hustle

It's okay to sell vertical dance lessons but not horizontal ones.

Sniffling and fighting back tears, Alexis Wright said she felt relief when police raided her business on Feb. 12, 2012, because she wanted out.

“In my eyes I’m free. I’m free from this,” she told the judge. “I have an incredible amount

of strength that I knew was in me somewhere. Now that I have the strength I want to

encourage others to come forward. I want them to know that there’s at least one person

out there who’ll believe their story, no matter how crazy it seems.”

In an odd twist to the already strange case, the defense said in a court document that

Wright became part of Strong’s private investigation firm and was manipulated into

believing she was an “operative” working for the state with the task of investigating “all

manner of sexual deviants.”

Her attorney, Sarah Churchill, said Friday that Wright, coached by Strong, thought she

was investigating sex, even as she was getting paid large sums of money by clients.

Churchill said self-deception is a coping mechanism for women involved in prostitution.

“Because of her trauma history, it makes her more easily manipulated,” she said. “As this

all unravels and charges are brought, you look back on it, like everybody does, you say

to yourself, `What was I thinking? How did I fall into this?’ You just don’t see it while you’re

in the middle of it.”

After agreeing to the plea bargain, Justice Nancy Mills had words of encouragement for

Wright.  “Based on what you have to say and what I know about you from your attorney, I know

that you will succeed when you’re released and that you will prevail. I wish you success,”

Mills said.