The owners of a Columbus strip club that drew national attention after adult film actress Stormy Daniels’ 2018 arrest there were taken into federal custody Thursday and ordered held until they pay nearly $250,000 in overdue settlement obligations.
Michael and Francis Sharrak, both 58, and Jay Nelson, owners of Cleveland Ave. Restaurant Inc., the company that operates Sirens Gentlemen’s Club at 6190 Cleveland Ave., were ordered into custody Oct. 8 by U.S. District Judge Algenon Marbley in Columbus.
The trio will remain jailed until they pay $240,891.60 in overdue settlement payments, plus roughly $13,000 in accrued interest and more than $51,000 in plaintiffs’ attorney fees and costs, according to federal court filings. The debt stems from a class-action lawsuit brought by dancers who alleged unpaid wages and unlawful entertainer contracts.
About $14,000 in cash was paid to the plaintiffs at Thursday’s hearing, court records show. Defense attorney Mark Trimble asked to extend the payment deadline to Oct. 14, but Marbley denied the request, noting the defendants had been in contempt of court since July 1 for failing to comply with a previous order.
The defendants are in the custody of the U.S. Marshals. It is unclear whether Sirens remains in business: calls to the club’s listed phone number were met with a recording saying the number had been disconnected.