Mar 15, 2007 8:27 am US/Central
Strip Club Owner Not Guilty In Rigging Election
by Esme Murphy
Coates, Minn. (WCCO) ―
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Jake Jacobson, who was found not guilty on charges of conspiracy to procure unlawful voting and forgery.
CBS
A man who owned a controversial strip club in Coates, Minn. was facing jail time for rigging a small-town election. Wednesday, a Dakota County jury found him not guilty of conspiracy to procure unlawful voting and forgery.
Jake Jacobson wanted a
friendly city council to support his club, so he recruited more than 90 strippers, friends and acquaintances to register to vote in the small city of Coates, Minn.
The problem is, Jacobson had all of those people register using his business's address as their home address, which is illegal. Jacobson thought if the addition 90 people could vote in the town of 163 people, he'd be able to get his candidates elected.
Then came the criminal charges, Jacobson said.
"The fact that the jury took as long as it did made me kind of nervous," Jacobson said.
After four hours of deliberations, the jury acquitted Jacobson.
"I think I was facing a year and a half on one count and two and a half on another, so a total of four years," Jacobson said.
During the 14 years he has owned his club in Coates, Jacobson estimates his legal fees have topped $1 million as he has fought the city on everything from this election to closing time to liquor license issues.
This time, Jacobson hired high-powered defense attorney Joe Friedberg who argued Jacobson didn't think he was doing anything wrong, because his previous lawyer told him it was OK.
Now that he's won his case, Jacobson said he may reopen his strip club as soon as this summer.
"I don't see any reason to let it sit there vacant," he said. "It's not making me any money right now."
No one in Coates wanted to talk. Jacobson said he knows many here don't like his club, adding that those people don't have to go to his club.
"Property values continue to go up, my taxes continue to go up who am I hurting?" Jacobson asked.
The same people Jacobson wanted to throw out of office are still in control of Coates, so he will face the old restrictions he was under when his club closed in 2002, including no liquor. The club will also have to close at 1 a.m.
(© 2007 CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. The Associated Press contributed to this report.)
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