Woman charged with extorting spa worker in court

A federal detention hearing was held in Chicago for a 23-year-old Des Plaines woman charged with trying to extort thousands of dollars from one of the female employees of a Mount Prospect massage parlor.

Danielle John, also known as "Princess," was arrested last week along with Alex A. Campbell, a Glenview resident who owns the Day and Night Spa, located in the 900 block of Northwest Hwy., where the victim worked.

John was released on a $20,000 bond Tuesday. Campbell, who also goes by the name of "Dave" or "Daddy," is due back in federal court on Wednesday. Both have been charged with conspiracy to commit extortion and attempted extortion. If convicted, each defendant could face up to 20 years in prison and a $250,000 fine.

According to the complaint, Campbell met the victim in the summer of 2008 at a Chicago massage therapy school she attended. Later that year, the victim and another woman moved into an apartment owned by Campbell and began working at his spa. The victim claimed Campbell forced some spa workers to tattoo a horseshoe and the numbers 9-17 (reportedly Campbell's birthday) on their bodies, authorities said.

In the complaint, the victim said Campbell offered to help with her immigration status if she paid him $13,000. He then demanded an additional $16,000 from her, threatening to make her work from opening to closing, seven days a week if she didn't pay, authorities said.

The victim said Campbell threatened her physically, threatened to have her deported and forced her to engage in sexual activity with another worker which he recorded on his cell phone and threatened to post online, the complaint indicated. It appeared from the complaint that John acted as a go-between, passing the money from the victim to Campbell.

On her own, the victim began recording conversations between her and Campbell in August 2009. In those conversations, Campbell demanded money, authorities said. In September, the victim began working with agents from U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement who were investigating Campbell, John and others.