According to a criminal complaint cited by The New York Times, Eric Kellogg, the mayor of Harvey, Illinois, was aware that prostitution was taking place at the strip club and demanded $3,000 per month in exchange for allowing the business to remain open. This week, the mayor’s brother, Rommell Kellogg, was convicted on five counts relating to the scheme, including “conspiracy to commit theft and intimidation and causing the use of facilities in interstate commerce to promote theft and intimidation,” according to a statement from the Justice Department. Last month, Corey Johnson, the mayor’s cousin, pleaded guilty to a charge in connection with the scheme. The criminal complaint does not mention Eric Kellogg, the former mayor. He is only mentioned as “Individual A” in the court documents, according to the Chicago Sun-Times. After the FBI visited the Harvey Police Department during the investigation, the mayor was forced to release a statement and said, “I have informed the Chief of Police to cooperate fully with the investigators. Given that there is an apparent ongoing investigation, the administration will refrain from making any further comment.” Prosecutors allege that the club paid the men for several years until the mayor wanted to double the payment. Initially, the club’s managers refused to pay the $6,000 per month, and days later a police officer showed up and ordered the business to close. Shortly after, the club agreed to the higher payment and was allowed to remain open. Authorities later searched the property during an investigation related to financial and prostitution crimes and documents payments from the club to the mayor totaling $37,000. As part of the investigation, the Times reported, authorities tapped the phones of Johnson and Rommell Kellogg, learning that Johnson didn’t want to be involved. “I never wanted to be in it from the beginning,” Johnson said during one meeting cited by the Times. Prosecutors say from 2003 through 2017, Johnson collected roughly $500,000 from the club, which was used to pay bribes, the Sun-Times reported this week.The mayor of a city in Illinois told a local strip club to pay him each month or he would have the club shut down.
