By Francesca Jarosz
The Indianapolis Star
INDIANAPOLIS — An Indianapolis police officer, who along with his wife is accused of running a prostitution ring out of their Greenwood home, was released from the Johnson County jail after turning himself in Thursday.
Jeremy Lee, 30, an Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department patrolman, posted bond set at $18,000 on a felony charge of aiding in promoting prostitution. He had been in Massachusetts for military training Wednesday when a warrant was issued for his arrest. Lee has been fired from IMPD.
His wife, Lori Vernon-Lee, 36, was still in jail Thursday on a $40,000 bond. She faces five felony counts of promoting prostitution.
Jerry McCory, 56, a former city, county and state criminal justice official charged with patronizing a prostitute from Lee’s escort service, turned himself in Wednesday but posted bond, which was set at $2,000.
Vernon-Lee, who waived her initial hearing, will appear in Johnson Circuit Court on Monday for a bail reduction hearing, said Johnson County Prosecutor Lance Hamner.
McCory’s initial hearing also is set for Monday in Johnson Superior Court.
Hamner said Jeremy Lee’s initial hearing has not been set, but a court date likely will be scheduled on Monday.
According to a probable cause affidavit, Vernon-Lee solicited women to work for her escort service and advertised through a local weekly newspaper. Lee answered phones for his wife’s service, acted as a bodyguard for women while they were with clients and helped collect money from the escorts while wearing his police uniform, according to the affidavit.
McCory, a former director of the Indiana Criminal Justice Institute and a public safety adviser to then-Mayor Bart Peterson, is accused of hiring an escort to perform oral sex. He resigned from his most recent post as a Marion County sheriff’s liaison at Jail II and Liberty Hall on June 25 without explanation.
Copyright 2008 The Indianapolis Star