Comments (0) Best Intention Gone Bad - 2002
The Chili Pepper's Plea
The owners of the Chili Pepper nightclub in Fort Lauderdale were faced with a problem this winter. One of their employees, Russell Davis, had gotten into some trouble and was facing time in the slammer for a parole violation. Back in 1997, Davis had been sentenced to a year in prison, followed by five years of probation, for bank fraud in New York. Unfortunately, last summer, he once again ran afoul of the law when he was charged with stealing $1600 from the petty-cash safe at Club Radius in Boca Raton. By January, Davis was facing revocation of probation, so Eric Levin, president of the Pepper, dashed off a letter to the Honorable Judge William Dimitrouleas and beseeched mercy for Davis. Revenues had increased by 50 percent in one month after hiring Davis as marketing director in September 2001, the letter proffered. Oops. One condition of Davis's probation was "not to engage in any activity where he is soliciting customers." Dimitrouleas sentenced him to five months.
