WASHINGTON, Aug. 31 (UPI) -- A group run by a former drug kingpin received money for job training for people with AIDS and used it for a club with nude dancers, Washington officials say.

The District of Columbia filed a lawsuit Tuesday against Cornell Jones, The Washington Post reported. Jones, who spent nine years in prison for drug trafficking, founded an organization called Miracle Hands after his release.


In legal papers, the Washington attorney general alleges Miracle Hands submitted false invoices to "wrongfully obtain" more than $300,000 in grants under the guise of renovating a warehouse into a job training center. The building is now a nightclub, the Stadium Club.

The club advertises "Five Star Dining and a Premier Gentleman's Club Experience," The Washington Times reported.

The lawsuit seeks more than $1 million in restitution and penalties.

The Post and later the Times published investigative reporting on the club starting two years ago. Stories suggested Jones benefited from a close relationship with Debra Rowe, who served as head of the city's HIV/AIDS housing program between 2004 and 2008. Three of her relatives worked at another nightclub Jones owned.