Richard Beasley, the prime suspect in the Craigslist killings, pleaded not guilty Friday to charges he ran a house of prostitution.
Beasley, 52, is charged in Summit County with 14 counts of promoting prostitution and one count of compelling prostitution. The Akron man is being held without bond.
He has not yet been charged in three shooting deaths and the assault of a fourth man who answered a Craigslist classified ad placed in October.
However, the FBI, which is investigating the shootings, has placed a detainer on Beasley. The hold precludes his release from jail and accuses Beasley of wire fraud and kidnapping in connection with the Craigslist shootings, his attorney Rhonda Kotnik said.
Brogan Rafferty, 16, is charged in Noble County Juvenile Court with aggravated murder and attempted murder. Authorities say the Stow-Munroe Falls High School junior aided Beasley in at least two of the shootings.
Rafferty, who is expected to be tried as an adult, is scheduled to appear in court Dec. 15.
He is not involved in the prostitution case in which Beasley is accused. Beasley is charged with compelling a 17-year-old boy to participate in a sex-for-money scheme. The teen is not identified. Beasley is also accused in 14 other counts of supervising or managing prostitution from November 2009 until December 2010.
Beasley operated a transitional home at his former Yale Street residence and offered services for the homeless, drug addicts and alcoholics. Akron police say the house was a front for prostitution.
Prosecutors have also accused Beasley of drug trafficking based on allegations he sold prescription painkillers in the presence of a police informant this year.
He was held in the county jail on the drug-trafficking charges until July, when Common Pleas Judge Tammy O’Brien reduced his bond to $10,000. He never returned for court and was on the lam until his arrest Nov. 16.
The Craigslist ads first appeared in early October and the first death is believed to have taken place by month’s end.
So far, the shooting deaths of three men have been linked to the Craigslist ad. Two bodies were recovered in Noble County, the site of the bogus ad that sought a worker to oversee an expansive ranch for $300 a week and the use of a two-bedroom trailer. One body was found in Akron.
A fourth man was shot and injured while touring the property with two males believed to be Rafferty and Beasley. That man’s escape led authorities to the plot and other bodies.
Texas authorities said this week that a parole violation detainer was supposed to be in place in Summit County last summer that would have barred Beasley’s release. Local officials dispute the claim and say Texas declined to accept Beasley unless he was convicted.
Ohio law dictates that inmates can only be held for 10 days on an out-of-state detainer. Since Texas did not want to come get Beasley, he was released.
In 1985, Beasley was sentenced in Harris County, Texas, to 40 years in prison for 10 counts of burglary. He served about four years before being paroled. He returned to Ohio and was indicted by federal prosecutors in 1996 on a firearms charge and served seven years in prison.
He went on to serve a one-year stint in Texas as a parole violator in 2003 to 2004.
Phil Trexler can be reached at 330-996-3717 or ptrexler@thebeaconjournal.com.