A South Bay Man Who Was Part of a High-End Brothel Network Sentenced to Federal Time
A South Bay Man Who Was Part of a High-End Brothel Network Sentenced to Federal Time originally appeared on L.A. Mag.
A South Bay man who federal prosecutors say was at the center of a members-only luxury brothel network that regularly flew high-end escorts to service elite clients in Los Angeles was sentenced to two years in federal prison on Thursday by a Boston judge. James Lee, 70, was an elderly pimp connected to a network of human traffickers who operated the underground sex-for-a-fee escort service that catered to wealthy and influential men in Massachusetts, Virginia, and Los Angeles. Lee was also ordered to pay restitution in the amount of $569,123 in connection with the fraudulently obtained COVID-19 funds and a money judgment of $63,000 related to the proceeds earned by the defendant as a result of the prostitution conspiracy, prosecutors say. Lee was arrested at his Torrence home in late 2023 with co-defendants Han Lee, 42, of Cambridge, Massachusetts and Junmyung Lee, 31, of Dedham, Massachusetts. The trio have since made deals with the government. Han Lee was sentenced to four years in prison to be followed by one year of supervised release in March, and was to forfeit nearly $5.5 million in money made by the human trafficking operation. A month later, Junmyung Lee, 32, was sentenced to one year in prison, to be followed by one year of supervised release. The Court also ordered a forfeiture money judgment in the amount of $200,000, equal to the amount of proceeds earned by the defendant during the conspiracy.
Meanwhile, white shoe defense lawyers for a plethora of 'John Does' identified in the black books of the sophisticated interstate high-end brothel network continue the fight to keep their clients' names secret from the public. "They are doctors, they are lawyers, they're accountants, they are executives at high-tech companies, pharmaceutical companies, they're military officers, government contractors, professors, scientists," former U.S. attorney for Massachusetts Joshua Levy said at the time of the bust in November 2023. Since then, the names of a dozen clients - like Dr. Mitchell Rubenstein of Chestnut Hill, who remains on leave from his position as Executive Vice Chair for the Department of Dermatology at Brigham and Women's Hospital - have been released as prosecutors say that paid a fee to join the members only network and then ponied up anywhere from $350 to $600 an hour to have sex with Korean women. A police commander described the services this way at a court proceeding: "For example, GFE refers to a girlfriend experience, and provides a more intimate experience and blurs the boundaries between a financial transaction and relationship," said Cambridge Police Lt. Jarred Cabral. "Typically including any and all sex acts." But other names of johns who were brothel members remain a secret. "They will undoubtedly lose their jobs, lose their professions and have their lives ripped apart," attorney Benjamin Urbelis, representing five of the alleged brothel clients whose names continue to be shielded, argued before the Supreme Judicial Court.
Prosecutors say Lee rented several high-end apartments in Boston and Eastern Virginia that were used as brothel locations and was the sole and legal tenant of at least six locations that were used for sexual hook-ups chosen from a menu of options advertised to the underworld outfit's members. Officials were concerned that the Koreans behind the scheme were collecting intelligence and compromising information on powerful men. A Department of Homeland Security Investigations affidavit filed by an agent in the Human Smuggling and Trafficking Unit pointed out that the three accused pimps - including the elderly Torrance man who ran several businesses in Los Angeles - are from a country that the U.S. considers an adversary and the money they were making selling sex was sent back to South Korea."Lee was regularly compensated by his co-conspirators for both leasing apartments and for his travel to and from the brothel locations," prosecutors say. "He also served as a liaison between the females working in the units and the property managers by fielding calls and coordinating any issues that arose relating to maintenance and inspections.""This commercial sex ring was built on secrecy and exclusivity, catering to a wealthy and well-connected clientele," Levy said at the time of its takedown. "Business was booming."Clients went through an arduous background check and submitted employment information and referrals before they could join the elite brothel club, which prosecutors say then charged rates of $350 to $600 or more per hour for prostitution services, depending on the services.
This story was originally reported by L.A. Mag on May 29, 2025, where it first appeared.
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