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Accused Madam Brenda Allen, "Vice Queen" pandering trial

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Title supplied by cataloger.; Photograph was edited for publication purposes.; Photograph also used in article dated July 21, 1948 and May 17, 1949.Ann Forst (true name Almerdell Forrester, but known to the newspapers as the “Black Widow”) ran a large white slave ring in prewar Southern California. She had a falling-out with her police and political protection in 1940, when a young prostitute named Brenda Allen Burns blew the whistle on her operation. After the “Black Widow” was sentenced to five years at Tehachapi, Brenda Allen (aka Marie Mitchell, probably the same person as Brenda Allen Burns) developed a similar call-girl setup, with the twist of catering to a higher class clientele. By 1948, she was taking out display ads in Hollywood trade papers for her “escort service,” which featured over a hundred girls. Seeing an opportunity to protect her business, she became romantically involved with a Hollywood vice cop, LAPD Sgt. Elmer V. Jackson, who soon became her business partner, paying him $500 (current dollars) a week per woman employed. She could easily afford this, as her women brought in about $80,000 (current dollars) a day. Allen took half the top, a third went to corrupt cops, doctors, lawyers, judges, and bail bondsmen, and the rest was divided amongst the girls. Her customers included 250 entertainment industry figures, politicians, and gangsters. Allen and Jackson's empire came crashing down in 1948 after an LAPD phone tap proved extensive police involvement with the prostitution ring. This set off a series of...
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