Judge Seizes Prostitution Ring Operator’s House : Oxnard: The jurist rules that money from an illegal activity was used to buy the $265,000 home. The action is called a message.

An Oxnard man described as operating the biggest prostitution ring in Ventura County lost his $265,000 home Wednesday when a Ventura County judge seized it because it was purchased with illicitly obtained money.

Judge Steven Z. Perren ruled that Henry Hardy Jr., who was convicted of pimping and pandering in September, placed a $53,000 down payment on the house at East Ridge Loop Road in Oxnard with proceeds from his prostitution enterprise.

Deputy Dist. Atty. Michael K. Frawley said Hardy’s loss of the house sends a double message to future offenders.

“Not only will he be punished with time in prison, he won’t profit by it. He won’t have a house waiting for him when he gets out,” Frawley said. “Time in jail is not the only thing you have to worry about.”

Hardy was convicted in September of three counts of pimping and eight counts of pandering stemming from his management of the Stardust Modeling Agency on Saviers Road.

He supervised up to 15 women and earned hundreds of thousands of dollars during the three years that he operated the agency, prosecutors said. The operation was described by Frawley as the largest in the county.

The women would dance and undress for customers in private rooms for $100 per half an hour. Of that amount, Hardy took $70 while the performer received $30 plus tips. But the dancers also performed sex acts for additional money, according to witnesses.

The county, which may sell the home on the open market or auction it, will receive the $53,000 that Hardy put down to buy it because it came from his prostitution operation, Frawley said.

“I’m sure there’s a lot of uses for that money,” Frawley said.

The balance, $212,000, will be returned to World Savings and Loan Assn., which loaned Hardy money to buy the house.

Hardy’s attorney, Christian J. Menard, said he plans to appeal the ruling on the grounds that the prosecution was racially motivated.

“Several other businesses had been raided and closed,” Menard said. “Mr. Hardy was the only one prosecuted and the only one who lost his home, and Mr. Hardy was the only black man. What does that say?”

Menard also insisted that a portion of the down payment was legally obtained because Hardy’s wife works at Clairol Inc.

“The question is where did her money go?” said Menard, who also suggested that a portion of Hardy’s income was legitimately earned. “Not every penny he earned came from sex.”

Hardy is scheduled to begin serving a six-year prison term on Friday, Frawley said.