Monday, November 12, 2007

Massage parlor owners convicted

Five women accused of running massage parlors as fronts for prostitution were convicted of conspiracy Friday in a trial that focused on a far-flung sex industry that brought Korean women to the United States to work as prostitutes along the East Coast.

Jury Convicts Massage Parlor Owners in Prostitution Ring

The women can expect to spend up to three years in prison after being convicted of conspiring to transport women across state or international lines so they can engage in prostitution, a prosecutor said.

Several of the women were found not guilty of two other charges, including one that alleged that some of them used threats to force the women to work. Lawyers for the women had claimed female masseuses sometimes performed sex acts without the knowledge of the parlor owners.

After the verdict had been read and the jurors left the room, U.S. District Judge Alvin E. Hellerstein said the prostitutes described by the government in the case as victims "clearly were victims, but (were) victims of circumstance and choice rather than anything the defendants did."

Susan Gail Kellman, another defense lawyer, said the judge's comment opened the door for the lawyers to ask for leniency at sentencing.

"At the end of the day, these victims were raking in hundreds of thousands of dollars," she said of the prostitutes. "They were prostitutes because they wanted to be prostitutes."

She said the government prosecuted the owners of the massage parlors while failing to prosecute prostitutes who had lied to enter the country, sometimes engaged in false marriages to win citizenship and had committed tax fraud by failing to report their income.

"The quote-unquote victims were entrepreneurs," she said.

13 comments:

Anonymous said...

Tsk, tsk, tsk......convictions.....
not rumors or negative racist stereotypes.....
imagine that.

Asian prostitution and human trafficking......
it's embarrassing isn't it ?

That doesn't exactly fit in with the PR spin
that Flushing's promoters had in mind !

Anonymous said...

So who is going to save Flushing
from its "blight" now.....eh....Ms. Herce & Co. ?

Anonymous said...

Do these whore houses pay taxes ?
I think not !

The owners of these "parlors" should be deported !

Anonymous said...

gambling is allowed on Indian reservations. Wonder if prostitution is too? If the city ever got it together and cracked down on the racket they could make a killing.

Anonymous said...

Did anyone check if Councilrapist Dennis (Pee on my Moustache) Gallagher was a regular customer?

Anonymous said...

Oh.....there are plenty of covert illegal
Asian gambling operations going on in Flushing also.

The FBI busted a big one a while back.....
with ties up the whole damn Eastern Seaboard.

Maybe it shouldn't be brought up again.....
it might offend the Asians
and somebody might try to infer that I'm a racist.

Anonymous said...

I wonder if anyone know how to report these illegal massage parlors. I suspect there is one in my building in Flushing. They use a women SPA poster on the door but only men would go in.

Anonymous said...

I like Asian Massage Parlors, because I have a foot fetish and most Asian girls have pretty and small feet...

Anonymous said...

They would pay taxes if it were legal. And like any other vice, once the govt is addicted to the tax revenue from it, everything will be alright in thier minds.

I too love Asian girls feet and I thought I was the only one. Korean girls are so beautiful

Anonymous said...

I've never had negative feelings toward asian people,but I am beginning to dislike Korean women who are in the massage business, because it's usually a front for a whorehouse.Here in Orlando recently a Korean woman was busted for running 11 illegal parlors, the girls working for her were here illegally, paying off their 'entry to the u.s.' debt. I am a licensed massage therapist and these stories make me ill. It gives professional bodyworkers a bad name. And shame on these asian women running these parlors. It's giving asian women a bad name. It's playing into the 'geisha' stereotype. I know that's Japanese, but you get my drift I hope. And the men that frequent these places are sick and animalistic. Men should stay away from those places and they'll disappear..Those girls are someone's daughter, someones sister, and you wouldn't want that to happen to your daughter, would you? Cops should wise up and be more savvy when it comes to spotting these places.

Anonymous said...

Remember that "slave trafficking" and "child prostitution" are buzzwords to stir emotional support for regulators. They are very rarely actually present at most massage parlors, but regulators would love you to think so. My massage blog eroticmassage.blogs.com tells stories of massage parlors.

Anonymous said...

Dam i love going to a nice massage parlor! Nothing like a hot table shower from a little Asian hotti!..It gets all my kinks out and my mojo going. And when she asks me do u want 2 times? My ears go up and i give her a extra 20 and watches as she pumps away!!

Anonymous said...

The whole thing should be legalized and regulated since stopping it is impossible. Taxes should be assessed just like any other business. Our prudish and self righteous society dates back to Puritan Days and the burning of witches. Europe deals with this better as does Nevada and other places. Time to regulate locations, laws, taxes, illegal trafficing, health of providers, ... and move on. Sex between consenting adults is no one's business, but the people involved = Period !!! Cops are some of the worst offenders by the way. Just ask a typical massage parlor or strip club owner.