A 70-year-old man from California is facing more than two years in prison for his involvement in operating brothels in the Boston area and eastern Virginia.
James Lee pleaded guilty 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; one count of money laundering conspiracy; and one count of wire fraud in February 2025, according to a Thursday announcement from the office of Leah Foley, the U.S. Attorney for the District of Massachusetts.
Lee was sentenced to 27 months in prison, followed by three years of supervised release. He was also ordered to pay $569,123 in restitution in connection with fraudulently obtained COVID-19 funds and a money judgment of $63,000 connected to the proceeds he earned as a result of the prostitution conspiracy.
From at least January 2022 through November 2023, Lee “knowingly conspired” with two others, Han Lee and Junmyung Lee, to operate a network with multiple brothels in greater Boston and eastern Virginia, according to Foley’s office.
The three individuals, who are not related, worked together with others to launder the proceeds of the prostitution network by hiding the fact that the money was from the conspiracy.
The others were not named in Foley’s press release on Thursday.
James Lee rented several high-end apartments in Greater Boston and eastern Virginia that were used as brothel locations and he was the “sole and legal” tenant of at least six of these locations.
Not only did he use his name to lease the apartments but James Lee would use fraudulent and sometimes stolen identities, Foley’s office wrote.
He was “regularly compensated” for both leasing apartments and his travel to and from the brothel locations. Additionally, Han Lee paid James Lee about $1,000 per month for each active lease as a commission.
James Lee also served as a liaison between the women working in the brothels and the property managers, fielding calls and coordinating any issues that arose related to maintenance and inspections, according to Foley’s office.
James Lee and the two others covered up the network’s proceeds by depositing “hundreds of thousands of dollars” into their personal bank accounts and by making peer-to-peer transfers.
Additionally, the three people regularly used hundreds of thousands of dollars in cash proceeds from the prostitution business to buy money orders to cover up the source of the funds, Foley’s office wrote.
These money orders were used to pay for rent and utilities at the brothel locations.
Starting around March 2020 and continuing through at least September 2021, James Lee submitted fraudulent information in an attempt to obtain pandemic relief loans. He used the personal identifying information of a third party to submit false loan applications and open bank accounts to accept the relief funds, according to Foley’s office.
James Lee fraudulently obtained at least $580,000 in loans.
In March, Han Lee was sentenced to four years in prison, followed by one year of supervised release. She was also ordered to pay forfeiture for $5,418,572 and restitution in an amount to be determined at a later date, Foley’s office wrote.
In April, Junmyung Lee was sentenced to one year in prison, to be followed by one year of supervised release. Additionally, he was ordered to pay a forfeiture money judgment of about $200,000, which is equal to the amount of proceeds he earned during the conspiracy, according to Foley’s office.
Han Lee pleaded guilty in September 2024, and Junmyung Lee pleaded guilty in October 2024.
