The Gold Club was a strip club in
Buckhead that operated until 2001, the same year the owner admitting racketeering charges.
Operations
The Gold Club was one of the most prominent strip clubs in Atlanta Georgia,
located on Lindbergh Road.
Owner Steve Kaplan
was the subject of a 14 week trial in 2001
after prosecutors alleged that the club was used for prostitution, money laundering, bribery and credit card fraud.
Kaplan was also accused of having links to the
Gambino crime family
The Gambino crime family (pronounced ) is an Italian-American Mafia crime family and one of the "Five Families" that dominate organized crime activities in New York City, United States, within the nationwide criminal phenomenon known as the Ame ...
.
The club was managed by Thomas "Ziggy" Sicignano, who acted as a witness for the prosecution during the trial.
represented Kaplan during the court case, brought under the
Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act.
As part of a plea deal during the trial, Kaplan confessed to racketeering.
Judge
Willis Hunt
Willis Beverly Hunt Jr. (born December 10, 1932) is an inactive senior United States district judge of the United States District Court for the Northern District of Georgia.
Education and career
Born in Malden, Massachusetts, Hunt graduated fro ...
sentencing Kaplan to sixteen months in prison.
Details of the plea deal included agreeing to close the club, 400 hours of community service, and a $5 million fine.
The club was the focus of the 2001
Court TV
Court TV is an American digital broadcast network and former cable television channel. It was originally launched in 1991 with a focus on crime-themed programs such as true crime documentary series, legal analysis talk shows, and live news cove ...
program ''Sex, Sports & the Mob: Atlanta's Gold Clu''b, written and directed by
Steven Dupler Steven Dupler is a U.S.-based writer, producer and director and a pioneer in high definition television (HDTV). An early member of REBO HD Studio, which in 1986 became the first High Definition production company in North America, he has created, p ...
.
After the club's 2001 closure,
agreed to attempt to purchase the location
although it was next used as a church before opening as The Gold Room nightclub in 2009.
See also
*
List of strip clubs
References
{{reflist
Strip clubs in the United States
2001 controversies in the United States
2001 disestablishments in Georgia (U.S. state)
Gambino crime family