‘Booker' in high-end sex ring that catered to prominent clients gets prison time, faces deportation
The appointment 'booker' involved in an interstate commercial sex ring in greater Boston and Virginia that authorities said catered to 'wealthy and well-connected clientele' has been sentenced to federal prison and faces deportation, the U.S. Attorney said Monday.
Junmyung Lee, 32, a Korean national living in Dedham, was sentenced in federal court in Boston on Friday to one year in prison, to be followed by one year of supervised release, U.S. Attorney Leah Foley said in a statement.
U.S. District Court Judge Julia Kobick handed down his sentence. Lee is subject to deportation upon completion of his sentence, Foley said.
The court also ordered a forfeiture money judgment in the amount of $200,000, equal to the amount of proceeds earned by Lee during the brothel ring.
Lee's sentencing happened about one month after court hearings began in a Cambridge courtroom for dozens of 'wealthy and well-connected' men accused of being customers of the interstate commercial sex ring.
Among the accused sex buyers are Cambridge City Councilor Paul Toner, former Massachusetts General Hospital oncologist James Cusack Jr. and Dr. Mitchell Rubenstein of Chestnut Hill, who is on leave from his position as Executive Vice Chair for the Department of Dermatology at Brigham and Women's Hospital.
Toner, former president of the Massachusetts Teachers Association, communicated with the 'brothel phone' a total of 432 times and paid for sex at least 13 times over roughly a seven-month period, police wrote in their report.
Lee, the appointment 'booker,' pleaded guilty in October to one count of conspiracy to persuade, induce, entice and coerce one or more individuals to travel in interstate or foreign commerce to engage in prostitution; and to one count of money laundering conspiracy.
His guilty plea came one month after the head of the interstate commercial sex ring, Han 'Hana' Lee, 42, of Cambridge, pleaded guilty in the case on Sept. 27. In court, Han Lee admitted to 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.
A second man, James Lee, 69, of California, pleaded guilty in February and is scheduled to be sentenced on May 28.
All three were indicted by a federal grand jury in February 2024 on 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 money laundering conspiracy.
Prosecutors said the trio ran a 'sophisticated' commercial sex network in Watertown, Cambridge, and in Virginia, where buyers paid up to $600 per hour for a wide array of advertised sex acts. They were arrested in November 2023.
As 'booker,' Junmyung Lee was responsible for vetting sex buyers, booking appointments, as well as communicating directly with vetted customers via at least two cell phones – for Massachusetts and for Virginia, respectively, prosecutors said.
Prosecutors said these brothel cell phones each contained over 2,800 verified customers of the prostitution business.
Another known cell phone holding additional contacts for the Virginia brothel was never recovered, prosecutors said.
Prosecutors said the trio 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.
Junmyung Lee was recruited to work for the prostitution network in approximately late 2021 through early 2022, as the business expanded, prosecutors said.
His main role in the conspiracy was that of the appointment 'booker' and assisted with various tasks to maintain the prostitution network, prosecutors said. In exchange, Han Lee paid Junmyung Lee $6,000 to $8,000 per month.
Junmyung Lee also helped transport women to and from the airport, with some women working at the brothel locations on multiple occasions and in multiple states, prosecutors said. At the direction of Han Lee, he also collected the cash proceeds from the various brothel locations, and then concealed proceeds through structured deposits into personal bank accounts.
In June 2022, Junmyung Lee leased one of the brothel locations in Cambridge under his own name, prosecutors said.
In exchange for the lease, Junmyung Lee received a large cash payment of prostitution proceeds from Han Lee, which he then used to buy a Corvette, prosecutors said.
The brothel network generated over $5.6 million in revenue from approximately 9,450 scheduled commercial sex dates with sex buyers, prosecutors said.
On March 28, the men identified in court as alleged sex buyers included Amrit Chaudhuri, 39, of Brookline; Mitchell Rubenstein, 74, of Chestnut Hill; Marshall Berenson, 62, of Cambridge; Harmanpreet Singh, 38, of Woburn; Kenneth Posco, 69, of Fitchburg; George Wu, 58, of Needham; Patrick C. Enright, 63, of Wakefield; Suren Chelian, 47, of Lexington; Sankara S. Asapu, 40, of Malden; and John Cascarano, 61, of Hingham.
On March 21, along with Cusack and Toner, Cambridge District Court Clerk Sharon Casey approved criminal complaints against the following nine other men: Nathaniel Welch of Concord; Frederick Rosenthal of Marblehead; Timothy Ackerson of Waltham; Matthew Fulton of Belmont; Howard Redmond of Tewksbury; Anurag Bajpayee of Cambridge; Paul Grant of Charlestown; Steven Riel of Laconia, N.H. and Jeffrey Henry, of Exeter, N.H.
On March 14, a dozen accused sex buyers, from communities including Winchester, Lincoln, Concord, Newton, and Waltham, were identified in court. They included: Jonathan Lanfear, 56, of Winchester; Patrick Walsh , 66, of Swampscott; Pinhao Chao of Newton; David LaCava, 47, of Waltham; Jason Han, 29, of Concord; John Doran, 75, of Wellesley; Pablo Domingo Maceira, 39, of Roslindale; Peter MacGillivray, 60, of Boston; Yihong Zou, 30, of Boston; Boya Zhou, 27, of West Roxbury; Kerry Wu, 54, of Natick; and Mark Zhu, 29, of Lincoln.
Only two of the accused sex buyers, Han and Zhu, appeared in court with their attorneys last month. A few attorneys entered the courtroom alone on their client's behalf.
Several other accused sex buyers and their attorneys altogether failed to show up in court.
This is a developing story. Check back for updates as more information becomes available.
Download the FREE Boston 25 News app for breaking news alerts.
Follow Boston 25 News on Facebook and Twitter. | Watch Boston 25 News NOW
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Chicago Tribune
7 minutes ago
- Chicago Tribune
Former Geminus employee sentenced to two years for stealing federal funds
A former employee of a Merrillville-based not-for-profit service agency was sentenced to two years in prison Tuesday morning after pleading guilty to one count of wire fraud in February. United States District Court Judge Philip P. Simon sentenced Valencia Franklin of Lynwood, Illinois, to 24 months in prison followed by a year of supervised release in the U.S. District Court Northern Indiana in Hammond. Franklin, 52, was also ordered to pay $352,300 in restitution to Geminus Corporation, her former employer. Franklin was accused of misappropriating $636,000 in Emergency Rental Assistance funds destined to help renters hang on to their residences during the pandemic by creating false landlords to fraudulently request money from the program, according to an independent audit by an Indianapolis accounting firm. Geminus Corp. discovered discrepancies in its records which led to finding out about the potential fraud in July 2022, according to Bill Trowbridge, president and CEO of Geminus and its umbrella organization, Regional Care Group. The nonprofit service agency based in Merrillville immediately contacted the U.S. Department of the Treasury and fired Franklin, as well as alerted the accounting firm that does its annual audit. The audit, released in January 2023, covered fiscal years ending in June 2021 and 2022. The $636,000 figure is what Geminus 'had strong suspicions' was fraudulent and reported to the feds and the agency's auditors, Trowbridge said. Geminus received $40 million in federal funding for the Emergency Rental Assistance program as a pass-through agency, distributing the money throughout Lake County during the pandemic. During the often emotional hearing, Franklin's attorney, Adam Sheppard, pointed to the adversity Franklin overcame in her life and the fact that she 'didn't try to shift the blame' of her crime to anyone else as mitigating factors. Originally, sentencing guidelines had Franklin facing between 41 months and 51 months. 'Look at the adversity she's overcome: a teenage pregnancy, but then she got her GED, then her associate's degree, a bachelor's degree, a master's degree and a (certified public accountant) degree,' Sheppard said. 'It was a crime of opportunity and greed, and she spent the money on basic needs. There were no luxury cars; she was supporting family and friends — her youngest son and her ailing mother, for whom she's the primary caregiver. 'She recognizes she's jeopardized her freedom.' Veronica Hill, Franklin's friend since they were in fifth grade, said Franklin has always 'given her all' to make sure everyone else was Ok. 'When we would play ding-dong ditch, Valencia wouldn't play because she was afraid of getting in trouble,' Hill said through tears. 'She has a fear of authority, and she wouldn't do anything to harm the government. It's not who she is.' In her statement to the court, Franklin — who wept through most of it — said she had 'no excuses' for 'the embarrassment she brought to her family and employer.' 'I was tempted by the easy way out. I failed my job, I failed my community,' she said. 'I let down a young, underprivileged lady, and she deserved better. So did everyone else I failed. 'I will carry the weight of that for the rest of my life. I'm not trying to escape punishment, but I'm asking for mercy.' Assistant U.S. Attorney Kevin Wolff agreed the case was sad, but said it was also intentional. 'She did the first one for her son, but then she did it again and again and again. It wasn't a passive scheme,' Wolff said. Simon said he has 'very little concern' that Franklin will ever re-offend, but he had to send a message to the community that stealing from the Federal government will not go unanswered. 'You used family members as props in a jaw-dropping level of criminality,' Simon said. 'And a year after, when you were supposed to send out 1099s for recipients of the money to report it to the IRS, you made efforts that they didn't receive them. You said you're ashamed — well, you ought to be ashamed. 'You were one of the few success stories of the system, and you've thrown it away. But you've totally owned this, which is important for getting it behind you.' Simon gave Franklin until 2 p.m. August 28 to report to prison, and he said he will see to it that she's close enough to family for their support. Franklin will likely receive 54 days of good behavior toward her sentence, meaning she'll serve 85% of her sentence, Sheppard said, after which she'll be moved to a halfway house to complete it. He was pleased with the outcome. 'Judge was very thoughtful with the sentencing, and he was considerate,' Sheppard said. Franklin and her family declined comment through Sheppard.
Yahoo
10 minutes ago
- Yahoo
‘Real Housewives' hubby Girardi sentenced to 7+ years for embezzlement
June 3 (UPI) -- "Real Housewives of Beverly Hills " husband and former attorney Tom Girardi will spend real time in a federal prison for stealing $15 million from his former clients. U.S. District Court for Central California Judge Josephine Staton on Tuesday sentenced Girardi, 86, to seven years and three months in federal prison. Staton also ordered Girardi to pay $2.3 million in restitution and fines and on Monday ruled his dementia won't keep him out of prison. Girardi is the estranged husband of the reality show's Erika Jayne, and a federal jury in August convicted him on four counts of wire fraud for embezzling millions from his clients over 10 years. His victims include relatives of some of the victims of the 2018 Lion Air crash in the Java Sea that killed 189 people. Girardi embezzled $3 million from several surviving family members of the tragedy's victims. Instead of ordering Girardi to stay in a long-term care facility due to his dementia, Staton ordered him to report to prison to start serving his sentence on July 17. Staton presided over a three-hour hearing on Monday, during which two medical experts brought by the prosecution testified about Girardi's medical condition. Two witnesses also testified on Girardi's behalf, and he took the stand to testify in his defense. Girardi's testimony indicated confusion and a lack of awareness regarding his current situation. He told the court he recently traveled the country and has an active case in Oklahoma. Girardi, though, was a resident in an assisted living home in California and kept in its secure memory care area for the past two years. He also underwent psychological evaluation for six weeks in North Carolina at the start of the year. During Monday's hearing, Girardi at times said he has "serious memory loss" when asked about his current situation. Staton ruled that his responses demonstrated Girardi's self-awareness. As Girardi exited the witness stand, his trousers began to drop, but he quickly righted them, which Staton said further demonstrated his mental awareness. His attorneys asked Staton to require him to stay at his current assisted living facility, but she sentenced him to serve his time at an appropriate federal prison facility. Girardi formerly was among attorneys representing victims during the 1993 Pacific Gas and Electric Co. lawsuit that inspired the "Erin Brockovich" film starring Julia Roberts that was released in 2000.
New York Times
17 minutes ago
- New York Times
Judge Blocks Trump Effort to End Treatment for Transgender Inmates
The U.S. Bureau of Prisons must provide transgender inmates with hormone therapy and social accommodations such as gender-appropriate clothing while a lawsuit over the issue proceeds, a federal judge ruled on Tuesday. The ruling, by Judge Royce C. Lamberth of the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, also certified a class-action lawsuit filed on behalf of more than 1,000 inmates who have been diagnosed with gender dysphoria. The lawsuit claims the Trump administration's policy denying gender-related treatment to prisoners violates their Eighth Amendment right to medical care and the Administrative Procedure Act, which prohibits 'arbitrary and capricious' actions by federal agencies. In his order, Judge Lamberth said it was not necessary to address the constitutional issue at this stage of the case because the plaintiffs were likely to prevail on Administrative Procedure Act grounds. Under the act, he wrote, the Bureau of Prisons 'may not arbitrarily deprive inmates of medications or other lifestyle accommodations that its own medical staff have deemed to be medically appropriate without considering the implications of that decision.' Judge Lamberth was appointed by President Ronald Reagan. The ruling temporarily blocks a policy that stemmed from an executive order, issued by President Trump the day he took office, that no federal funds be spent for medical treatments 'for the purpose of conforming an inmate's appearance to that of the opposite sex.' That order, part of a broader push to eliminate protections for transgender people in the United States, suggested that recognizing the legitimacy of gender identities that do not match a person's biological sex 'has a corrosive impact' on the 'entire American system.' One plaintiff in the suit, Alishea Kingdom, a transgender woman who had been receiving hormone therapy since 2016, was denied hormone injections under the new policy, though she later began receiving them again, according to court documents. Two other plaintiffs, both transgender men, were told that their hormone therapies would not be renewed. Each was denied access to undergarments or hygiene products that corresponded with their gender identity. About 600 inmates with gender dysphoria are receiving hormone treatments, according to the Bureau of Prisons. The judge's order does not require the bureau to provide gender-related surgeries. The number of inmates requesting such operations is minuscule, and only two such surgeries are known to have been performed on inmates. Gender dysphoria can 'produce severe side effects ranging from depression and anxiety to suicidal ideation and self-harm if inadequately treated,' the judge wrote, adding that the Bureau of Prisons 'does not dispute this medical reality.' He wrote that it was not necessary to take into account debates over the efficacy of hormone therapies in his decision to issue a preliminary injunction against the policy. 'To conclude that the defendants have failed to meet the procedural strictures of the APA,' Judge Lamberth wrote, referring to the Administrative Procedure Act, 'is not to take any position on the underlying merits of the BOP's substantive policy decisions or the goals motivating the Executive Order.'
