Newly forged icon among men Kevin Provencher will serve two and a half years in prison after being found guilty of running a prostitution ring in Salem, Mass., Superior Court Friday. I never heard if the male-dominated Massachusetts press referred to this as the Salem B:tch Trials, because that title, while horrible, is quite snappy.

Provencher worked 23 years for the Manchester, N. H., Union Leader prior to his arrest in July of 2009. He is a four-time winner of the New Hampshire Sportswriter of the Year award from the National Sportscasters and Sportswriters Association.

His attorney asked the judge to sentence Provencher to probation instead of jail, saying he had no previous criminal record and only started his “side business” to make up for a reduction in his sportswriter’s salary that resulted from the newspaper industry’s economic woes.

Prosecutor Melissa Woodward…said the women earned $240 per hour or $150 per half-hour and would pay Provencher in cash or by depositing the money in his bank account in 2008 and 2009.

–CNHI.

Glad to hear that entrepreneurial spirit is alive and well in the Northeast. Those student loans aren’t gonna pay themselves off, ya know.