Photo: Flaviano Chris Garcia one of two professors arrested for running southwest prostitution ring
UPDATE: HS-News was contacted by Cara Garrett who did not deny starting the site, but stated she was never charged with the previously stated crimes. The story has been edited to reflect this.
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Two college professors have been arrested for being part of a prostitution ring, one of them the former president of the University of New Mexico.
David Flory, a physics professor at Fairleigh Dickinson University in New Jersey, and Flaviano Chris Garcia, a political science professor and ex-president of UNM, were taken into custody for taking part in a prostitution ring police allege involved 200 prostitutes in several states in the southwest.
The multi-state online prostitution operation known as Southwest Companions was discovered after police spoke with Cara Garrett, the woman who started the site in 2005.
It is believed the ring was based in Albuquerque-Santa Fe, but reached into Denver and Phoenix.
Flory, 68, and Garcia, 71, were among seven people believed to have been the ring’s top operators.
Garcia is said to have been part of “the hunt club”, which was responsible for finding new prostitutes for the site.
Police Lt. William Roseman told the Associated Press, “At this point it looks purely coincidental” that two of the top members, Flory and Garcia, were academics, and it is not thought that any other school’s were associated with the enterprise.
Susan McKinsey, a UNM spokeswoman said, “The University learned of the ongoing APD investigation (Thursday) morning. We are and will continue to fully cooperate with law enforcement. Media reports which state the search warrants were served in connection with the multi-state online prostitution ring are deeply disturbing. It is important for all of us, our entire university family, that we get to the bottom of this as quickly as possible.”
Photo Credits: David Flory, one of two professors arrested for running southwest prostitution ring
