Rendell security contractor Russell Wantz, charged with soliciting a prostitute, asks court to strip writer Bill Keisling of state shield law protectionsPosted September 16, 2008 - Rendell Administration security contractor Russell Wantz, owner of the Schaad Detective Agency, went to court on September 16, 2008, seeking to strip writer Bill Keisling of his state shield law protections.
The hearing was held in the state Capitol Building in Harrisburg at 9:30 am, before the Superior Court of Pennsylvania.
Wantz was arrested in Harrisburg on December 2007 for soliciting a prostitute. Wantz has yet to stand trial on the sex charges. Wantz's trial, twice postponed, has been rescheduled in Dauphin County for Election Day, November 4.
Despite his arrested and pending trial on sex charges, Wantz continues to pursue a punitive SLAAP suit against Keisling and Yardbird Books.
Keisling wrote in The Midnight Ride of Jonathan Luna that city officials in York, PA for years had been seeking an investigation of Wantz for his alleged participation in the sex trade. In 2006 Wantz asked a federal court to ban the book.
Wantz meanwhile continues to hold lucrative, and highly sensitive, security contracts with the Rendell Administration at the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation, the Labor Department, the Liquor Control Board and and Pennsylvania Turnpike.
