Prostitution Stings Throughout Massachusetts

Watch out there.

A Craigslist hooker bust in the same Hub hotel where police say cyber-trolling accused killer Philip Markoff tied up a Las Vegas call girl has raised new fears the Web site’s seedy side remains a hunting ground for predators and their deadly tricks.

“This is a dangerous business,” said Suffolk District Attorney Daniel Conley, whose office is preparing to prosecute Markoff. “It’s just a matter of time before somebody gets killed.”

Boston police nabbed 27-year-old alleged nightwalker XXXXXX of Sacramento, Calif., at the Westin Copley Place hotel Wednesday night after an undercover gumshoe answered her ad on Craigslist - the same site where authorities said Markoff met erotic masseuse Julissa Brisman and escort Trisha Leffler.

Besides the Boston bust, cops in Tennessee, South Carolina and North Carolina reportedly have busted prostitutes using Craigslist in recent months.

Connecticut Attorney General Richard Blumenthal, who led the charge for Craigslist reform months before Brisman’s slaying, said, “Continuing problems are reflected in this arrest. While there has been real progress, prostitution ads on Craigslist persist.”

BPD spokesman Joe Zanoli said, “Prostitution is as current as the headlines and as old as the Bible. We continually take preventive measures to curb such activity by monitoring ads through Craigslist. It’s an ongoing problem.”

Massachusetts Attorney General Martha Coakley said cracking down on prostitution ads on Craigslist is “frustrating because the advertising itself has been protected by federal law.”

But Zanoli said this week’s bust sends a message to other would-be cyber-hookers. “When this is done, these people that participate in this illegal activity are aware of us monitoring their ads and it makes them more careful or it deters them from doing what they do in our city,” he said.

Authorities said Anderson arranged a dalliance at the Westin Copley after the undercover cop answered her Craigslist ad. She directed the officer to a hotel room where he found her “scantily clad” and paid her $200 for a promise of sex, authorities said.

Anderson was arrested on prostitution charges and cops seized a laptop and $3,100 cash from her. She was released on $1,000 bail after her arraignment Thursday and is due back in Boston Municipal Court on Feb. 11, a Conley spokeswoman said.

Markoff, a 23-year-old former Boston University medical student, is charged with a sex-fueled April 2009 crime spree that included tying up and robbing Leffler at the Westin Copley and killing Brisman, 25, at the nearby Copley Marriott. Markoff is due in court next week for a hearing in the Brisman slaying.

The new bust reignites the controversy surrounding Craigslist, which pledged to crack down on prostitution ads in the wake of Brisman’s slaying. Responding to heated criticism from law enforcement nationwide, the Web site implemented new guidelines that required payment for adult postings, as well as strict monitoring to weed out prostitution or other illegal sex solicitations. A Craigslist spokeswoman did not respond to requests for comment.

Article URL: [url]http://www.bostonherald.com/news/regional/view.bg?articleid=1229290[/url]
[url]http://bostonherald.com/news/regional/view/20100130craigslist_sex_bust_sparks_worry/srvc=home&position=1[/url]

From bostonherald.com

[quote]Another prostitute allegedly peddling her services on Craigslist and working out of a Boston hotel was busted by police in an online sting, authorities said.

The arrest Tuesday of 25-year-old Melia XXXXXX comes just two weeks after cops locked up Jasmine XXXXXX, 27, of Sacramento, Calif., in an identical sting at the Westin Copley Place.

XXXXXX - also wanted for defaulting on two prostitution warrants out of Chelsea and Dorchester - was arraigned yesterday on a prostitution charge in Boston Municipal Court. She pleaded not guilty.

A Boston detective posing as a john called a number listed on XXXXXX’s advertisement, police said. She allegedly told the undercover cop to call her from the lobby of the hotel - which authorities declined to identify. Once he reached her hotel room, the cop handed her $200 and she began to undress, police said. At that point, cops knocked on the door, and she was arrested.

Cops seized four cell phones, a copy of her ad, and her room rental agreement.

Police are hoping to discourage prostitutes from advertising on Craigslist and other electronic billboards in the wake of the murder last year of Julissa Brisman.

A New York masseuse who advertised on Craigslist erotic services section, Brissman was shot and killed during an attempted robbery in April.

Philip XXXXXX, 23, a former Boston University medical student, is now awaiting trial for her murder as well as the armed robbery and kidnapping of a hooker four days prior to Brisman’s killing.

XXXXXX is expected to go to trial June 1. He also is charged with the armed robbery of a Rhode Island exotic dancer he arranged to meet through Craigslist.[/quote]

Recent bust in Frangham/Natick

[quote]Two women arrested on prostitution charges

S M, 20, of ., Revere, left, and J B, 22, of St., Fitchburg, were both charged with prostitution after an undercover investigation at the Motel 6 on Rte. 9 in Framingham yesterday.
By Norman Miller/Daily News staff
The MetroWest Daily News
Posted Feb 17, 2010 @ 10:52 AM
Last update Feb 17, 2010 @ 06:56 PM
FRAMINGHAM — Two women accused of being prostitutes were arrested yesterday and are scheduled to be arraigned today in Framingham District Court.

J B, 22, of St., Fitchburg, and S M , 20, of St., Revere, were both charged with prostitution after an undercover investigation, police said.

The pair had advertised their services on craigslist.org, asking for a $100 "donation" for a half hour of sex, or $200 donation for a full hour. The charges were doubled if a customer wanted both women.

They were arrested at 9:03 p.m. at the Motel 6 on Rte. 9

Both women admitted to being prostitutes, and claimed they made more than $1,500 a day.

For complete coverage, read tomorrow's print version of The MetroWest Daily News. To subscribe, call 888-MY-PAPER. You can also buy an electronic version of the paper by clicking on the E-edition icon at the top right of this site.

Copyright 2010 The MetroWest Daily News. Some rights reserved[/quote]

Be careful out there. Two more in Boston that will be looking for another place to stay for the night.

[url]http://www.thebostonchannel.com/new...711/detail.html[/url]

Be careful.

[url]http://newsblog.projo.com/2010/02/4-women-charged-in-prostitutio.html[/url]

[quote]The Patriot Ledger
Posted Mar 31, 2010 @ 05:07 PM
Last update Mar 31, 2010 @ 05:11 PM
BOSTON — Five people, three of them from Quincy, were arrested today and charged with trafficking of women in Quincy and elsewhere Massachusetts.

A 14-count federal indictment was unsealed charging XXXXXXXXXX, aka, “XXXXXXXXXX,” 30, XXXXXXXXXX, 41, and XXXXXXXXXX 26, all of Quincy, and XXXXXXXXXX 37, and XXXXXXXXXX 27, of Flushing, N.Y. with one count each of conspiracy to transport and entice women to travel for the purpose of prostitution.

The case was investigated by federal law enforcement, plus Quincy and municipal police departments.

READ THE INDICTMENT

PRESS RELEASE

Information released by the U.S. Attorney’s Office said the defendants advertised the services of Asian women on Craigslist and in the Boston Phoenix.

The indictment also charges the defendants with one count each of inducing travel to engage in prostitution, one count of sex trafficking by force or coercion, two counts of forced labor, two counts of harboring or concealing aliens, and seven counts of interstate travel in aid of racketeering.

The indictment alleges that between August 2004 and February 2010, the defendants conspired to entice Asian women to travel to Massachusetts to engage in prostitution.

The defendants advertised in various newspapers in New York, California, Massachusetts, and elsewhere, for Asian women to work in the defendants’ brothels, the indictment says.

The women, who generally arrived at the South Station bus terminal in Boston, were taken by the defendants to apartments in Quincy, Boston, Stoneham, Newton and other communities where they engaged in prostitution, the indictment alleges.

Some were illegal aliens when they were harbored in the brothels, and some were forced to work, the indictment says.

The indictment also charges Jing Liang Chen and Wei with sex trafficking and harboring illegal aliens and using force, fraud and coercion to cause the women to engage in a commercial sex act for the defendants’ financial benefit.

All five defendants were arrested today, three in Massachusetts, two in New York.

All defendants will make their initial appearance today in the district where they were arrested.[/quote]

Asian brothel closings raise concerns about sex trafficking
By John P. Kelly
The Patriot Ledger
Posted Apr 03, 2010 @ 02:00 PM
QUINCY — Asian brothel closings raise concerns over the extent of human trafficking in the sex trade

An attractive woman in her mid-20s, greeted her newest client at the apartment door. An $80 house fee bought a 20-minute massage. For an extra $90, “Ming” undressed and provided much more.

The graphic narrative about one john’s sexual transaction at a North Quincy brothel was posted online in 2007 on a site where men swap tales and information about prostitution in communities around the United States. A phone number listed by the author – “Sinner77” – is one of the same used by five people arrested by federal investigators Wednesday and accused of threatening Chinese immigrants to force them into prostitution.

It is no secret that the world’s oldest profession continues to thrive in the Boston area. But the closing of a dozen so-called brothels in this week’s sex-trafficking case begs the question: Are other “masseuses” and “escorts” who advertise services on Craigslist and in publications such as the Boston Phoenix actually unwilling participants in the sex trade?

Special Agent Bruce Foucart, head of New England investigations for U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, said the agency is “seeing more” organized sex trafficking.

An estimated 17,500 people are smuggled into the United States each year, Foucart said in an interview, describing a multibillion dollar industry that often leaves illegal immigrants saddled with smuggling debts that are paid off in sweatshops or brothels.

Foucart said debts are particularly steep for Chinese smuggled into the country – $35,000 or more, owed to “snakeheads,” as some smugglers are known.

“If their family cannot pay, they’ll hold them hostage,” Foucart said.

He said the arrests this week show that “this isn’t just in urban areas” but also in the suburbs.

Human trafficking is a global enterprise, with operations in Latin America, Eastern Europe and elsewhere. Authorities can only guess the extent to which prostitution is linked.

Few sex-trafficking cases have arisen locally. In one, six men arrested by the FBI in 2007 – including a man from Quincy – were sentenced to prison this year after being convicted of running an interstate ring in which prostitutes were controlled by violence and swapped among pimps.

Online, prostitution review sites are divided into state-by-state discussion forums with titles like “Maria in Braintree” and “Angel on South Shore is real defensive!”

The Patriot Ledger is not identifying the Web sites by name because they encourage prostitution.

For the past four years, replies have been posted in a thread headlined “Any good Asian Massage in Quincy?” Men have written about paying for sex at apartments on Brook and Hancock streets and Independence and Newbury avenues. In one post, a newcomer is warned that Quincy police monitor the site; in another, a man warns that a “couple busts” were reported in The Patriot Ledger.

In Sinner77’s account, the author said he responded to an ad in the Boston Phoenix and was told to go to a Russell Street address. When he arrived, an “older mama-san” waved him to a squat apartment building across the street, where he was asked to remove his shoes at the door.

Regarding Ming, the author wrote, “Apparently she’s from L.A. and was just making a rotation in Boston.”

According to a federal indictment, the brothel operated at an apartment at 18 Newbury Ave. J*** L**** C***, 30, D*** K** C***, 41, and Y* E* J**, 26, all of Quincy, are accused of aiding in the enterprise, which allegedly used ads in Chinese-language newspapers to lure immigrants in New York and elsewhere into the business. At least two lived in the country illegally, and, according to federal prosecutors, were told that friends or relatives would be harmed if they tried to leave the lucrative business.

Such threats are common in cases of immigrants who are toiling to pay off smuggling debts, said Bradley Myles, executive director of Polaris Project, a national nonprofit that combats human trafficking.

Elaborate fee systems are designed to keep these immigrants in a state of “debt bondage,” Myles said, with something as simple as letting a towel touch the floor resulting in a fine, beyond room and board. Many prostitutes keep only the tips left by customers, he said.

Myles said Asian massage- and sex-parlor rings are in every major urban center in America, but little research exists to show how pervasive sex-trafficking within these operations is.

Even when arrests are made, Myles said, three “invisible populations” often escape scrutiny: the johns and the landlords and advertisers who profit – unwittingly or not – from the illicit businesses.

Quincy Police Chief Paul Keenan did not respond to a request Friday for an interview.

In the case this week, federal authorities allege that ads were placed on Craigslist and in the Phoenix, which collected at least $13,125 last year. Publisher Stephen Mindich declined to comment for this article.

“You’ll get no information from me,” Thomas J. Higgins, a Milton resident who owns 18 Newbury Ave., said in a brief telephone interview. “I know less about it than you guys.”

Higgins said a Chinese property rental agency manages the building, which he bought in 1972.

No one answered when a reporter knocked on the bright yellow door of Apt. 9. A neighbor said he had seen men come and go from the building but never suspected that the women living there were prostitutes.

“I did give one of them a ride to South Station once,” he said.

John P. Kelly may be reached at [email]jkelly@ledger.com[/email].

[url]http://www.wickedlocal.com/quincy/news/police_and_fire/x905413934/Asian-brothel-closings-raise-concerns-about-sex-trafficking[/url]

[url]http://www.patriotledger.com/news/cops_and_courts/x905413582/3-Quincy-defendants-in-Asian-prostitution-case-freed-after-hearing[/url]

3 Quincy defendants in Asian prostitution case freed after hearing
Two others accused in Asian prostitution case could be extradited from New York to Massachusetts

By John P. Kelly
The Patriot Ledger
Posted Apr 02, 2010 @ 05:52 AM
BOSTON —

Three defendants in a federal sex-trafficking case were freed on bail after detention hearings, and New York prosecutors are attempting to extradite two others to Massachusetts.

U.S. District Judge Leo Sorokin on Thursday released Jing Liang Chen, 30, of 91 Hollis Ave., Quincy, and Dong Kai Chen, 41, of 60 Russell Park, Quincy, on unsecured bonds of $100,000 and $10,000, respectively, according to the office of U.S. Attorney Carmen Ortiz. Yu En Jin, 26, of 133 Commander Shea Boulevard, Quincy, was released Wednesday on a $10,000 unsecured bond.

All three are scheduled to be arraigned in U.S. District Court in Boston on Monday, April 12.

Unsecured bond means the defendants were released without posting any cash but agreed to be held responsible for the amount of the bond if they fail to appear for future court dates. In the case of Chen, his parents backed the $100,000 unsecured bond, a spokeswoman for the U.S. attorney’s office said.

Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents arrested the men Wednesday, alleging that they helped run a lucrative sex-trafficking operation from rented apartments in Quincy and 11 nearby communities. According to an indictment, the group forced Asian immigrants – including at least two women in the country illegally – to prostitute themselves by threatening to harm loved-ones if they disobeyed. They allegedly advertised in the escort section of the Boston Phoenix and on Craigslist.

Hong Wei, a 37-year-old New Yorker nicknamed “Ms. Chen,” and Xiang Hua “Darren” Zhang, 27, also of Queens, were arrested there and are facing extradition to Massachusetts.

Included in the 14-count indictment are charges of sex trafficking by force or coercion, harboring or concealing aliens, and interstate travel in aid of racketeering.

The indictment refers to unnamed co-conspirators who apparently have not been arrested. Christina Sterling, a spokeswoman for the U.S. attorney’s office, said the investigation remains open.

The indictment says Wei ran a brothel at 18 Newbury Ave. in North Quincy.

Judge Sorokin ordered the Quincy defendants not to contact one another and to report weekly to the court. They were ordered to surrender their passports and told not to travel outside the state.

Chen, known as “Mike,” could get a sentence as harsh as life in prison if found guilty of the sex-trafficking charge.

[url]http://www.boston.com/news/local/breaking_news/2010/04/chelmsford_prie.html[/url]

A Chelmsford priest was one of eight men arrested in Nashua during a weekend prostitution sting.

xxxxxx,xxxxxxx 31, the parochial vicar at St. John’s Parish in Chelmsford, faces a misdemeanor prostitution charge after Nashua police say he responded to a fake posting on Craigslist and was planning to pay a woman for sex.

xxxxxxx was immediately placed on a voluntarily leave of absence by the Boston Archdiocese, during which he will not be allowed to conduct ministry.

“The archdiocese is cooperating fully with law enforcement’s investigation,” said xxxxxxx xxxxxxx, a spokesman for the archdiocese.

Six New Hampshire men and one from New Jersey were also caught up in the sting. They were all released on bail and will be arraigned April 23. xxxxxxx will be arraigned separately on April 22.

Each faces fines and up to a year in prison if convicted.

[QUOTE=MeatMan][url]http://www.boston.com/news/local/breaking_news/2010/04/chelmsford_prie.html[/url]

A Chelmsford priest was one of eight men arrested in Nashua during a weekend prostitution sting.

xxxxxx,xxxxxxx 31, the parochial vicar at St. John’s Parish in Chelmsford, faces a misdemeanor prostitution charge after Nashua police say he responded to a fake posting on Craigslist and was planning to pay a woman for sex.

xxxxxxx was immediately placed on a voluntarily leave of absence by the Boston Archdiocese, during which he will not be allowed to conduct ministry.

“The archdiocese is cooperating fully with law enforcement’s investigation,” said xxxxxxx xxxxxxx, a spokesman for the archdiocese.

Six New Hampshire men and one from New Jersey were also caught up in the sting. They were all released on bail and will be arraigned April 23. xxxxxxx will be arraigned separately on April 22.

Each faces fines and up to a year in prison if convicted.[/QUOTE]Amazing. Why isn't LE action like that considered entrapment?

Guess it's time to figure out a way to hook up on CL without getting stung. Any ideas?

[QUOTE=MeatMan]...faces a misdemeanor prostitution charge after Nashua police say he responded to a fake posting on Craigslist and was planning to pay a woman for sex.[/QUOTE]

I wonder what ad it was. Obviously an ad for someone in Nashua...

Guest123

[QUOTE=Cessna Pilot13]Amazing. Why isn't LE action like that considered entrapment?

Guess it's time to figure out a way to hook up on CL without getting stung. Any ideas?[/QUOTE]

It's not considered entrapment because, they are not encouraging you.
It's like fishing you bait the hook and hope you get a bit.
You call their set up phone, You make the deal, You show up and get arrested.

[QUOTE]A Chelmsford priest was one of eight men arrested in Nashua during a weekend prostitution sting.
[/QUOTE]

He shouldn't be arrested; he should get an award for doing the right thing instead of kiddy-diddling.

What a world.

This is why I don't discuss services or prices in person or on the phone. They can't, or shouldn't, bust you for "making an appointment" with an escort.

ARG

[QUOTE=Cessna Pilot13]Amazing. Why isn't LE action like that considered entrapment?

Guess it's time to figure out a way to hook up on CL without getting stung. Any ideas?[/QUOTE]

[QUOTE=Blazer5]It's not considered entrapment because, they are not encouraging you.

It's like fishing you bait the hook and hope you get a bit.

You call their set up phone, You make the deal, You show up and get arrested.[/QUOTE]I wonder if there any specific details exchanged rather just making an appointment for a date or response to an explicit ad shows intent?