Five more men have been charged in a wide-ranging investigation into a prostitution ring operating out of an apartment on Milwaukee's near west side. The men were each charged with one misdemeanor count of pandering-solicitation on Monday, days after a prominent former public defender was charged in the same investigation.
The defendants are George H. Easton, 76, of Pleasant Prairie; William H. Green, 59, of West Allis; David E. Ornstein, 50, of Milwaukee; Christopher G. Riegg, 55, of Greenfield; and LeRoy E. Stewart III, 53, of Racine. The men hold public positions in the community. The complaint identifies Easton as a retired municipal judge, Green as an attorney, Ornstein as a firefighter and Stewart as a funeral director. Riegg is an investment banker, online records show. Milwaukee Fire Chief Aaron Lipski said the department was aware of the allegations and has an open internal investigation.
The criminal complaint indicates that Ornstein may have been tipped off to the investigation, citing Google searches he made the day before his arrest in March that included "how to beat a solicitation charge. As part of the same investigation, Travis Schwantes, a public defender who ran for judge in , was charged Thursday with two felonies — solicitation and making a false statement to qualify for a public defender as a party to the crime — and two misdemeanors related to prostitution as part of the investigation.
Among the allegations, Schwantes is accused of falsifying paperwork to represent one of the women he paid for sex and continuing to pay her for sex during his representation. As of Monday, he was listed as remaining in good standing on the State Bar of Wisconsin website.
The allegations against the men date from to this past April, and all are scheduled for an initial court appearance on Dec. The investigation began in April , when a woman came forward to report prostitution activity out of a near west side apartment. That woman told authorities she was addicted to cocaine and began sex work under the guidance of another woman she had met, referred to in the criminal complaint as Victim 1. The woman said she would perform three to four sex acts for money each day in Victim 1's apartment, giving the money to Victim 1 in exchange for cocaine, court records show.
