Report: Investigation technique begins with sex, leads to firings

A grand jury decided not to indict anyone in the case.
COLUMBUS (AP) -- Two state liquor control agents had sex with a woman who wanted a career in law enforcement, then helped give her another woman's identity so she could go undercover as an exotic dancer, a newspaper reported.
Informant Michelle Szuhay, 25, also used the other woman's driver's license when she was pulled over by a state trooper, according to an Ohio State Highway Patrol report.
The Columbus Dispatch obtained the report from the Montgomery County prosecutor's office through an open records request.
Troy police removed agents Chad Fannin, 33, and Gavin Stanton, 34, from the 2003 sting after the agents said they had sex with Szuhay before they started investigating the Total Xposure nightclub in Troy, according to the newspaper.
Fannin and Stanton were fired this summer for conduct unbecoming officers and failure to perform their duties. Both have filed union grievances in response to the firing.
A grand jury last month declined to indict anyone in the case.
Szuhay's situation
Szuhay was issued a traffic ticket after she left the nightclub March 23, 2003, according to the patrol report. She asked if she could get out of her vehicle when she was pulled over, but the trooper told her to stay in the car, Szuhay told investigators.
Another nightclub employee was in the car with her at the time of the ticket, and Szuhay didn't want to blow her cover, according to the patrol report.
Troy police contacted the patrol the next day, and a new ticket was issued in Szuhay's name. She paid $95 for failing to wear a seat belt.
Szuhay had no comment about the investigation or the ticket Sunday. Listings could not be found for Fannin or Stanton, but a union spokesman told the Dispatch that the two would not comment.
Szuhay, then a 22-year-old criminal justice major at the University of Dayton, worked as an intern with the U.S. Marshals Service and in a security post with the NASA Glenn Research Center in Cleveland. She is a police officer with the Federal Reserve Bank of Cleveland.
Szuhay told investigators that she wanted to be a waitress at the club, but Miami County Prosecutor Gary Nasal insisted she be a stripper. Szuhay said she acquiesced but asked for a fake name.
State law prohibits serving alcohol in bars where there is nude dancing. Members of private clubs, which don't have liquor licenses, can bring their own alcohol and pay the club a serving fee.
Troy police sought help for investigating allegations of drug dealing and prostitution at the nightclub because seven of its 43 officers were members there, according to the patrol report.
Troy Police Chief Charles Phelps said authorities didn't ask its officers who were members what was going on because they didn't want the club to know they were investigating it. The club has since closed.
Troy is 18 miles north of Dayton.