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SALT LAKE CITY — A man who avoided prison time several years ago after being convicted of engaging in a prostitution scheme has been arrested again for the same charges.
Gary Wayne Stuckey, 52, was charged Friday in 3rd District Court with aggravated exploitation of prostitution, drug possession with intent to distribute, money laundering and engaging in a pattern of unlawful activity, all second-degree felonies; and aiding prostitution, a class A misdemeanor.
An arrest warrant was issued for Stuckey on Friday. Unified police were able to track him down and arrest him on Tuesday.
Police say the investigation began when undercover detectives found an online advertisement for commercial sex that included a picture of a woman previously identified as a victim of exploitation by Stuckey. Officers arranged a "date" with the woman at a motel in Midvale.
When an undercover officer arrived at the motel and notified the woman he was there, Stuckey was seen exiting a room and then walked past the officer's car "and intently stared" at the undercover officer before continuing into a nearby gas station, according to charging documents.
Several minutes later, Stuckey walked past the rear of the car again and "began peering inside the vehicle from a distance," the charges state, and then walked past the vehicle again several minutes later.
A short time after that, a woman came out of the room and approached the vehicle.
Police later returned to the motel with a search warrant and found drugs in the room Stuckey and the woman were in, according to the charges.
The woman "admitted to engaging in prostitution for over three years" and "initially told investigators that Stuckey wasn't forcing her to engage in prostitution, but she needed to make money because Stuckey did not work or rarely worked. After some time, (she) admitted she felt she had no way out of the 'life,'" charging documents state.
"(She) stated that Stuckey would call her worthless, despite (her) being the only one bringing in money. (She) admitted she gave Stuckey half of the money she made from commercial sex to keep him from getting mad," the charges state.
Detectives also searched Stuckey's phone and found text messages in which Stuckey made threatening comments against the woman, as well as messages to others trying to schedule "group sex appointments" for her, according to the charges.
In 2011, Stuckey was convicted of aggravated exploitation of prostitution and money laundering, but the charges were amended to class B misdemeanors and his prison sentence was suspended, according to court records.
"(Stuckey) has been engaging in a pattern of violent and exploitative behavior for years. The victim in this case has been controlled by (Stuckey) through coercion, drugs and threats," prosecutors noted in charging documents while requesting he be held in the Salt Lake County Jail without the possibility of posting bail pending trial.
In 2010, Stuckey and his wife were part of an investigation regarding allegations that the couple came to Utah from Arizona to sell their unborn child. The case, however, was later dismissed by a judge.
