United States v. Calvin Vernon Hiatt

Calvin Hiatt appeals from his conviction on one count of conspiracy to violate the laws of the United States, 18 U.S.C. § 371 , particularly the Mann Act, 18 U.S.C. § 2421 , and the Travel Act, 18 U.S.C. § 1952 . We affirm.

In early 1973, Daniel J. Seydel was the owner of a place of business in Seattle, Washington, which the appellant describes as a massage parlor and the government calls a body painting studio. It was named the Soft Touch Studio.

Appellant acknowledges that it was in fact a house of prostitution and that Hiatt had an active role in its management. Seydel also recruited ■ women in Seattle to work as prostitutes in the Anchorage studio and paid their transportation costs. What is not admitted is that Hiatt had any part in the recruiting or transportation. However, the government’s evidence is that Hiatt first managed the Seattle studio and then went to Alaska to assist in the management of the studio there. As manager, he reported regularly to Seydel in Seattle by telephone, maintained records of the women’s earnings, disciplined them, and even monitored sessions through one-way mirrors which were installed in some rooms, in order to permit management to…