Seattle Times:

Even as the government launched its racketeering investigation into the late Frank Colacurcio Sr.'s strip clubs, the men who ran them believe they were themselves victims of theft.

A civil lawsuit filed last month in King County Superior Court by Leroy Christiansen, David Ebert and Steven Fueston accuses Frank Colacurcio Jr. of siphoning off as much as $9 million in cash from receipts from the four clubs.

The lawsuit was referenced Tuesday in U.S. District Court in Seattle, where Christiansen, Ebert and Fueston appeared for sentencing for prostitution-related crimes stemming from a four-year investigation into the Colacurcio clubs.

In keeping with an earlier plea deal, U.S. District Court Judge Richard Jones did not send any of the men to prison. But he said he likely would have, if not for the fact that the government was focused more on shuttering the clubs than punishing the men who ran them.

Over the objections of their attorneys, Jones also ordered the men, as part of their probation, to undergo "Moral Reconation Therapy," a form of cognitive therapy focused on morals. Christiansen's attorney, Angelo Calfo, said such therapy was unnecessary.