Prostitution suspect a legitimate businesswoman, attorney says

A former cheerleading coach who is alleged to have told police that she supplied prostitutes to Shaquille O'Neal provided services herself to the basketball superstar and other celebrities, her lawyer said Thursday.

Esperanza Brooks "had done work on Shaquille O'Neal"; she had worked as a makeup artist for him as part of a side business she operated, her defense attorney, Michael Sanft, said.

Rob Powers, a spokesman for Prism Sports Marketing, which represents O'Neal, said he had no comment on Sanft's statement. In June, after Las Vegas police arrested Brooks on charges of pandering and living off the earnings of a prostitute, Powers called Brooks a liar.

Brooks was scheduled to have a preliminary hearing Thursday in Justice Court, but attorneys asked the judge to delay the matter two weeks while they try to negotiate a plea agreement.

During a two-week investigation earlier this year, Brooks, who served as a volunteer cheerleading coach for the Andre Agassi College Preparatory Academy, was caught bragging to undercover officers about her discreet girls and red carpet clientele, police said.

"These are not your average girls. Some of them have worked with Bill Clinton," she told police, according to a Las Vegas police report, which noted her mention of O'Neal as a client.

Police thought she was telling the truth, Sanft said. "They saw D.C. Madam. They saw Heidi Fleiss," he said, referring to two high-profile prostitution cases.

He said that Brooks was pushed into pimping by overzealous officers.

Police arrested Brooks and her business partner, 30-year-old Rashena Rashel Kemp, in at Ruth's Chris Steak House on Flamingo Road after undercover cops gave her a manila envelope with $12,000 cash, ostensibly for a night with three prostitutes and drugs.

The detectives had called Brooks and told her they needed three "clean" and "busty blonds" for three Asian clients who were coming to Las Vegas, the report said.

The three prostitutes whom police allege had been lined up by Brooks and Kemp were arrested at the Rio.

Sanft said that before the police sting operation, Brooks had never pimped before. "I think what she saw was some easy money," he said.

A defense at trial could be that Brooks was entrapped by police, Sanft said.

Las Vegas police have investigated her finances and her cell phone records, he said, adding that he did not think they could produce any evidence she had been profiting from prostitution.

Contact reporter K.C. Howard at khoward@reviewjournal.com or (702) 380-1039.