Kenneth Denning, the 69-year-old former owner of the Electric Blue Café in Tolland, is scheduled to be sentenced Tuesday in federal court in New Haven after pleading guilty to running a prostitution operation that prosecutors say padded his bank account while condoms reportedly clogged the club's septic system. Prosecutors allege Denning profited enormously from commercial sex acts performed by dancers in the club's VIP and lap-dance rooms, funding a lifestyle that included a mansion, a speedboat and a waterfront home in Florida.
Denning pleaded guilty to conspiracy to use an interstate facility to promote or facilitate prostitution and conspiracy to defraud the IRS, according to reporting from CT Insider. Prosecutors are requesting a prison sentence of 37 to 46 months, while defense attorneys are asking for no more than six months, the outlet reports. Denning was born in East Hartford, Connecticut, and ran the club nominally owned by his wife through Denning Enterprises, though the Hartford Courant reported he controlled the business himself.
A Mansion, a Speedboat and Casino Comps
According to CT Insider's account of the sentencing filings, Denning owned an 8,011-square-foot mansion on 80 acres in Holland, Massachusetts, two Cadillac Escalades and a 39-foot speedboat named Hustler. He also gambled millions of dollars in proceeds from what prosecutors describe as his self-described whorehouse at casinos, the outlet reports, and Mohegan Sun recorded $42,718 in comped bills for restaurants, clothing and other luxuries from 2019 through 2023.
The alleged operation, which federal authorities say ran from around January 2020 through at least March 2023, relied on ATMs installed at the club, credit-card processing and social media accounts as facilities of interstate commerce used to promote prostitution, the Courant reported, citing the indictment. Customers typically paid a $20 cash fee to enter a lap-dance room and separately paid dancers for dances and commercial sex acts, while entry to private VIP or Champagne rooms ran $100 to $150, often but not always paid in cash, according to the same indictment reporting. CT Insider reports that a repairman was once paid with $3,000 worth of time in a Champagne room in exchange for his services, and that prostitution cash was stored separately in a safe in Denning's office under the label Kenny's Money.
Drugs, Immigration Allegations and a Troubled Upbringing
Drug use was common at the club, prosecutors said, and CT Insider reports that a photograph found on Denning's phone showed him snorting a white powdery substance off a dancer's bare buttocks. Prosecutors also said many women employed as dancers at the Electric Blue were in the country illegally, and that violence and abuse likely accompanied the procurement of women for commercial sex, according to the outlet's review of sentencing filings. Defense attorneys countered that Denning was never violent with his workers, the same reporting states.
Denning's attorneys have portrayed a difficult upbringing in their push for leniency, according to CT Insider: he grew up in poverty in a violent East Hartford housing project, was grazed by a stray bullet as a child, and left school in ninth grade to support his family. He now has three children, including a two-year-old, receives $3,180 in monthly Social Security benefits, and carries monthly obligations of $7,568, the defense memo states. His attorneys say he plans to sell his Massachusetts property, valued between $900,000 and about $1.5 million, to help cover restitution.
Tax Fraud and a Pandemic Loan
Investigators determined Denning's unreported income totaled about $1.5 million for the 2020, 2021 and 2022 tax years, per CT Insider's reporting. He also received a $149,900 federal loan during the COVID-19 pandemic after falsely certifying that the club did not present live performances of a prurient sexual nature, officials said, and transferred $20,000 into his personal bank account almost immediately after receiving the loan.
As part of his plea, Denning has agreed to pay $550,000 in restitution to the IRS and $150,000 to the U.S. Small Business Administration, and to forfeit about $1.5 million, according to CT Insider's account of prosecutors' statements. A separate excerpt from the Justice Department indicates Denning agreed to forfeit the $45,421 in cash seized from the Electric Blue when it was raided in March 2023, plus $1,047 seized from his residence at the time of his arrest. Denning sold the Tolland club in January for $3 million, CT Insider reports.
Other Defendants and Pending State Charges
Denning was not alone in the case. Joshua Baker worked at the Electric Blue as manager and bookkeeper, while William Mayo worked as a bouncer responsible for hiring dancers, according to the Courant's review of the indictment. The Justice Department says Mayo has since pleaded guilty to conspiracy to use an interstate facility to promote or facilitate prostitution, an offense carrying a maximum prison term of five years.
Denning also faces pending state charges involving an illegal firearm and magazine found at the club, and he is scheduled to appear in state Superior Court in Rockville on Oct. 19, according to CT Insider's reporting. Separately, the fallout from the federal case has reached Tolland's town government: officials there issued a cease-and-desist order and the Town Council voted against allowing the business to operate as an adult-entertainment cafe, according to WFSB.
