'Would You Like Some Cream With That B.J., er, Coffee?'

EVERETT, Wash.—Gee, it seems like only yesterday—but was in fact late 2009—that Snohomish County was all up in local baristas' grilles about the fact that the servers at some drive-in coffee stands were giving customers too much of an eyeful, wearing "things, pasties and other skimpy clothing." Obviously, that sort of dress code had to be stamped out, and new laws that went into effect at the beginning of 2010 did just that, although the minimally greater covering of bikinis was given the official okay. Fast-forward to late August of this year, and it turns out that scanty dress was actually the least of the county's problems. After several months of investigation, county prosecutors charged Carmela Panico, owner of several coffee stands throughout the state, with promoting prostitution and money laundering, claiming that the baristas at such invitingly named locations as "Java Juggs" and "Twin Peaks" were offering customers a bit more than cream, sugar and flavorings. "Baristas told investigators that they earned $15,000 and $30,000 a month, mostly from tips," wrote Peter Weber for newsmag The Week. "Panico hauled in more than $2 million in three years, and kept much of that cash hidden from the IRS, prosecutors say. Police found $250,000 in cash in Panico's house. Deputy prosecutor Bob Hendrix alleged in the charging documents that Panico would take a fixed cut from each of her seven stands, letting the baristas keep the rest." "The sales goals were effectively rent that the girls paid to have the opportunity to perform lewd conduct or acts of prostitution," Hendrix said. Panico's coffee stands typically charged six bucks for a cuppa, but according to The Everett Herald's Diana Hedley, "[C]ustomers typically paid with a $20 bill. The baristas kept the rest to shake their breasts or expose their genitals. They charged more for sex acts with the droves of men who stopped at the stands." Typically, Panico would hire former strippers and escorts as coffee servers, and there were standing orders that no matter what a customer might do or try to do, the police were never to be called. Prior to her purchase of the coffee stands, Panico had been an exotic dancer with the Talents West agency, which reportedly had been owned by the Colacurcio family, which also owned a chain of Seattle-based strip clubs that they were forced to close following a federal organized crime prosecution. Panico pled guilty to the prostitution and money laundering charges—both second degree felonies—on September 2, and agreed to testify not only about "others who were involved in her criminal activities," which might include, in addition to the Colacurcios, "Darrell O'Neill, a former Snohomish County sheriff's sergeant accused of helping Panico avoid detection by police. O'Neill allegedly was given sex in exchange for his help. Panico admitted on Tuesday that she personally provided sexual favors to the former sergeant." Panico could receive up to a year in jail on the charges when she is sentenced next March, but that could be substantially reduced depending on the extent of her cooperation with the county's ongoing investigation.