Ex-Aitkin, Minn. police chief settles in prostitution case

Former Aitkin Police Chief Scott Leslie Smith was the first of eight men arrested in a Baxter, Minn., prostitution sting to settle his case.

Smith, 62, pleaded guilty to soliciting prostitution on July 27 and was sentenced to two years of supervised probation.

Crow Wing County Attorney Don Ryan said Smith will work off a roughly $1,500 fine by setting up a John School — a diversion program for men arrested for soliciting prostitutes — in the Brainerd-Baxter area.

The nearest John School, which Smith and the other men arrested during the sting in central Minnesota attended, is in St. Paul.

According to Ryan, the May 20 sting was the first of its kind in Crow Wing County. A second sting has already been conducted.

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