By: Elizabeth Corridan
REGION (WGGB) -- Three women arrested in massage parlor raids were in area courtrooms Thursday. Investigators believe the eight businesses raided are part of an organized crime ring out of New York. Local and state police have been working with federal agents and representatives from the state Department of Professional Licensure to investigate the businesses for operating without licenses and operating as houses of prostitution.
In Eastern Hampshire District Court, Xiumei Zheng and Zhen Shu entered not guilty pleas to charges of performing sexual acts for a fee. The women were arrested during Wednesday's raids in Hadley. Both were released on $250 cash bail. They are due back in court next month.
Xuili Li was arrested at her Longmeadow parlor. She pleaded not guilty in Springfield District Court to charges of operating an unlicensed massage parlor and allowing prostitution at Chinese Massage on Maple Road in Longmeadow. Bail was set at $5000. Li is due back in court on November 23 for a pretrial conference.
After a tip from authorities in New York, Hadley police alerted Longmeadow police to alleged illegal practices at Li's parlor . Police put the business under surveillance. According to assistant district attorney Maximillian Bennett, officers reported seeing men entering the business and leaving about an hour later straightening their clothes. Christopher Todd, Li's court-appointed attorney, argued it is not unusual for clients to spend an hour in a massage parlor and leave adjusting their clothing.
More recently, police used an undercover informant. Bennett told the court, the man paid for a massage, was escorted into a room and told to take off his clothes. Bennett said, "The informant told officers he could hear a client in the next room making noises that indicated he was having sex. The informant also said he was approached by another Asian female who offered sex for additional money."
For the next step of their investigation, Longmeadow police used an undercover officer. Bennett told Judge William Boyle the officer paid $60 for a massage and at the end he asked for a "happy ending," referring to oral sex. Bennett added that the officer demonstrated with his hands what he wanted and said Li knew what he was requesting. She allegedly told him it would cost another $40. Before the officer left, Bennett says he asked Li how much for two girls to perform sexual services and the defendant told him it would cost $50 per girl in addition to the $60 for the hourly massage.
Bennett said both the informant and undercover police officer left the business before any sexual services were performed. Todd argued the state failed to offer any concrete evidence of prostitution, saying, "The Commonwealth's case rests on allegations, innuendo and speculation. Nothing that's very direct in this case."
Li's attorney argued that a language barrier prevented her from understanding what services the undercover clients were requesting. He also says Li thought both the parlors she owns were properly licensed. The prosecution says Li's license for her Longmeadow parlor expired in October.
All massage businesses must be licensed through the Massachusetts Division of Professional Licensure. To obtain a license, owners must provide proof that all employees have met specific levels of training and are certified. Owners must also pay a fee. Inspectors rely on local police to tip them off to suspicious or illegal activity at massage parlors. In a phone interview with WGGB, George Weber, the Director of the Division of Professional Licensure, said, "If businesses engage in unlicensed practice or illegal activity they're going to get caught. We are not going to stop until we take care of this problem."
Weber added that Wednesday's raids will not be an isolated event. More are expected around the state.
