A man arrested in 2023 in the bust of a high-end brothel network in Massachusetts and Virginia has pleaded guilty to federal charges.
James Lee, a 70-year-old man from Torrance, California, is the last of three defendants to be convicted in the case. The office of U.S. Attorney for Massachusetts Leah Foley said Wednesday that he provided apartments to be used for prostitution, and that he fraudulently obtained hundreds of thousands of dollars in COVID-19 relief funds.
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The alleged ringleader, Han Lee, and the man accused of booking appointments, Junmyung Lee, pleaded guilty last year.
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Authorities have said dozens of people, including wealthy and prominent clients, paid for the network's services.
James Lee pleaded guilty Wednesday to conspiracy charges related to prostitution and money laundering, and to a wire fraud charge.
Prosecutors say Lee was the sole tenant of at least six high-end apartments in the Boston area and in Virginia that were used by the prostitution network between at least January 2022 and November 2023. He allegedly received payment for use of the apartments and acted as a liaison between the women working in them and the property managers.
"In addition to using his own name to lease the apartments, James Lee would use fraudulent identities and, at times, stolen identities of actual people," Foley's office wrote in a press release.
Between March 2020 and September 2021, he also submitted fraudulent information to obtain COVID-19 relief loans, including through the Small Business Administration's Economic Injury Disaster Loan program and Paycheck Protection Program, as well as via the CARES Act, according to federal prosecutors.
In total, authorities say Lee received at least $580,000 in loans through fraudulent means.
The prostitution conspiracy charge carries a sentence of up to five years in prison, three years of supervised release and a fine of up to $250,000, Foley's office said. Lee could be sentenced to up to 20 years in prison, three years of supervised release and a $500,000 fine, or twice the value of the funds laundered, for the money laundering conspiracy charge. The wire fraud charge also provides for a sentence of up to 20 years in prison, three years of supervised release or a fine up to $250,000 or double the value lost in the scheme.
A judge will determine James Lee's sentence at a hearing on April 29. Han Lee will be sentenced March 19 and Junmyung Lee will be sentenced on April 18.
