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Another person charged in Boston-area high-end brothel ring pleads guilty
Prosecutors said Junmyung Lee was paid up to $8,000 a month to man the brothel phones, vet potential sex buyers, and book appointments.
A Dedham man accused of serving as a “booker” for high-end brothels in the Boston and Washington, D.C., suburbs pleaded guilty to the charges Wednesday in federal court.
With locations in Cambridge and Watertown, the brothel network catered to wealthy and well-connected clients who included the likes of politicians and business executives, prosecutors previously alleged. As the operation grew, the network’s ringleader hired Junmyung Lee, 31, to man the phones, vet potential sex buyers, book appointments, and shuttle women between brothel locations. For his services, Lee was paid about $6,000 to $8,000 each month, court documents allege.
Brothel bust:
He admitted to his role Wednesday as part of a plea deal, pleading guilty to conspiring to run an interstate prostitution network and participating in a money-laundering scheme to cover up the proceeds. Defense attorney John Amabile declined to comment on the case.
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In exchange for his plea, prosecutors agreed to recommend Lee receive a prison sentence at the lower end of sentencing guidelines, according to a copy of the agreement. He faces up to five years in prison on the first count and up to 20 years on the second, in addition to fines of up to $250,000 and at least $500,000, respectively.
Lee will also have to forfeit $200,000 in brothel proceeds, as well as a 2018 Corvette purchased with the illicit funds, according to the agreement. He was released on a $75,000 bond and ordered to wear a GPS monitoring device.
A sentencing hearing is scheduled for Feb. 12.
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Lee and two others — Han “Hana” Lee, 42, of Cambridge and James Lee, 69, of Torrance, California — were arrested and charged last November. At the time, acting U.S. Attorney Joshua Levy alleged the trio built a commercial sex ring on “secrecy and exclusivity” and “facilitated the movement of predominantly Asian women across the United States for sex trafficking and a commercial sex ring, exploiting them in the process.”
Han Lee, the accused ringleader, pleaded guilty last month and is due for sentencing Dec. 20. According to the case docket, James Lee’s case has been delayed as prosecutors coordinate with authorities in California regarding his alleged COVID-19 relief fraud. However, James Lee is in the process of negotiating a plea deal with prosecutors and may be back in court in December, per the docket.
The three Lees are not related, prosecutors previously said.
Twenty-eight men are also facing state charges for allegedly buying sex at the brothels, though none have been named publicly. Their cases remain on hold as the state’s highest court decides whether to open their initial hearings to the public.
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