Member of strip club family indicted

The future strip club in Huntington Beach probably will be allowed to

open even though a member of the family that owns the land was indicted

last week on charges of laundering money and trying to smuggle guns onto

planes.

A federal grand jury found indicted Jirair “Jerry” Tatarian, 29, with

helping arrange to have firearms placed on flights leaving Los Angeles

International Airport for a fee of $900 per gun, said Thom Mrozek,

spokesman for the U.S. Attorney’s Office.

Undercover agents discovered the scheme during an investigation into a

money-laundering operation in which he allegedly was also involved,

Mrozek said.

But City Atty. Gail Hutton said her preliminary research shows that as

long as the suspect is not involved in running the sex-oriented business,

an entertainment permit will be issued.

“Jerry Tatarian has nothing to do with this club,” said Max Ahmadi, who

shares ownership of the company that will manage the enterprise. The

company leases the land from the Tatarian family. Ahmadi’s partner is

Harout Tatarian, Jerry’s brother.

“They all share the same last name, but some of them are screwed up,”

Ahmadi said.

The charge for conspiracy to smuggle weapons carries a maximum penalty of

five years in federal prison, the officials say. Jerry Tatarian is also

charged with one count of conspiracy and four counts of money laundering,

each of which carries a maximum penalty of 20 years in federal prison.

Jerry Tatarian co-owns a strip club in Anaheim belonging to the family.

He has been released on bail and is scheduled to be arraigned Monday.

Meanwhile, construction continues as scheduled on the future Flamingo

Adult Theater, with an opening expected perhaps as early as January,

Ahmadi said.

The city, concerned about attracting unsavory characters, had fought

since 1996 to keep the club out, but First Amendment rights forced the

city to back down in June.