"les Macquereaux," the Campbell Law
| Publication year | 2023 |
| Pages | 24 |
HISTORICAL PERSPECTIVES
by Frank Gibbard
Around the turn of the 20th century, a French gang called "Les Macquereaux" became active in Denver. The gang was known for importing women into the United States from France and from other countries for forced prostitution. It was also accused of enticing or forcing Colorado women and girls into becoming prostitutes.
Les Macquereaux had chapters in several large US cities. Women who fell under the gang's power were often forced to work as prostitutes until they had bought their way out of bondage.[1] In Denver alone, Les Macquereaux included an estimated 75 men who lived off the earnings of prostitutes.[2] The gang even owned a ranch near Sheridan, Colorado, where its members could seek refuge during periodic law enforcement sweeps.[3]
The word "maquereau" (without the added "c") had long been used to refer to a pimp in French slang.[4] But as an organized gang, "Les Macquereaux" took pimping to a new level, taking on the trappings of a secret order or cult. Like many gangs, it went by more than one name: it was also known as "Les Chevaliers de l'Amour" (the Knights of Love).[5] The leader of the gang in each city was referred to as the "Emperor"[6]-an ironic term given that in 1870 the French had replaced their last emperor, Napoleon III, with a republic.
All this ersatz nobility, however, could not conceal the ugly reality of the Macquereuax's activities. The gang was reputedly engaged in the large-scale practice of "white slavery" in Denver's red-light district.[7] And it received even more notoriety when one of its reputed members, Richard Demady, was indicted for a murder attributed to the "Denver Strangler," a serial killer of prostitutes who was active in Denver during this period. (Demady was eventually tried but acquitted and then moved to Brazil.)[8]
Gabrielle LeRoi's Story
In a 1906 front-page article in the Rocky Mountain News, a victim of the Macquereaux named Gabrielle LeRoi told the tragic story of her enslavement and exploitation by the gang.[9]Gabrielle was born in Rouen, France, but had relocated to Paris to find work after her father, a teamster, was crippled in an accident. For a while she worked in the French capitol at a milliner's shop. She did well there, and a girlfriend enticed her to visit some friends in the city's Latin Quarter.
Gabrielle soon became a frequent visitor to the sophisticated cafes of the Latin Quarter, where she met an American from Boston who charmed her. He later left to go back to America.
It was only when Gabrielle's voyage was well underway that she realized she had been badly deceived. She was forced into third-class quarters with other women being trafficked. She realized she had fallen into the hands of the Macquereaux.
So when one of the "chevaliers de l'amour" told Gabrielle he could help her find a job as a milliner in America, she listened. Perhaps, she thought, she would even reconnect with her friend from Boston. Soon, she found herself on a steamship headed for America.
It was only when Gabrielle's voyage was well underway that she realized she had been badly deceived. She was forced into third-class quarters with other women being trafficked.
She realized she had fallen into the hands of the Macquereaux. Once the ship landed in America, she was threatened with death if she tried to escape, then hustled onto a train to El Paso, Texas. From there she was transported to Pueblo and then ultimately to Denver. She described how during this time well-dressed but cruel men initiated her into the indignities of her life as a prostitute.
The remainder of the article described the challenges law enforcement faced in holding the Macquereaux accountable for their crimes. Other newspaper articles of the time described the fate of women who went to the police to inform on the gang. These women were allegedly assaulted and sometimes murdered.[10]
The Campbell Law and the Trozzo Case
Perhaps in response to reports like these, in 1909 the Colorado legislature passed an anti-pimping measure known as the Campbell law. The law made it illegal for men to live off the earnings of prostitutes.
Rafael Trozzo, an Italian immigrant, was one of the first defendants tried under the law. N otwithstanding the law's origins, it is not clear whether Trozzo's activities involved sex trafficking as opposed to simply being a pimp. His crimes took place in Pueblo, and he does not appear to have been part of the Macquereaux gang. But his case would provide an early and legally significant challenge to the law.
Trozzo, also known as "Blackie," worked for Pete Ferrone (or Froney), the "king" of Pueblo's red-light district.[11] On July 1, 1910, Trozzo and another man named S. J. Majors were indicted on prostitution-related charges in Pueblo District...
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