Felony Conspiracy Plea Confirms Investigation into Masonic Sub-group, Royal Order of Jesters

A 2000 Challenger 335 MHA motor home, similiar to the one forfeited per Michael Stebick's plea agreement.

Note: Insert Adult Disclaimer here.

An attorney and member of two Masonic sub-groups has pleaded guilty to one felony count of conspiring to violate the Mann act after admitting to driving a prostitute across state lines so she could be sold for sex to members of the Royal Order of Jesters at one of their weekend stag parties.

Michael R, Stebick, a former prosecutor for the Erie County district attorney's office, a former New York State Supreme Court law clerk and former Impressario or leader of the Jesters Buffalo Court #18 was caught with a retired police captain and a former New York State Supreme Judge, both also Jesters, during a fifteen month federal investigation into human trafficking.

Human Trafficking is defined as "the recruitment, transportation, harboring, or receipt of people for the purposes of slavery, forced labor and servitude."

Stebick has agreed to cooperate with the Human Trafficking Task Force/FBI investigation into the scandal plagued Jesters.

Before a man can be a Shriner or Jester, he must first become a Master Mason. He can then join other sub groups like the Scottish Rite, the Knights Templar or the Shriners. So, a man who is a member of the Royal Order of Jesters was first an invited Shriner who was first a Master Mason. (1)

Stebick is the second Jester to enter into a plea agreement with federal prosecutors for Mann Act violations. His plea agreement can be read here.

Last March 20, retired police captain John Trowbridge pleaded guilty to one felony count of violating the Mann Act by transporting prostitutes to Jester parties in Kentucky and Pennsylvania. Trowbridge was originally scheduled for sentencing on July 31, but will now be sentenced on November 4 due to being a witness in other cases. His plea agreement can be read here.

Ronald Tills, the former New York Supreme Court judge, has yet to go public with any cooperative agreements though federal court documents reveal that he was recently added as a defendant in an unrelated RICO complaint.

"Cooperation" for both Stebick and Trowbridge is spelled out in both their plea agreements as:

* Providing complete and truthful information regarding the defendant's knowledge of any and all criminal activity, whether undertaken by the defendant or others, in any way involving or related to the unlawful transportation of individuals for prostitution or other sexual activity which is prohibited by law.

* Submitting to interviews by government attorneys and agents.

* Testifying truthfully and completely before grand juries and at such pre-trial and trial proceedings.

* Testifying truthfully and completely in local, state, and federal courts in jurisdictions which have agreed to abide by the plea agreement.

* Providing proactive cooperation to the government regarding individuals involved in criminal activity involving unlawful transportation of individuals for prostitution or other sexual activity which is prohibited by law.

* Providing cooperation to any local, state, or federal authorities designated by the government.

In exchange, Stebick could be imprisoned from four to ten months, be fined from $3,000 to $30,000 and be on supervised probation for two to three years.

The plea agreement's factual basis is based on facts that both Stebick and U.S. Attorney's office agreed to. It states that in October, 2005, the defendant, Michael R. Stebick, together with John Trowbridge, Len Wah Chong, a former New York State Supreme Court Judge AKA "Judge" and others whose identities are known to the parties, agreed to knowingly transport a woman who was an illegal alien from New York to Kentucky.

Chong owned four "massage" and "acupressure" businesses that were fronts for prostitution and kept as many as 11 illegal aliens as sex slaves. She pleaded guilty to a Felony Information early last April, charging her with "Sex Trafficking of Persons by Force, Fraud and Coercion." More details can be read here.

Stebick's plea states that Trowbridge picked up the prostitute from Chong's Golden Acupressure business and then "drove her to a parking lot of Leisure Land in Hamburg, New York to board a motor home driven by Stebick to transport her, the co-conspirators and others known and unknown to the U.S. Attorney's office, to Ashland, Kentucky" so she could:

"engage in sexual intercourse and other sexual activity in exchange for money with members of a men's organization of which the defendant, John Trowbridge and the Judge were members, and which organization was holding a gathering in Kentucky the weekend of October 28 - 30, 2005. This organization maintained chapters throughout the United States, including in Western New York, and it was the custom of these chapters to host periodic meetings, usually on weekends, for their members. At most of these meetings, some members of the organization would be tasked to arrange for the presence of women at the meetings, for the specific purpose of utilizing the women to engage in sexual intercourse and other sexual activity with the organization's members in exchange for money...The facts set forth above are those about which the government had independent information prior to the time the defendant indicated a desire to cooperate with the government and agreed to give statements regarding the defendant's involvement in criminal activity. It is understood and agreed to by the parties that additional information provided by the defendant cannot be used against the defendant."

Part of Stebick's plea agreement was to "immediately criminally forfeit" his 2000 Challenger 335 MHA motor home. It will be sold, with the proceeds also forfeited.

This is the second sex scandal to hit the Royal Order of Jesters after it was reported last March that nineteen members were also called as witnesses in a separate federal lawsuit to testify about their first hand knowledge of sex with minors while on a sanctioned Jesters fishing trip in Brazil.

Additionally, these three will most likely face disciplinary actions overseen by the Grand Master of the Grand Lodge of New York, which could result in expulsion from the worldwide order. The Grand Secretary of the Grand Lodge of New York, Gilbert Savitzky, referred questions about the disciplinary process and the Grand Master's reactions to the Lodge's public relations firm, with no answers yet.

Stebick and Tills, both attorneys and members of the New York Bar Association, also face automatic disbarment upon pleading guilty to federal felonies.

A call placed to the Royal Order of Jesters headquarters to get reaction from executive director Alex Rogers was unsuccessful because their phone number has been disconnected.

This investigation is being conducted by New York Western District's Human Trafficking Task Force and Alliance.

According to a Department of Justice announcement, the task force was created in November, 2006 and "is a collaboration of local, state and federal law enforcement agencies and non-government service organizations working together to identify, rescue and assist victims of human trafficking, human smuggling and other civil and human rights offenses in the 17 counties of the district, through aggressive investigation, prosecution, training, education and outreach to law enforcement, non government organizations, vulnerable and affected persons and the general public."

These groups include the FBI, Erie County Sheriff's Office, Custom and Border Protection, Unted States Border Patrol with the assistance of the Niagara County Sherriff's Office and the Tonawanda Police Department. The case is being handled by Assistant U.S. Attorney Robert C. Moscati, who is also in charge of the task force.

In closing, Moscati said "We will go wherever the evidence leads us."

(1) The Royal Order of Jesters is an invitation-only fraternal sub-group of the Shriners, best known for operating a network of 22 hospitals that provides free medical care to burned and crippled children. The Revised Constitution and Bylaws of the National Court of the Royal Order of Jesters spells out the close relationship between the two groups. It can be read here. Both groups have been classified as "non profit" or "tax exempt" by the IRS. A Shriner committee that was tasked with investigating the alleged unethical conduct of hospital leaders Ralph Semb and Gene Bracewell. The committee's report revealed, among other things, that Semb may have knowingly executed a fraudulent tax return. Semb and Bracewell are also Jesters. The Interim Report can be read here.

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