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Prostitution, lewdness arrests at Pharr strip club

PHARR — Police made three arrests for alleged sex crimes Friday during an undercover sting at a topless bar.

Agents with the Texas Alcohol and Beverage Commission alongside Pharr police investigators went undercover at Stilleto's Gentlemen's Club, 1050 N. Sugar Road, early Friday morning, according to criminal complaints in the case.

Upon entry, Lilian Marie Zarate, allegedly offered to have sex for money to the undercover investigators. Zarate, 24, allegedly told the investigator sex would cost between $300 and $700, depending on the act, the complaint states.

As the investigators went upstairs in the gentlemen's club, they said they saw another dancer performing oral sex on a man in one of the back rooms, the complaint states.

Investigators arrested Zarate, who was charged with prostitution and possession of a controlled substance after six white Xanax pills were found in her purse.

Investigators also arrested Yemalay Rergis, 31, and William Knight, 39, on public lewdness charges for the alleged oral sex.

Bond for Zarate was set at $4,000, while bonds for Knight and Rergis were set at $2,000 each.

Prostitution is a class B misdemeanor charge, while possession of a controlled substance is a state jail felony punishable by up to two years in a state jail and a $10,000 fine.

Public lewdness is a class A misdemeanor charge punishable by up to a year in prison and a $4,000 fine.

Management at Stilletos was not immediately available for comment Monday afternoon.

The undercover sting is at least the third performed by TABC undercover officers in recent weeks.

Officers also made arrests July 25 on prostitution and alcohol-related charges at Jaguars, 5021 W. Highway 107, Edinburg. That same night, officers also arrested a bartender at Xoticas, 4502 N. Cage Blvd., for allegedly selling alcohol to an intoxicated patron.

http://www.themonitor.com/articles/pharr…