By Shayna Jacobs
DNAinfo Reporter/Producer
MANHATTAN CRIMINAL COURT — An undercover detective testified at a closed court hearing Thursday that he pretended to be a fabric salesman and got lap dances from two Midtown strippers before arranging to pay for sex with them, according to a transcript of the proceeding.
The officer, whose identity has been sealed for his protection, sipped on vodka drinks and received lap dances from Cassandra Malandri and Falynn Rodriguez, both 27, before offering to pay for sex with them, he said.
The officer's testimony in the prostitution trial of Malandri and Rodriguez came as prosecutors submitted into evidence a video of what they say is a bedroom at Big Daddy Lou's Hot Lap Dance Club, in Midtown, where strippers would allegedly have sex with men for money.
The officer testified that he was taken to the room after he told a club manager at Big Daddy Lou's Hot Lap Dance Club that he wanted to sleep with the women.
"I knew you were a bad boy," Malandri allegedly told the officer, according to court transcripts.
Rodriguez then chimed in: "You looked so innocent."
Malandri and Rodriguez took the detective to a private bedroom with velvet red curtains and what appeared to be a stained bedspread to negotiate, he said. They agreed to meet the officer the next day at a Hilton for group sex in exchange for $5,000, prosecutors charge.
Video from a raid taken a month later — and obtained by DNAinfo — showed the bedroom and a closet full of housekeeping items like Kleenex and fresh sheets nearby. Condoms, lubricants, sex toys and $70,000 in cash were also reportedly found there.
Authorities claim the items were proof of a sex trade at the club.
Another clip played at trial and obtained by DNAinfo shows more than a dozen lingerie-clad women lingering around a hallway and covering their faces to avoid being caught on tape.
The detective's testimony was given in front of court personnel and lawyers only to protect his identity. He is scheduled to take the stand again Friday morning.
The women are charged with prostitution, a misdemeanor that carries a sentence of up to 90 days in jail.
