康州脱衣舞俱乐部老板被判联邦监禁16个月：容留卖淫、瞒报近300万美元收入并骗取疫情贷款，另须赔偿没收逾220万美元
美国司法部康涅狄格区联邦检察官办公室10月13日发布新闻稿：肯尼斯·丹宁（Kenneth Denning，69岁，马萨诸塞州霍兰人）当天在纽黑文被联邦地区法官维克多·A·博尔登（Victor A. Bolden）判处16个月联邦监禁，其后3年监督释放。丹宁经营位于康涅狄格州托兰（Tolland）的脱衣舞俱乐部"Electric Blue"，被指与雇员在该场所促进和便利卖淫。
法庭文件与庭上陈述显示，Electric Blue由控股公司"Denning Enterprises"持有（名义上属丹宁之妻、实际由丹宁控制），自上世纪90年代经营至2025年1月出售。俱乐部雇用舞者表演裸体舞与贴身舞，通常要求舞者每班支付最高50美元"场费"，并鼓励舞者在包间、VIP房与"香槟房"内与顾客进行商业性交易；顾客付现金入场费后，再向俱乐部付费（通常为现金）使用包间，并与舞者另行议价，金额常达数百美元、由舞者自留。雇员将俱乐部收取的现金按来源装入信封，放入丹宁办公室的保险箱，内部称之为"Kenny的钱"，用于支付业务开支和丹宁的个人消费，包括前往赌场的行程——例如2023年2月23日，丹宁在Mohegan Sun赌场存入约21,700美元现金用于赌博。
税务方面，丹宁与其簿记员向俱乐部报税人员提供的收入电子表格刻意遗漏"Kenny的钱"。2023年3月16日，调查人员从其办公室保险箱查获45,421美元现金，其中约39,751美元为2023年3月2日至15日两周内收取的"Kenny的钱"；按该两周期外推，调查人员计算丹宁等人使2020、2021、2022三个纳税年度近300万美元应税营业收入未向国税局申报。
丹宁还骗取了疫情救助贷款：他在经济伤害灾难贷款（EIDL）申请中虚假声明该企业不"呈现淫秽性现场表演"，并将Electric Blue的经营类别填为"餐饮场所"；2020年7月，该俱乐部获得149,900美元EIDL资金，丹宁几乎立即将其中的20,000美元转入个人银行账户。
丹宁于2024年5月15日被捕，2026年5月19日认罪，罪名包括一项利用州际设施促进或便利卖淫共谋、一项欺诈国税局共谋、一项洗钱共谋及两项以非法活动所得财产进行货币交易。法官博尔登判令丹宁向国税局赔偿549,999美元、向小企业管理局赔偿150,000美元，并同意没收1,525,842美元（包括2023年3月从俱乐部查获的45,421美元及被捕时从其住所查获的1,047美元）。丹宁目前以25万美元保释金在外，须于11月17日到监狱报到。
此案由国土安全调查局（HSI）、国税局刑事调查局、康涅狄格州警察、康涅狄格州消费者保护厅酒类管制司及马萨诸塞州警察调查，威利曼蒂克与曼彻斯特警方协助；由助理联邦检察官罗伯特·S·迪林顿（Robert S. Dearington）与亚历克西斯·L·拜尔莱因（Alexis L. Beyerlein）起诉。
（来源：美国司法部康涅狄格区联邦检察官办公室新闻稿，2026年10月13日）
Connecticut Strip Club Owner Sentenced to 16 Months in Federal Prison for Prostitution, Tax and Loan Fraud Schemes
Kenneth Denning, 69, of Holland, Massachusetts, was sentenced on October 13 by U.S. District Judge Victor A. Bolden in New Haven to 16 months of imprisonment and three years of supervised release, the U.S. Attorney's Office for the District of Connecticut announced. Denning owned and oversaw the Electric Blue, a strip club in Tolland, Connecticut, where he and his employees promoted and facilitated prostitution. According to court documents, the club — held by "Denning Enterprises," nominally owned by Denning's wife but controlled by Denning — operated from the 1990s until it was sold in January 2025. Dancers paid a "house fee" of up to $50 per shift and were encouraged to engage in commercial sex transactions with customers in private and semi-private rooms, including a "lap dance room," "VIP rooms" and "Champagne rooms"; customers paid a cash cover charge and a typically cash fee to use a room, then negotiated additional fees directly with dancers, often hundreds of dollars, which the dancers kept. Employees collected the club's cash in envelopes marked by source and kept it in a safe in Denning's office — money they called "Kenny's money" — used for business expenses and Denning's personal spending, including casino trips; on February 23, 2023, Denning deposited approximately $21,700 in cash at the Mohegan Sun Casino for gambling. Denning and his bookkeeper gave the club's tax preparer spreadsheets that purposefully omitted "Kenny's money." On March 16, 2023, investigators seized $45,421 in cash from the office safe, of which about $39,751 represented "Kenny's money" collected between March 2 and 15, 2023; by extrapolation, investigators calculated that nearly $3 million in taxable business receipts went unreported to the IRS for the 2020, 2021 and 2022 tax years. Denning also fraudulently obtained a pandemic Economic Injury Disaster Loan (EIDL): he falsely certified that the business did not "present live performances of a prurient sexual nature," characterized the club as "Eating & Drinking Places," and in July 2020 the club received $149,900 in EIDL funding, of which he almost immediately transferred $20,000 to his personal bank account. Denning was arrested on May 15, 2024, and on May 19, 2026, pleaded guilty to conspiracy to use an interstate facility to promote or facilitate prostitution, conspiracy to defraud the IRS, conspiracy to commit money laundering, and two counts of engaging in monetary transactions in property derived from unlawful activity. Judge Bolden ordered restitution of $549,999 to the IRS and $150,000 to the SBA, and Denning agreed to forfeit $1,525,842, including the $45,421 seized from the club and $1,047 seized from his residence. Released on a $250,000 bond, he must report to prison on November 17. The case was investigated by Homeland Security Investigations, IRS Criminal Investigation, the Connecticut State Police, the Connecticut Department of Consumer Protection's Liquor Control Division and the Massachusetts State Police, with assistance from the Willimantic and Manchester police departments, and is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Robert S. Dearington and Alexis L. Beyerlein.
(Source: U.S. Attorney's Office for the District of Connecticut press release, October 13, 2026)
图片来源：图：纽黑文理查德·C·李联邦法院大楼现状。摄影：ajay_suresh，CC BY 2.0，来源：Wikimedia Commons
