PORTLAND — The lawyer of the Thomaston man charged in an alleged prostitution operation based out of a Kennebunk Zumba studio is asking a judge to dismiss the original charge in the case.

Mark Strong Sr., 57, had been charged in July with a single count of promotion of prostitution. Strong was indicted last week on 59 additional misdemeanor counts: a combination of promotion of prostitution, violation of privacy and conspiracy charges.

Strong’s lawyer, Daniel Lilley, has filed a motion to dismiss the first promotion of prostitution charge, arguing that prosecutors have failed to provide him with evidence in the case as required by the rules of discovery.

Lilley had filed a similar motion in August. During a hearing the following month, Superior Court Justice Joyce Wheeler decided that dismissal would not be an appropriate sanction because there was no evidence that prosecutors acted in bad faith.

Prosecutors said at the time that they were grappling with extremely large amounts of data seized during police searches.

Lilley’s motion to dismiss is one of a number of issues that may be addressed at a hearing in Cumberland County Unified Criminal Court on Tuesday.

The Zumba instructor, 29-year-old Alexis Wright of Wells, was also indicted last week. She faces 106 counts, mostly engaging in prostitution, promotion of prostitution, conspiracy, tax offenses and charges related to receiving welfare benefits when ineligible. She was indicted for three felonies: Income tax evasion and two counts of theft by deception.

 

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