A pair of Massachusetts residents on the middle of a multi-state prostitution scandal that prosecutors say catered to high-powered politicians, medical doctors and attorneys, waived their rights to preliminary hearings on the costs in opposition to them and requested for bail hearings later this month.
Han “Hana” Lee, 41, of Cambridge, and Junmyung Lee, 30, of Dedham, will stay in federal custody a minimum of till their detention listening to, now scheduled for November 22, after they have been charged by federal prosecutors with “conspiracy to coerce and entice to travel to engage in illegal sexual activity.”
Neither defendant spoke a lot throughout Monday’s proceedings, solely acknowledging to U.S. Magistrate Judge David Hennessy — in Han Lee’s case, by way of an interpreter — that they’d been suggested of their proper to a preliminary listening to, that they wished to see the listening to waived, and that they might wait to debate pre-trial detention. Both left the courtroom in handcuffs and within the custody of U.S. Marshals.
“You guys know more than I do,” John Amabile, the legal professional representing Junmyung Lee, informed gathered reporters after leaving Worcester District Court. “I don’t have any more information than you do.”
According to Amabile, his consumer waived his preliminary listening to as a result of there “was no rationale for having a hearing today.”
Han Lee’s legal professional, federal defender Scott Lauer, didn’t cease to talk with reporters after leaving court docket.
Both Han Lee and Junmyung Lee have been arrested in Massachusetts and together with a 3rd individual, James Lee, 68, of Torrance, California, are alleged to have operated “sophisticated high-end brothels in greater Boston and eastern Virginia.”
James Lee was taken into custody in California and can be extradited to the Bay State for trial at a later date.
“Commercial sex buyers allegedly included elected officials, high tech and pharmaceutical executives, doctors, military officers, government contractors that possess security clearances, professors, attorneys, scientists and accountants, among others,” Acting United States Attorney Joshua Levy’s workplace stated in an announcement.
According to court docket paperwork, the accused allegedly have been on the middle of a years-long prostitution ring working brothels in Cambridge and Watertown, in addition to in Fairfax and Tysons, Virginia.
The trio, court docket paperwork point out, would “persuade, induce and entice women — primarily Asian women — to travel to Massachusetts and Virginia to engage in prostitution.” They rented excessive finish flats, paying as a lot as $3,664 per thirty days in lease, wherein the ladies would host shoppers.
Customers, none of whom have been recognized by prosecutors, have been apparently supplied appointments with the ladies, supplied particulars about their bodily look in addition to nude or partially nude photographs. Customers have been despatched a “menu” of accessible providers, “including the women and sexual services available and the hourly rate,” of as much as $600 per hour “depending on the services.”
“The investigation into the involvement of sex buyers is active and ongoing,” Levy’s workplace wrote.
Brothel clients have been verified by the brothel operators after submission of “their full names, email address, phone number, employer and reference if they had one,” in line with prosecutors.
“Additionally, it is alleged that the defendants regularly used hundreds of thousands of dollars of the cash proceeds from the prostitution business to purchase money orders (in values under an amount that would trigger reporting and identification requirements) to conceal the source of the funds. These money orders were then used to pay for rent and utilities at brothel locations in Massachusetts and Virginia,” Levy’s workplace wrote.
If discovered responsible, every of the defendants faces as much as 20 years in a federal jail adopted by three years of supervised launch and a nice of as much as $250,000. Their precise sentences could be decided by federal sentencing pointers, in line with Levy’s workplace.
Levy, together with Special Agent in Charge of Homeland Security Investigations in New England Michael Krol and Cambridge Police Commissioner Christine Elow, introduced the arrests and expenses final week. According to prosecutors the investigation used sources and personnel from the Central District of California, the Eastern District of Virginia, the U.S. Postal Service, and the Watertown Police Department.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Lindsey Weinstein of the Criminal Division and Assistant U.S. Attorney Raquelle Kaye, of the Asset Recovery Unit, are prosecuting the case on behalf of the federal government.
Source: www.bostonherald.com”