Retired Cop Busted For Running Prostitution Ring

A former San Diego police detective has been arrested and is acing up to 30 years behind bars after authorities accuse him of owning and operating five massage parlors that they say they can prove are nothing more than brothels. 

Prosecutors say 78 year old Peter Griffin owned and ran the businesses in Arizona and California between 2013 and 2022. They fronted as massage parlors but in their online advertisements, they offered sex acts. 

Griffin served with the police department for 27 years, and spent part of that time working in the department’s vice unit investigating prostitution. In addition to the time in a Federal prison, he also faces up to one million dollars in fines.

The ruse was discovered when one of the women offered sexual services to an undercover police officer from the same department where Griffin once worked.

Federal agents say Griffin used his knowledge gained as a Vice Detective to evade law enforcement, and on at least one occasion, he even used his badge to conceal evidence and maintain a facade of legitimacy.

Griffin and three co-defendants pleaded guilty in a San Diego Federal Court to racketeering, conspiracy, fraud, and other charges earlier this week.

-Tony Lee