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'Nice Guys' Prostitution Leader Won't Go To Jail

MINNEAPOLIS  (WCCO) -- The man who ran the "Minnesota Nice Guys" online prostitution ring was sentenced Thursday, but won't likely serve any time behind bars.

John Paul St. Marie, 66, pleaded guilty to three counts of felony promotion of prostitution and was sentenced to 15 years probation and ordered to pay a $150 fine and a $250 fee to attend a school for male customers of prostitutes.

St. Marie has a serious medical condition that requires him to have 24-hour care. Because of that, prosecutors didn't ask that he serve time in jail because it would cost too much to keep him in locked up.

On the website, St. Marie connected prostitutes with "nice guy" customers whom he claimed were safe and would pay well.

St. Marie, a former assistant Hennepin County attorney, was sentenced in Ramsey County so there wouldn't be a conflict of interest.

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