SANTA BARBARA, Calif. (AP) -- For 19-year-old Natalie Moffett, the money was too good to pass up, sometimes $650 a day in tips for doing "a variety of things."
The deal went sour two months later when Moffett found herself standing naked in the middle of a bedroom, a nude man hiding in the closet, as police kicked in the door.Moffett, a student at the University of California, Santa Barbara, was one of five co-eds who allegedly stripped and performed sex acts while working at a brothel that advertised "College Cuties."
Moffett missed class Wednesday so she could testify against Patricia Cota, the 29-year-old woman accused of running the brothel.
"I needed the money," said Moffett, who received immunity from prosecution in exchange for her cooperation. "Depending on the dollar amount, we would do a variety of things."
When police raided the bungalow apartment that Cota allegedly used as her brothel on Dec. 2, officers found Moffett in the middle of a bedroom and her client hiding in the closet, said Detective Tyler Larson, the lead investigator.
Santa Barbara police have broken up two other alleged prostitution operations in the last several months in this scenic town along California's central coast, which hadn't had an arrest for running a brothel in two decades.
"It's a coincidence, but it's strange," said Deputy District Attorney Joyce Dudley, who is prosecuting all three cases.
Cota pleaded not guilty in December to 17 counts of pimping, pandering, money laundering and cocaine possession. She faces 12 years in prison if convicted on all counts.