Two members of a group advocating sexual relationships between men and boys pleaded guilty in San Diego federal court yesterday to sex-tourism charges.
Phillip Todd Calvin, 44, a Dallas dentist, and Paul Ernest Zipszer, 40, a personal trainer from Deltona, Fla., were arrested in San Diego a year ago in a sting initiated by an FBI agent who infiltrated the North American Man/Boy Love Association, also known as NAMBLA.
As part of a plea agreement, prosecutors asked a federal judge to sentence the men to no more than two years in prison followed by 12 years of supervised release, a condition similar to parole.
A third man arrested in the case, David Cory Mayer, 50, a Chicago flight attendant and psychologist, remains in custody without bail. A judge has not set a trial date.
Mayer's lawyer is arguing before U.S. District Judge Jeffrey Miller that NAMBLA is a political organization protected by constitutional freedoms of speech and association, and that federal agents illegally infiltrated it to “instigate” crimes.
Lawyer Benjamin Coleman also is arguing that the undercover San Diego FBI agent who joined NAMBLA and attended two conventions had no probable cause to suspect criminal activity and shouldn't have been allowed to join.
Prosecutor Anne Perry said the agent acted appropriately.
The now-retired agent, Robert Hamer, testified yesterday that he joined NAMBLA in 2001 while investigating a Los Angeles travel agency suspected of arranging trips to Thailand for men seeking sex with children.
Hamer said he wanted to understand the mind-set of such men in order to better impersonate one.
“We were not investigating NAMBLA,” he said.
Hamer said that as part of his membership, he participated in a program in which the organization sends holiday cards to incarcerated members and attended a convention in New York City.
In 2004, he attended a convention in Miami, where he talked to several members about traveling overseas for sex with boys.
Eventually, seven men signed up with a bogus travel agency the FBI set up and arranged a trip to Ensenada. They were arrested as they prepared to board ships in San Diego and Los Angeles, according to court documents.
An Orange County man also was arrested on child-pornography charges by Los Angeles agents in connection with the investigation.
Four of the five men charged in Los Angeles pleaded guilty, with the longest sentence being 14 years in prison. The fifth man was convicted by a jury and has not been sentenced.
Onell Soto: (619) 293-1280; onell.soto@uniontrib.com
