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08-24-05, 11:39 AM
FBI agents raid home of former pro wrestler
Associated Press
CARTERSVILLE, Ga. - Two Bartow County homes owned by a former pro wrestler were raided Tuesday by FBI agents, who said the wrestler once known as "Hardbody Harrison" was suspected of forcing women into prostitution.
Agents searched two adjacent homes owned by the 39-year-old wrestler, whose real name is Norris Harrison Jr.
Harrison wrestled for the now-defunct World Championship Wrestling organization in the 1990s.
Stephen Emmett, special agent for the FBI in Atlanta, said Harrison wasn't charged with a crime but that the basis of the warrant was suspicion of human trafficking, sex trafficking and involuntary servitude.
Harrison was arrested in nearby Smyrna, Ga., last August and charged with felony false imprisonment for allegedly forcing women who owed him money to work as prostitutes or nude dancers.
"He was making them do different things. Either it had to do with prostitution or sometimes he would take them to an adult club and make them dance and take a cut of the money," said Smyrna Police Capt. Keith Zgonc.
Those charges were turned over to federal authorities for a larger investigation and Harrison has not yet faced them in court, Zgonc said.
During the raid, about a dozen FBI agents and local sheriff's officers carted out boxes of evidence while neighbors looked on. Harrison was home during the searches, Emmett said.
Neighbors told reporters that Harrison lived in one of the homes and that about eight women were living in his other home.
In 2000, after leaving WCW, Harrison joined about 20 other wrestlers in a lawsuit against the company and its parent, Turner Sports. The lawsuit alleged racial discrimination, saying WCW cast non-white wrestlers in unflattering stereotypical roles. The lawsuit was later dismissed.
Associated Press
CARTERSVILLE, Ga. - Two Bartow County homes owned by a former pro wrestler were raided Tuesday by FBI agents, who said the wrestler once known as "Hardbody Harrison" was suspected of forcing women into prostitution.
Agents searched two adjacent homes owned by the 39-year-old wrestler, whose real name is Norris Harrison Jr.
Harrison wrestled for the now-defunct World Championship Wrestling organization in the 1990s.
Stephen Emmett, special agent for the FBI in Atlanta, said Harrison wasn't charged with a crime but that the basis of the warrant was suspicion of human trafficking, sex trafficking and involuntary servitude.
Harrison was arrested in nearby Smyrna, Ga., last August and charged with felony false imprisonment for allegedly forcing women who owed him money to work as prostitutes or nude dancers.
"He was making them do different things. Either it had to do with prostitution or sometimes he would take them to an adult club and make them dance and take a cut of the money," said Smyrna Police Capt. Keith Zgonc.
Those charges were turned over to federal authorities for a larger investigation and Harrison has not yet faced them in court, Zgonc said.
During the raid, about a dozen FBI agents and local sheriff's officers carted out boxes of evidence while neighbors looked on. Harrison was home during the searches, Emmett said.
Neighbors told reporters that Harrison lived in one of the homes and that about eight women were living in his other home.
In 2000, after leaving WCW, Harrison joined about 20 other wrestlers in a lawsuit against the company and its parent, Turner Sports. The lawsuit alleged racial discrimination, saying WCW cast non-white wrestlers in unflattering stereotypical roles. The lawsuit was later dismissed.