Woman pleads guilty to conspiracy involving high-end, West Side brothel

A woman accused years ago of running a high-end brothel known as “the premier Dungeon of Chicago” — apparently boasting thousands of clients — pleaded guilty Wednesday to a federal conspiracy charge.

The feds charged 35-year-old Jessica Nesbitt, also known as Madame Priscilla Belle, in a 13-count indictment back in 2019. It revolved around her former West Side business, Kink Extraordinaires, and it alleged prostitution and financial crimes.

Nesbitt’s attorneys insisted at the time that she ran a legal business and paid her taxes.

“Fetish-based eroticism is not unlawful,” defense attorney Barry Sheppard told the Chicago Sun-Times after the charges against Nesbitt became public in September 2019.

But Wednesday, Nesbitt admitted arranging for prostitution appointments with clients — and performing acts of prostitution herself — while charging rates of $300 to $1,000 per hour “depending on the services provided.”

In doing so, her business collected more than $1 million in cash. Her sentencing hearing has been set for May 3.

Kink Extraordinaires was described as “the premier Dungeon of Chicago.” Its website said it offered “beautiful, psychologically sophisticated Kinksters” who “play out of a private five-floor dungeon with multiple, fully equipped themed rooms.”

The business, officially known as Selective Management Enterprises, Inc., was based in the 2400 block of West Augusta.

In July 2020, Nesbitt’s lawyers made headlines again when they wrote in a court filing that “many of Ms. Nesbitt’s former clients hold positions of prestige in the community, including in law enforcement and government.”

Adam Sheppard, a defense attorney who also represented Nesbitt, offered that explanation as he asked a judge to reconsider a ruling requiring Nesbitt to give prosecutors the names of former employees and clients she hoped to contact at the time.

He wrote that many of Nesbitt’s former clients and employees were her friends, but many former clients were also “leaders in industry, government, and law who have offered Ms. Nesbitt “future employment opportunities.”

He wrote that Nesbitt had about 9,000 former clients.

The feds responded the next month by alleging that Nesbitt had once contacted an employee, who had been approached by law enforcement, and said she wanted to meet with all of her employees as a group so they could go over their “story.”

They also said a different former employee had alleged that Nesbitt established a “raid protocol” in which she may have had the ability to remotely delete the content of her workers’ cellphones and iPads.

Nesbitt told the judge Wednesday that she now owns, and rents out, condominiums. She also said she works as a construction company’s administrative coordinator.