Boston — According to court filings, a Massachusetts woman accused of running a high-end brothel network with wealthy and renowned clientele in her home state and the Washington, D.C. suburbs intends to plead guilty in federal court on Friday.
Han Lee and two others were indicted earlier this year on one count of conspiracy to persuade, seduce, and coerce one or more individuals to travel in interstate or foreign commerce to engage in prostitution, as well as one count of money laundering, authorities said.
James Lee of Torrance, California, and Junmyung Lee of Dedham, Massachusetts, were also indicted.
Han Lee first entered a not-guilty plea. She has remained in jail.
Han Lee’s lawyer, Scott Lauer, said she would remain in detention beyond the hearing but declined to comment further. The counsel for James Lee declined to comment. A lawyer for Junmyung Lee said that his next court appearance had been delayed.
Authorities said the commercial sex network in Massachusetts and northern Virginia served politicians, business executives, military personnel, lawyers, professors, and other well-connected clientele.
Prosecutors have not publicly identified any of the buyers, and they have not been charged. Acting Massachusetts U.S. Attorney Josh Levy has stated that prosecutors are dedicated to bringing accountable both those who managed the scheme and those who fueled the demand.
Some of the buyers have filed an appeal with Massachusetts’ highest court, requesting that their names remain anonymous.
Prosecutors believe that the brothel used websites that falsely advertised naked models for professional photography. According to authorities, the operators hired high-end residences to serve as brothels in Watertown and Cambridge, Massachusetts, as well as Tysons and Fairfax, Virginia.
According to prosecutors, Han Lee recruited women and ran the websites and brothels. She paid Junmyung Lee, one of her employees, between $6,000 and $8,000 per month in cash for making appointments for clients and transporting women to the brothels.
According to authorities, the operators made hundreds of thousands of dollars through the network, with individuals paying between $350 and $600 per hour depending on the services provided.
Officials allege Han Lee disguised more than $1 million in ring proceeds by, among other things, changing cash into money orders to make it appear legal.
According to court documents, the defendants set house rules for the women during their stays in a specific city to safeguard and maintain the business’s anonymity, as well as to ensure that the ladies did not draw attention to the prostitution job within apartments.
According to court documents, authorities seized cash, ledgers describing the brothels’ activity, and phones alleged to have been used to contact sex customers from their apartments.
Investigators reported that the agent at Han Lee’s residence discovered items indicative of her “lavish and extravagant spending habits,” such as fancy shoes and bags. Each website specified a verification process that interested sex purchasers had to go through to be eligible for appointment bookings, including filling out a form with their full names, email addresses, phone numbers, employers, and references if they had any, according to officials.
The defendants allegedly stored local brothel phone numbers to contact customers; sent them a “menu” of available brothel options, including the ladies and sexual services available, as well as the hourly charge; and texted their instructions to the brothel’s location, according to investigators.
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