Prostitution ring busted

Published 8:33 pm Wednesday, June 24, 2009

People calling to schedule a haircut soon learned that one “barber shop” offered quite a variety of other services and products.

“We received complaints about an advertisement for ‘Residential Barber Shop for Men Only,’ and when you called that number you could order just about anything from drugs to prostitutes,” Clanton Chief of Police Brian Stilwell said Wednesday in a press release.

Clanton police on Sunday arrested Saul Reyes Rendon and Maria Guzman Rojas, both of Montgomery, for promoting prostitution, first degree. Rojas was also charged with unlawful possession of a controlled substance.

Clanton police detectives, along with the Alabama Beverage Control Board, the Chilton County Sheriff’s Office and Jemison police, set up an undercover sting operation at a Clanton apartment complex.

Police ordered a prostitute, and when the two individuals arrived they worked out a sex-for-money deal with an undercover police officer.

Since the prostitution operation was aimed at the Hispanic community, a Spanish-speaking police officer from Jemison helped.

Rendon and Rojas are being held in the Chilton County Jail. Rendon is being held on a $100,000 bond and Rojas on a $105,000 bond.