The third defendant in the case of the high -end brothel network is declared guilty

Crime

The defendant was one of the three people arrested for operating a prostitution network in the Great Boston and East of Virginia.

A man from Torrance, California, declared himself guilty on Wednesday of his participation in the operation of a ring of high -end brothels In apartments rented in the Great Boston and East of Virginia, prosecutors said.

James Lee, 70, declared himself guilty of a conspiracy charge to persuade, induce, attract and force one or more people to travel in interstate or foreign trade to participate in prostitution; a money laundering conspiracy; And an electronic fraud position, according to a statement from the Office of the United States prosecutor, Leah Foley.

Lee was one of the three individuals arrested In relation to the operation of the prostitution network and wash income through concealment, according to the statement. Lee and its conspirators operated the network from at least January 2022 to November 2023, when they were arrested and accused.

Lee rented several high -end apartments that were used as brothel locations and served as the only legal tenant of at least six locations within the network, according to the statement. For leasing and traveling between the burdel locations, Lee was regularly compensated by his conspirators. To lease the apartments, read sometimes used fraudulent identities, including stolen identities of real people, in addition to yours.

Lee traveled between the brothel locations and served as a link between the prostitutes involved in the network and property administrators, receiving calls and handling maintenance problems, according to the statement.

The brothel network attended rich and well -connected clients, including elected officials, pharmaceutical executives, doctors, military officers, government contractors, teachers, lawyers, scientists and accountants, prosecutors said.

Lee and its co-conspirators hid the revenues of the network by depositing cash income in their personal bank accounts and making peer transfers. They also used income to buy monetal orders that were then used to pay rent and public services in the brothel locations, according to the statement.

As of March 2020 to September 2021, Lee fraudulently obtained more than $ 580,000 in Covid-19 Relief FundsHe said the statement. Lee used third -party identification information to send fake loans and open bank accounts requests to accept aid funds.

Lee also fraudulently requested loans from the salary protection program and disasters of disasters of economic injuries under non -existent companies. When presenting false fiscal documents under the name of a third party and creating a fraudulent lease between him and his false identity, he obtained at least $ 580,000 in fraudulent funds and loans, according to the statement.

Lee’s prostitution conspiracy position entails a sentence of up to five years in prison, three years of supervised release and a fine of up to $ 250,000. The money laundering charge entails a sentence of up to 20 years in prison, three years of supervised release and a fine of $ 500,000 or twice the value of the washed funds. Lee can also turn up to 20 years in prison with three years of supervised release and face a fine of up to $ 250,000 or twice the loss of the scheme for the position of cable fraud, according to prosecutors.

One of Lee’s conspirators, Han Lee, 42, from Cambridge, declared himself guilty of September 2024 and is scheduled to be sentenced on March 19. The other, Junmyung Lee, 31, of Didham, declared himself guilty of October 2024 and is scheduled to be sentenced on April 18. Despite sharing a last name, the three men are not related, prosecutors said.

Lee is scheduled to be sentenced on April 29.