Jessica Elzora Burgess (January 17, 1917 – September 9, 1992), better known as Sally Conforte, was the first legal brothel owner and the second female boxing manager in U.S.
He had opened a house near the town of Wadsworth, 30 miles east of Reno, and he'd driven in to pick up a girl to work the holiday.
"[13] Joe and Sally opened several brothels together, creating a prostitution empire that stretched across Nevada and to South Lake Tahoe.
Quoting Mrs. John McMillan, manager of a 185-unit apartment house at Stateline, to the Douglas County Commission, February 1966: "It's one of the biggest businesses I've ever seen in my life.
"[19] Sally was arrested for operating a South Lake Tahoe beauty shop illegally in an apartment building, and her escort business closed.
From the Nevada State Journal, February 1, 1966, page 1: "A report of gunfire in the Happy Valley area... Washoe Sheriffs arrived just in time...
[24][25] 1967, the Confortes took control of the Mustang Bridge Ranch brothel, located a mere ten minute drive from downtown Reno.
[26] Joe put the cathouse business in Sally's name so he could not be further accused of being a pimp and to keep it out of IRS reach, having been convicted of tax evasion before.
[31] A week after the Mustang Ranch officially opened, Oscar Bonavena was shot and killed at the front gate by Joe Conforte's enforcer, Willard Ross Brymer.
[32] After the death of Oscar Bonavena, Farrell wrote that (1976): "[Sally] was a great white shark of suffering... scorned and robbed, a witness to things she hardly dared consider.
[35] Conforte fled the United States to Brazil in December 1980 to avoid prison for tax evasion and also prosecution for attempting to bribe the Lyon County, Nevada district attorney.
[40] Joe and Sally created a public offering of Mustang Ranch stock that could have satisfied the remainder of their debt to the IRS, but three attempts at the IPO failed.
[41] In 1990, her health in decline, Sally deeded her assets to Joe and he prepared to file his own bankruptcy when federal prosecutors obtained emergency forfeiture in court while armed U.S. Treasury Department agents seized the Mustang Ranch and other property.
[6] After her death, Barry Farrell wrote in the New York magazine (1976): "She was tough, loyal, and loving and sometimes mean as a snake, and when she got around to telling stories of when she was 'with the boys,' no one was inclined to doubt her.