitness-3 declined. CoopWitness-3 said that after about three months of dancing at TNT, she learned that other dancers were making much more money than she was by engaging in sex acts with customers in the champagne rooms. CoopWitness-3 began to do the same. CoopWitness-3 recalled that Buzdum was a frequent prostitution customer in his own club and had certain dancers whose company he preferred, including Campbell. CoopWitness-3 said that Miller once set up a date between CoopWitness-3 and Buzdum in a champagne room and paid her for the anticipated sex act. Buzdum was too intoxicated to perform, but he still gave CoopWitness-3 a tip.

Joseph Jenrich reached out to FBI Special Agent Heather Wright in August 2018, saying that he had been hearing a lot of rumors about TNT since the arrest of Childs and that he wanted to “set the record straight.” SA Wright interviewed Jenrich on August 28, 2018. Jenrich had worked as a bartender for Buzdum for approximately ten years, first at the Roadhouse and then later at TNT. Jenrich quit shortly after Miller was fired in August 2017.

Jemich stated that many of Buzdum’s current and former employees, not only from TNT but also from his other establishments, did not like Buzdum. Jemich gave the example of a bartender from the Dew Drop Inn who was fired because she refused Buzdum’s sexual advances. Jemich also stated that Buzdum had a habit of smacking the backsides of his female bartenders. Furthermore, Jenrich said that Buzdum would frequently come to TNT drunk and take dancers into the champagne rooms to have sex with them, even when his stepsons were at the club.

Jemich described how, when Buzdum turned the club from the Roadhouse into TNT, he took down the curtains that used to divide the champagne rooms and instead installed doors. Later, locks were installed on the doors. Jemich believed this was done to ensure customer privacy during private dances. According to Jemich, there were no cameras in the champagne rooms. This was different from the rest of the club, which had cameras installed throughout.

Jemich admitted that customers at TNT were always talking about dancers performing sex acts in the club and how much these services cost. Jemich stated that on the few occasions when dancers were caught blatantly performing sex acts a few times, they were fired. Jemich also stated, however, that certain customers were routinely allowed to run their credit cards at the bar in order to receive cash back most likely used to pay for sex acts in the champagne rooms.

Jemich would sometimes hear dancers saying things like that they had to run off to “daddy,” which he understood to mean they had to get home to their pimps. Jenrich was aware of several pimps who operated at TNT. He said that one went by Ball and had dancers named Sixxx and Satin working for him. This pimp used to frequent TNT until Sixxx stopped working for him. Jenrich recalled that Satin later worked for another pimp, Spider, who also brought his girls to TNT. Spider had a “bottom” named Ciara, and Ciara recruited a TNT dancer whom Jenrich had formerly dated to work for Spider. This dancer called Jenrich crying and saying that Spider had thrown her on the ground, branded her on her neck with a tattoo, and told her she was going to Atlanta to prostitute for him. Jenrich said he remembered that Childs would come into TNT when Jennifer Campbell, Victim-1, and Victim-2 were working. He stated that he never thought Childs was a pimp because Childs and Campbell were “older.” Nevertheless, he also remembered how Miller had instructed then-bouncer Jake Maroo to help Victim-2 escape from Childs. According to Jenrich, Buzdum had pushed Miller hard to bring in more dancers and make more money. Following Childs’ arrest, Buzdum claimed that everything that happened at TNT was Miller’s fault because Miller encouraged business from the wrong crowd. Buzdum was also saying he had no idea Childs was a pimp. Jenrich pointed out, however, that Buzdum played poker with Childs once a week at the Dew Drop Inn. Jenrich believed that Buzdum had to know why Childs frequented TNT.

On September 28, 2018, following an incident in which law enforcement observed a dancer performing oral sex in the lap dance area, Siegel provided false information to law enforcement regarding the club’s policies, practices, and procedures.

The first meeting between Buzdum and the undercover agent (posing as a potential club buyer) took place on October 30, 2018. Buzdum arrived at TNT to meet the undercover agent in his Toyota Sienna minivan. As the conversation got started, the undercover asked what kind of fees the club earned from the dancers. Buzdum stated that dancers had to pay a nightly fee to work there. He also explained that TNT gets half of everything the dancers bring in with the exception of their tips. For example, TNT takes half of the fee for the use of a private room. According to Buzdum, private room fees are the biggest moneymaker for a strip club. Buzdum bragged that dancers come from as far away as Chicago because they can earn good money at TNT. When the undercover asked about TNT’s financial health, Buzdum repeatedly stated that the club could make a lot more money than it currently does with “the right kind of manager.” Buzdum lamented that TNT used to do four times the business that it does now but that the manager at that time was “a little dirty,” sold drugs, and “stole too much.” 

During the course of their conversation, the agent asked Buzdum if his desire to sell was motivated by the negative press he had seen concerning TNT. Buzdum responded that the press had to do with a “black son of a bitch” whom he did not know at all, who “had some white ladies.” Buzdum opined that this had nothing to do with human trafficking but instead was just a guy with “a couple of whores” whom he told, “Go make me money, bitches, cause I’m too lazy to work.” According to Buzdum, this was the only problem that TNT had ever had. Buzdum claimed that none of TNT’s neighbors have ever complained about TNT because there is nothing to complain about. 

Buzdum proceeded to offer several more gratuitous comments about prostitution at TNT. He stated that there are 16 cameras set up around the club and that he routinely watches the feed from home. He said there also used to be camera monitors in the basement apartment when the former manager lived there. Buzdum stated that the cameras were there to ensure that no prostitution is taking place at TNT. Buzdum also stated that the only rule at TNT is “no sex.” 

He said that TNT plays every kind of music except for rap, because too much rap music is about “hoes,” and it is degrading. Buzdum continually emphasized keeping control over the club, not allowing pimps in, kicking “that garbage” out, understanding “everything is cameras,” and “no sex; just remember that, always.” 

Buzdum told the undercover agent that it was strange to him that four months after Childs was arrested, “the other club” (the Hardware Store) was “popped with some black girl doing a 64-year-old guy in a room.” What Buzdum could not understand was why the dancer would admit to receiving $100 in exchange for the sex act. According to Buzdum, the dancer could have insisted that they were just having some fun, and then it would not have mattered. 

During the tour of the property, Buzdum showed the undercover agent the basement living space. He remarked that everything stays upstairs because they “don’t want the cops downstairs.” 

The undercover agent asked Buzdum about TNT’s monthly profits. Buzdum claimed that it was hard for him to know because he was not intimately involved in the club’s business. Buzdum stated that he was an absentee operator. He claimed that he has not been inside TNT during its operating hours in over three years. At another point, Buzdum said he had been out of the day-to -day operations of the business for ten to fifteen years. Buzdum stated that all he did was pick up the club’s money, pay taxes on it, then put the rest straight in the bank to pay bills from it. 

The undercover agent asked Buzdum about payroll. Buzdum said that his current manager is on the payroll so that he “qualifies for disability,” which Buzdum said is very important. Buzdum explained that if employees are not on payroll, the State has a lawyer who will come after you. Buzdum stated that the agent cannot cheat the system or screw around. He summarized by stating, “If you’re gonna do this, do shit by the book.” 

The undercover agent asked Buzdum to see some of TNT’s financial records on a future visit. Buzdum said that it would only be possible to see combined records for TNT and the Dew Drop Inn because he keeps them together. When the undercover agent specifically asked to see records from when the dancers “go in the back,” Buzdum refused, saying, “I don’t care about that. It doesn’t matter.” Buzdum stated, however, that he still has “everything,” such as TNT’s register receipts.

On November 4, 2018, following execution of a federal search warrant at the Hardware Store, Siegel instructed another conspirator to call in women to work at the club upon reopening who did not perform “extras.”

On November 13, 2018, case agents interviewed Dawn Buzdum, Radomir Buzdum’s estranged wife. Dawn married Buzdum in 2003. At the time of her marriage to Buzdum, she already had two sons from a prior marriage, one of whom is Justin Gillis. Dawn stated that she and Buzdum are currently in the midst of a divorce stemming from, among other things, her discovery that Buzdum was paying for sex with dancers at TNT. 

Dawn described various bars and restaurants that Buzdum had owned and run in Wisconsin and in Florida when they were first married. She stated that Buzdum eventually sold one of these establishments, a Mexican restaurant called Tequila Nights, and used the proceeds to buy the property in Lebanon, Wisconsin, where TNT was later established. 

At first, Buzdum operated that property as a supper club that he called Buzdum’s. Buzdum’s had a three-bedroom living space below it, and Dawn and Buzdum lived there for a time. The supper club, however, did not make much money. Buzdum then opened a bar that he hoped would be more profitable, the Dew Drop Inn. Dawn stated that Buzdum leased the supper club property in Lebanon to several different lessees, culminating with Paul Deangelis. Deangelis leased the property with an option to buy and later turned the business from a supper club into a strip club called the Roadhouse. Dawn indicated that Buzdum assisted with this process. 

Dawn reported that around 2005-2006, Buzdum also opened his own strip club in Clyman, Wisconsin, in the building where the Hardware Store strip club currently operates. He called the strip club the TNT Gentleman’s Club. Dawn was involved in auditioning and hiring dancers, ordering liquor, and tracking TNT’s finances. Dawn said she would even host monthly parties for TNT’s dancers, giving out gift cards to those with the highest sales totals, and offering them help with things like obtaining a GED or signing up for various social services. 

Dawn recalled that Buzdum initially spent a lot of time at TNT. Once things were off the ground and running smoothly, he gradually went less frequently, mainly stopping by to pick up and drop off money. According to Dawn, approximately two years after TNT opened in Clyman, Don Raffaelli and Michael Siegel approached Buzdum about selling TNT’s building. They purchased it from Buzdum and opened their own strip club there, the Hardware Store. Dawn explained that Deangelis defaulted on his lease of the Roadhouse in Lebanon. Buzdum then took control of the property and transformed it into a new incarnation of the TNT Gentleman’s Club. 

Miller, who was then the manager of the Roadhouse, was made the manager of TNT. Buzdum gave Miller great authority over TNT. He had a credit card to make purchases for TNT, the combinations to all of the safes at TNT and the Dew Drop Inn, control over the gambling machines at both establishments, and full access to Buzdum’s home. 

Dawn said that when Buzdum reestablished TNT in Lebanon, he began to cut her out of the business. He told her that she would only be doing inventory for the club, and he later instructed club employees not to let her in the door during business hours. Dawn started to hear troubling reports from some of the dancers, such as that Miller demanded oral sex from them in order to work at TNT. According to Dawn, many of the original TNT dancers refused to dance at the new TNT because things had changed. 

Buzdum kept current with profits from TNT and other clubs he was involved in by requiring texts from the managers twice nightly informing him of sales. Dawn said that for years, Miller would text Dawn and Buzdum with the number of dancers working, the amount in the till as of 9 or 10 p.m., the number of champagne rooms paid for, and the number of lap dances paid for. One night, Dawn saw a text on Buzdum’s phone with nightly numbers for TNT and realized they were different than the numbers she had been texted. Dawn confronted Buzdum, who told her she was crazy. Dawn later discovered, however, that any cash received in connection with lap dances and champagne rooms was not added to the till but went straight into Buzdum’s pocket. 

Dawn described how Buzdum “flipped a switch” in 2013. He began drinking excessively and became verbally abusive toward Dawn. He sometimes threatened to stab Dawn or to put a bullet in her head (while handling a gun). He also began taking Dawn’s name off of legal paperwork concerning their assets. He would tell Dawn that she had a bad credit score and that he could get better interest rates by himself. He began hiding money and other assets with the help of his siblings so that Dawn would not have access to it. 

Dawn suspected that she was not being given accurate information about the businesses’ sales. In early 2018, Dawn paid to have a point of sale (POS) system installed at TNT so that she could get a more accurate picture of their finances. In May or June 2018, Buzdum instructed the employees not to use the POS systems and to use other cash registers instead. Dawn believed, however, that the POS still had a running total of all sales before use of it was discontinued, and that this total had not been zeroed out. Dawn said that the Dew Drop Inn had had a POS system since 2013 or 2014. The gambling machines at the Dew Drop Inn are connected to the POS system as well. 

Dawn said she recalled Buzdum bragging that his video gambling machines at the Dew Drop Inn made him $50,000 to $60,000 in one particular month. When going through a digital forensic report of Dawn’s phone, police located a video that shows Dawn talking with Buzdum. Dawn asks Buzdum if the machines make $50,000 to $60,000 a month, and Buzdum replies that the previous month they made him $19,000. Dawn gave police records showing past cash payouts made by the Dew Drop Inn for customers’ winnings from the gambling machines there. Dawn stated that Buzdum did not report the income from his gambling machines on his tax returns. 

In addition, Dawn has since provided case agents with an email dated June 25, 2018 in which Buzdum was attempting to negotiate a settlement of financial issues related to the divorce. In the email, Buzdum told Dawn to change a reference to the gambling machines to simply state, “revenue” because the “machines are illegal.” 

By 2014, Dawn also began to suspect that prostitution was taking place at TNT and that this was the reason why Buzdum was trying to keep her out of the club’s business. Dawn stated she had overheard Buzdum and Miller talking about prostitution and pimps. Buzdum tried to keep Dawn from overhearing their conversations on that topic, but Dawn heard Buzdum say that he wanted Miller to keep the pimps from hanging out at the club. 

Dawn believed that Buzdum was well aware that Childs was a pimp. She stated that Childs played poker each week at the Dew Drop Inn and that Buzdum sometimes joined these games. She explained that Buzdum did not want Childs to be seen inside TNT, however, because he was a pimp. Dawn recalled that on one occasion, Gillis had traded cars with Childs for a week. Buzdum was upset about Childs’ Hummer being parked in their driveway (at N9661 Boje Court) during that week because he did not want a “pimp’s car” being seen in front of his house. 

Dawn also observed during a visit to TNT that multiple small VIP rooms with locking doors had been added, and that there were no surveillance cameras in these rooms. Elsewhere in the club, however, TNT had a network of surveillance cameras that Dawn was able to monitor on her phone. Dawn added that the recordings from these cameras are not recorded over and that they are typically retained, however Buzdum has two different systems at TNT so that he can be selective about what he wants to tum over in the event of a request from law enforcement. 

In May 2015, Dawn filed for divorce from Buzdum. Pursuant to a court order that Buzdum vacate their home, Buzdum moved into the apartment above the Dew Drop Inn. Dawn had been receiving reports from her son, Gillis, and one of the bouncers’ wives that Buzdum was paying TNT dancers for sex. Dawn also began noticing, when she would view the surveillance cameras at TNT (which she and Buzdum could do on their phones), Buzdum would sometimes disappear from view in the back of the club. One night, Dawn went to TNT to find out where Buzdum was going when he was off camera. Right after she saw Buzdum go off camera, she drove to TNT. She discovered that there was a clandestine way for Buzdum to access the large VIP room in the back of the club that was not visible on camera. Dawn entered the room and found Buzdum inside with a naked dancer. 

Dawn recorded a video, which she turned over, that begins a few moments after Dawn walked into the room. In the video, Buzdum has his shirt off, and the dancer is getting dressed. Dawn tells Buzdum that she caught him “red-handed,” and the dancer says she only gave Buzdum a naked lap dance. When Dawn asks why the dancer’s face was in Buzdum’s crotch during the “dance,” no one replies. 

After Dawn filed for divorce, dancers told her that Buzdum had made Miller and CoopWitness-1 threaten to fire them if they told Dawn about what Buzdum was doing at TNT (paying dancers for sex). They also told her that Buzdum had been saying he would leave her “penniless” after their divorce. 

Around that time, a dancer contacted Dawn and arranged to meet her at Mayfair Mall. The dancer provided a video of Buzdum negotiating sex for money with two dancers. Dawn turned a copy of this video over to police, as well as additional videos that capture her meeting with the dancer. The video the dancer gave Dawn depicts a shirtless Buzdum negotiating payment with two dancers, one of whom is visible and the other whose voice can be heard. Dawn also downloaded video recordings from her home Nest camera system. In one video, which Dawn played during her interview, Buzdum and a friend discuss going to TNT to select dancers to have sex with. In the course of her interview, Dawn also consented to agents downloading the content of her iCloud account, which contained these and other videos involving Buzdum. 

Dawn stated that Buzdum has told her that he takes “pills” recreationally. Dawn knows Buzdum to store some of these pills inside a toothpick holder in his pocket and to dispense them to golfing buddies who complain of aches and pains. Dawn said that Miller obtained the pills for Buzdum. Dawn also noted that Buzdum sometimes used “some kind of opiate” and that she had heard from others that he uses cocaine. According to Dawn, however, Buzdum’s principal drug of choice was alcohol, and it was not uncommon for Buzdum to drink 1.75 liters of alcohol by himself. 

Dawn explained that in 2015, just before she filed for divorce, she was shocked to learn that she and Buzdum owed the government over $200,000 in unpaid taxes. Dawn stated that she tried on several occasions to talk with their accountant, Daniel Sanft, about it, but that Buzdum would insist on going to see Sanft with her and would dominate the conversation. Buzdum also prevented Dawn from seeing any of the tax return paperwork that he had her sign and was very secretive with their mail at the Boje Court home so that Dawn would not discover notices indicating that he had not been paying their taxes. 

Meanwhile, in spite of Buzdum’s repeated claims that they did not have money to pay off their tax debt, Dawn saw that Buzdum spent exorbitant amounts on his personal desires. Dawn reported that Buzdum took expensive golf vacations to California and had an estimated $700,000 in renovations made to the house on Boje Court in 2017. The improvements included new gas fireplaces, a new swimming pool, a complete remodeling of the garage and kitchen, new televisions and speakers, new furniture, and the installation of what Buzdum described as the “Cadillac of hot tubs” on the back deck. Dawn showed me recent emails wherein she and Buzdum argue about the propriety of these expenses. 

Dawn stated that Buzdum previously used BMO Harris for both his personal and business banking. After BMO Harris took issue with Buzdum cashing numerous payroll checks, Buzdum transferred the accounts to the Bank of Lake Mills. Dawn stated that Buzdum is friendly with Ty Neupert, the owner’s son. Dawn was aware that both TNT and the Dew Drop Inn did a large portion of their business in cash, and that Buzdum did not deposit all of this cash into the bank. Dawn stated that she had seen Buzdum with shoeboxes full of cash at their home in 2015. On one of these occasions, Dawn said Buzdum asked her if she had ever seen that much cash before at one time. Dawn replied that she had not. Buzdum then told her that she never would again. 

Dawn knew that Buzdum kept cash in five safes in various locations around the Dew Drop Inn, including in the basement and behind the bar. She also stated that as of the time she moved out of their house located at N9661 Boje Court in Watertown in August 2018, they had two safes, one of which was anchored to the floor of the bedroom closet, and the other of which was in the garage. Dawn was aware of two safes that had been upstairs at TNT, but she said Miller took them with him when he was terminated. She also knew of another in TNT’s basement but said it was very old and no one knew the combination for it. Additionally, Dawn knew that Buzdum kept cash stashed under the front seat of his minivan. 

Dawn indicated that Buzdum’s office was located in the basement of the Dew Drop Inn. This is where the sheets used to track lap dances and champagne rooms from TNT are kept, along with the moneybags from TNT. Dawn said that Buzdum does not have a computer either at home or in the office and instead uses his phone to keep track of income and expenses. Dawn stated that Buzdum stores receipts at the Dew Drop Inn in the basement, the mudroom, or one of the unattached garages. 

Dawn expressed concern that Buzdum may be attempting to conceal assets (primarily cash) at his brother Boromir Buzdum’s bar in Germantown, Buzdum’s Pub & Grill. According to Dawn, whenever one of the Buzdum siblings has a legal problem that could affect their assets, it is common for them to hide cash and other assets with the other siblings. For example, Dawn said that when “Diane” Buzdum, Radomir Buzdum’s sister, was getting divorced in 2011, Radomir hid $30,000 in cash for Diane in hopes of keeping it from her ex-husband. Dawn herself opened a safe deposit box, at Buzdum’s instruction, to conceal this cash. 

Dawn stated that when she moved out of the home on Boje Court on or about August 1, 2018, she took Buzdum’s iPhone. Dawn provided the phone to case agents. The phone is described as a black iPhone Model A1660. Dawn indicated that the phone is not password-protected and that her brother disabled a feature that would allow the phone to be wiped remotely. Dawn indicated that there are texts, photos, and other forms of information regarding Buzdum’s activities on the phone. Law enforcement placed the phone on inventory but has not sought to access the content of the phone pending this warrant application.

The undercover buyer and a second agent returned to TNT on December 12, 2018, and met with Jacob Maroo. Maroo discussed the club’s revenues and his ideas for how it could be run more profitably. Maroo stated that TNT “used to rock pretty good” but that they had been having problems getting dancers and customers to come consistently lately. Maroo stated people were afraid to come to the club because of “all the stuff that’s been going on.” 

The undercover agents asked Maroo about how much business the club was doing in cash versus by credit card. Maroo said it goes back and forth, but the club does a lot of its business in cash. According to Maroo, he tries to run a cash bar to keep things simple. Maroo said the credit card machines were slow and slowed down business. Maroo explained that customers could pay for champagne rooms by credit card but that he altered the amount charged so as not to raise the credit card companies’ suspicions that the club was letting customers use their cards to get cash advances. For example, if a champagne room were booked for $200, TNT charged a markup of 10% for a total of $220. Maroo would run the customer’s card, however, for $199.95 so that it appeared to be a sale. Maroo stated that whole numbers looked more suspicious. 

Maroo explained the fees for lap dances and champagne rooms. In an attempt to get more business in the lap dance room, Maroo recently lowered the cost of lap dances to $20, split between the dancer and the club. Maroo stated that champagne rooms still cost $200 for 30 minutes and include two drinks. The champagne room fees are also divided evenly between dancers and the club. Maroo said that the club used to offer a less expensive “mini” champagne room of only 15 minutes, but it was not a popular option. Now it is only used if a customer is trying hard to haggle with the champagne room price. 

During a tour of the club, Maroo showed the undercovers the office and the monitors for the club’s cameras. Maroo stated that cameras had recently been added to the champagne rooms and that this had caused a dip in champagne room sales. Maroo stated that in order to adequately monitor what was going on in the champagne rooms, however, a better quality camera system would be needed. According to Maroo, the views of the current cameras are blurry. He stated that sometimes it appears that something “questionable” might be going on inside a champagne room, but he does not want to interrupt unless he knows for certain. 

The undercovers asked Maroo about house fees charged to dancers. Maroo stated that he likes to be flexible with the fees in order to encourage dancers (and thus customers) to come. Usually, the fee is $10 if the dancer is on time and $5 for every 30 minutes late thereafter. Maroo estimated that the club made about $100 per night during the week and up to $300 per night on the weekend in house fees. 

The undercovers inquired about the club’s relationship with its neighbors and with law enforcement. Maroo stated that there would always be people who “talk crap” but that he believed the club was well-regarded by its neighbors. He stated that he brings the neighbors on one side a case of beer from time to time, and the people who live on the other side were close with Miller. Maroo stated that the house across the street is typically “abandoned” because the owner is a soldier, but they try to help out by mowing the grass for him from time to time while he is away. Maroo stated that the town and law enforcement have been great and do not put much stock in the few complaints they get about the club.

On December 13, 2018, the undercover met with Buzdum in his basement office at the Dew Drop Inn. Buzdum stated that he keeps all of his records and receipts from TNT in the large gun safe there. During the course of the conversation, Buzdum produced records for 2018 from the safe and compared profits from before Childs’ arrest with profits immediately afterwards. The undercovers also saw small tapes inside the safe that Buzdum said were register tapes for the bar till. Buzdum stated that although he combines money from both TNT and the Dew Drop Inn into one bank account under Tequila Nights, Inc., he still keeps separate records and receipts for both. Buzdum repeatedly emphasized that he is an absentee owner and never comes to the club or gets involved in day-to-day business. He also stated many times how important it was to run a clean establishment, make sure all of the employees are on payroll, and do things by the book. Buzdum admitted, however, that he currently skims $4,000 per month from TNT, which consists of cash from the video gambling machines and house fees that the dancers pay to work.

March 2019: Search warrant applications targeting both TNT and the Hardware Store strip club became public.

April 1, 2019: Buzdum has not been charged, but he acknowledged in an interview with the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel that he is under investigation. “I didn’t even know the goofball (Childs),” Buzdum said. “I just knew of him. I owned the club. I never ran the club, I never went there. So I knew of him, but I never talked to him.” Buzdum insisted he “had nothing to do with any of this,” but confirmed that he is under investigation. On Jan. 24 “about 100 agents” raided three locations linked to him, including his Watertown home, TNT and the Dew Drop Inn, a bar he owns in Watertown, Buzdum said. “The feds came through with search warrants at 6 o’clock in the morning, pounding my door down with 12 armed guys with women, dogs, and helmets,” Buzdum said. “They came to my house at 6 a.m. and busted my side door, threw one of those bombs in there — flash bombs.” He blamed Timothy Miller, the former TNT manager, saying he should have never trusted him to run the club. “It’s just horrible what went on,” Buzdum said. “I had nothing to do with any of this.”

Childs pleaded guilty on September 9, 2019 to one count of sex trafficking by force or coercion. Six other charges were dropped as part of a plea deal.

December 2019: Seigel of Fox Lake, owner of the Hardware Store in Clyman, and manager Scott Hoeft of Watertown, were indicted on federal sex trafficking charges.

October 20, 2020: At Childs’ sentencing, “Tiffany” testified that she was a Certified Nursing Assistant at a hospital when she met Childs in 2015. Initially, she considered him a friend who promised to take care of her. She left her job but for the next two years, she said she was subjected to “sexual torture and beaten and until I caved and performed sex acts I didn’t want to do.” Other victims said they had young children who heard Childs beat them in another room for not complying with his demands. Childs had his women tattooed with his name on their necks.

US Attorney Erica Lounsberry said Milwaukee, where Childs learned to pimp, is a well-known “training ground for pimps. The Harvard of pimp school. Milwaukee pimps take what they learned there and expand it to other cities. This must stop.” Childs was sentenced to 15 years in prison, along with an additional five years of supervision.

April 2021: A federal grand jury in the Eastern District of Wisconsin indicted Radomir Buzdum, formerly of Watertown, and Timothy Miller, of Watertown, for offenses connected to the operation of the TNT/Wild Rose strip club that had been located in Lebanon.

Part Three: Milwaukee and Silk Exotic

Michael Rose said he met Jon Ferraro through a mutual friend in 2006 or earlier. Already experienced in the strip club business, Rose agreed to act as a consultant to Ferraro, who was planning to open the first Silk on West Silver Spring Drive, on Milwaukee’s northwest side. Rose attended the opening of the first Silk and helped Ferraro on Silk locations that later opened in Juneau in Dodge County and Middleton outside of Madison.

Ferol LLC was created on May 16, 2009. On May 29, 2010, a second business, Six Star Holdings, was created.

In February 2012, Six Star and Ferol filed an amended and supplemental complaint that challenged the theater and public entertainment club ordinances, as well as continued to challenge the tavern and tavern-amusement ordinances. However, in March 2012, the City repealed the theater, public entertainment club, and tavern-amusement ordinances and at the same time enacted a new ordinance governing “public entertainment premises.”

In August 2013, U.S. District Judge Lynn Adelman ruled that Milwaukee’s 1920s-era ordinances governing theaters were unconstitutional. If Ferraro could prove he was serious about opening a club, he could be entitled to damages, Adelman ruled. In the trial, Silk’s attorney Jeff Scott Olson asked the jury to award up to $1.3 million, based on lost revenue. The city asked the jury to provide no award.

In September 2013, Rose proposed laundering money in a new club, “investing $200,000 into a new club that Rose was developing in Las Vegas.” After the agent told Rose his client couldn’t openly invest in Rose’s new club, Rose assured him that the “client’s investment would be secret and that he would pay the client 12% of any profits as false expenses for services that were not actually performed.” The cash was provided by an undercover FBI agent posing as a businessman trying to launder cash, according to federal court documents. A cell phone warrant filed in Milwaukee says Ferraro began talking to the undercover FBI agent in September 2013, the same month Rose was proposing to launder money through the new club in Vegas. Ferraro exchanged three dozen text messages and phone calls over the next 18 months with the FBI agent, according to the warrant.

Ferraro and Rose were named in a tavern and liquor license application for a Gold Club in Las Vegas, which was approved in May 2014 by officials in Nevada’s Clark County. The club was at 6370 Windy Road, between the airport and Interstate 15. Ferraro chronicled plans to open the Las Vegas club on his Instagram and Twitter accounts. Rose said he and Ferraro had agreed to open a club geared toward locals and tourists and not try to compete with the bigger, high-end clubs in Vegas. But as the opening neared, Ferraro wanted to change the business plan and to try to compete with the bigger clubs, Rose said. Rose declined to give details, but he said they involved pricing and it was a significant dispute. “It was like you set up a business to sell pizza and then you change and want to sell tacos,” Rose said. The club closed in summer 2014, about six months after it opened, “due to a lack of capital,” Rose said. When the business closed, Rose said Ferraro owed him money and the relationship between them soured.

A federal jury on February 19, 2015 awarded Silk Exotic owner Jon Ferraro (through his company, Ferol) $435,500 but did not clear the way for Silk to open a club downtown.

Ferraro was indicted along with Rose and others by a federal grand jury in San Francisco on February 24, 2015, but Ferraro’s name was not listed in court documents in California. His indictment would not become public for over a year.

A federal appeals court on April 13, 2016 upheld a $435,500 jury award in favor of a nude dance club owner who claimed the city of Milwaukee violated their rights during efforts to open a club downtown. “This case requires us to visit the world of strip clubs —establishments that no one seems to want, officially, but that are somehow quite lucrative,” wrote Judge Diane Wood in the opening line of a decision by the 7th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals. “The City is fighting a losing battle over a regime whose time has passed,” Wood wrote for a three-judge panel.

City officials approved a nearly $1 million payment to a strip club owner who has been fighting for years to open a new club downtown. Milwaukee Mayor Tom Barrett signed off on the deal Thursday, July 14, 2016, just over a week after the city’s Common Council voted unanimously to approve the settlement. The nearly $970,000 payout to Silk Exotic comes about a month after Milwaukee’s city attorney urged aldermen to authorize the deal to avoid further legal fees.

“Should the city continue to litigate the attorney’s fee award, attorney’s fees will simply grow,” City Attorney Grant Langley wrote last month in a letter to aldermen. “There is not a reasonable likelihood of success for continued appeal of the fee award.” Langley’s June 8 letter also noted that his office had defended the case for more than five years.

Ferraro pleaded guilty on October 4, 2016 to felony charges of “conspiring to conduct and to participate in the conduct of the affairs of the racketeering enterprise” and “conspiring to conduct money laundering.” “The defendant admits that these facts are true and correct and establish his guilt beyond a reasonable doubt,” his plea agreement reads. As part of his plea agreement, Ferraro agreed to “fully and completely cooperate with the government in its investigation of this and related matters, and to testify truthfully and completely before the grand jury and at any subsequent trials or proceedings, if asked to do so.”

After years of legal battles with the city, Silk Exotic opened its downtown Milwaukee location on North Old World Third Street in May 2018. The owners include Joseph Modl, Scott Krahn and Buzdum. When Buzdum and the other Silk Exotic owners applied for their Old World Third Street liquor license with the City of Milwaukee, they vowed to combat sex trafficking. “As responsible club owners, it’s our intent to join the vigilant ‘eyes and ears’ of the community against human sex trafficking,” they wrote.

May 8, 2019: Former Milwaukee Ald. Willie Wade has been charged with wire fraud in a case linked to strip clubs, alleged bribery and public corruption. Wade, 56, collected $30,000 in cash by claiming that he was negotiating on behalf of a current Milwaukee alderman to accept a bribe in exchange for a vote in favor of approving licenses for a downtown strip club, the U.S. Attorney’s Office said. Milwaukee Mayor Tom Barrett said that he was “shocked to hear of the allegations” against Wade. “I want to be clear: I will not tolerate corruption in government at any level,” Barrett said in a statement. “Mr. Wade is no longer leading the agency (Employ Milwaukee) and is not being paid pending resolution of his case.” Further, “Alderman B (Khalif Rainey) was not aware of Wade’s representations and had never offered or agreed to accept any bribe,” the indictment says. Wade served as the Milwaukee alderman representing the 7th District from 2003 through early 2016. That seat is now held by Rainey.

“We strongly disagree with the government’s decision to bring this indictment,” attorney Patrick Knight said in a statement. “Mr. Wade and I intend to defend against these charges and look forward to the opportunity to present our response to these allegations.” Knight said they have been “in communication with the government about this investigation” for the past year.

August 5, 2020: Former Milwaukee Ald. Willie Wade was sentenced to four months in prison and another three years of supervised release. He was also ordered to repay the money he took.

“The offense that the defendant committed here is just extremely serious” because it undermines public confidence in government, U.S. District Judge Lynn Adelman said. Although there ultimately was no bribe, there was a representation that a bribe would take place and that the sitting alderman — and the Common Council by extension — were corrupt, Adelman said. He said not giving Wade any time behind bars would depreciate the seriousness of the offense, and added that while he was not concerned Wade would do this again, he thought there was an element of deterrence to others.