BOSTON — A third person who is charged in connection with an interstate commercial sex ring that ran high-end brothels in two Bay State communities and in Virginia is scheduled to enter a guilty plea in federal court in Boston on Wednesday.
Han “Hana” Lee, 42, the leader of the prostitution network, pleaded guilty in September 2024 to charges of recruiting sex workers, getting them transportation to the brothel locations in Cambridge and Watertown, and then concealing the profits of the brothel with money orders. Lee emphasized that while she did run the brothels, she did not control the women.
Junmyung Lee, 31, of Dedham, who served primarily as the “booker” for the prostitution network pleaded guilty in October 2024 to charges of conspiracy to persuade, induce, entice, and coerce one or more individuals to travel in interstate or foreign commerce to engage in prostitution and one count of money laundering conspiracy.
The third defendant is James Lee, 69, of Torrance, California. He was indicted by a federal grand jury and is expected to plead guilty to charges of conspiracy to persuade, induce, entice, and coerce one or more individuals to travel in interstate or foreign commerce to engage in prostitution and one count of money laundering conspiracy.
Prosecutors said the three charged sex buyers a premium price for appointments with women advertised on their websites. Buyers paid anywhere from $350 to upwards of $600 per hour for sex, depending on the services. They paid in cash.
To conceal the proceeds of the prostitution network, Han Lee deposited hundreds of thousands of dollars of cash proceeds into personal and third-party bank accounts and peer-to-peer transfers, prosecutors said. Hundreds of thousands of dollars from these proceeds were used to buy money orders 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, prosecutors said.
Websites advertising nude models for professional photography at upscale studios served as a front for the prostitution ring, prosecutors said.
Investigators searched and seized the domain names for the websites after obtaining search warrants that were executed in November 2023.
Each website had a verification process for interested sex buyers to become eligible for appointment bookings, prosecutors said.
Clients were required to complete a form providing their full names, email addresses, phone numbers, employers, and references if they had one.
The initial court hearings for 28 “wealthy and well-connected” men accused of being customers of the prostitution network will be open to the public, the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court ruled in November 2024.
The attorneys for the Boston-area “John Does” identified in the black books of the sophisticated operation are desperately trying to keep their identities private, arguing that revealing their names violates their privacy.
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