Couple admit to sex scam
NICHOLE MONROE BELL Staff Writer Charlotte Observer

FORT MILL, S.C. - The plan was unconventional yet simple: Girlfriend will have sex for money, and boyfriend will hide in the closet to make sure she doesn't get hurt.

But, prosecutors say, Joseph Dunlap and Brenda Jane Smith didn't leave it at that.

Over about six months, the Fort Mill couple's simple plan evolved into an elaborate scam in which they blackmailed married men who were straying from their spouses, Assistant Solicitor Willy Thompson said.

The couple scammed as many as 40 men, racking up between $800 and $1,000 from each of the victims, who hailed from four states, Thompson said.

Dunlap, 36, pleaded guilty this week to blackmail, conspiracy and kidnapping in the case. Smith, 31, pleaded guilty to attempted armed robbery, blackmail and kidnapping. They are scheduled to be sentenced next week. The two are in jail awaiting sentencing. Their lawyers could not be reached for comment Thursday.

Smith told prosecutors the caper began several months ago. Smith, a former factory worker, met the men over phone chat lines. They'd strike a deal, the customers would pay in advance and then show up at the couple's Fort Mill home to complete the transaction.

At first, Dunlap hid in the bedroom closet to make sure none of the customers got violent. That's how it worked for a while. But then they had a thought.

What if they could keep the dough and skip the sex?

Because the men were paying in advance, 5-foot-10, 270-pound Dunlap could burst out of the closet and scare them off before the men got what they came for, Thompson said.

It worked. Then another brainstorm.

The couple figured out they could get even more money if they blackmailed the married men. Single men who couldn't be blackmailed were threatened with a beating, Thompson said.

He said Smith lured some men with the promise of free sex, then she and Dunlap extorted money from them once they got in the bedroom.

"He'd come out with a bat and a knife, then they'd take pictures of the men naked," Thompson said. "They kept a whole (record) book on this thing."

Thompson said the book contains about 40 names, along with such notations as "big spender" and "Charlotte lawyer." One man even arranged a blackmail payment plan of $200 a month for five months, Thompson said.

Dunlap and Smith also recorded driver's license information, home phone numbers, spouse names and car descriptions of their victims. All the pictures and information would be used to expose the men if they didn't cooperate, he said. The men were from as close as Rock Hill, and as far away as Virginia and Georgia.

Fort Mill police Detective Bryan Zachary said officers initially became aware of the case in early May when they received a phone call from someone who saw a bat-wielding man chasing another man down the street near the couple's home. When questioned by police, Dunlap and Smith said nothing had happened and there were no charges filed.

Police caught up with Dunlap and Smith later that month, when the couple took a man to a Fort Mill bank to withdraw money, Zachary said. The man passed a note to the teller asking for help, and Fort Mill police responded.

The man told officers he was being blackmailed. The officers, who recognized the couple from the baseball bat incident, didn't doubt the man's story, Zachary said. They arrested the couple in the bank parking lot.

Dunlap pleaded guilty Tuesday during the second day of his trial. In return for the plea, prosecutors dropped armed robbery and a weapons charge against him. He faces up to 45 years in prison.

Smith had previously pleaded guilty and was planning to testify against Dunlap, in exchange for a possible lighter sentence. Smith faces up to 35 years in prison.