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Junmyung Lee — the “booker” of the high-end brothel network that operated in parts of Cambridge and Washington, D.C. suburbs — was sentenced to one year in prison on Friday.
Lee was charged with one count of conspiracy to coerce the women “to travel in interstate or foreign commerce to engage in prostitution,” and one count of money laundering, according to court filings.
He must report to federal prison on May 30 to begin his one-year sentence. According to a Monday press release from the U.S. Attorney’s Office, Lee is “subject to deportation upon completion of the imposed sentence.”
Junmyung Lee is the second of three ringleaders to be sentenced. Han Lee, the ringleader of the brothels, was sentenced to four years in prison last month. The third defendant, James Lee, will be sentenced at the end of April. The three are not related.
The three operated the multi-million dollar brothel ring from at least July 2020 to November 2023 — arranging more than 9,000 “scheduled dates” with clients across the Greater Boston area and parts of Washington D.C.
Han Lee hired Junmyung Lee in 2021 to “book appointments and screen prospective sex buyers as her business expanded,” according to court filings.
Interested clients of the brothel were first required to submit a photograph of themselves holding a form of photo identification as part of a “verification process,” which Junmyung Lee oversaw. Clients were also required to provide their full names, email addresses, phone numbers, and employer, according to a March press release when Han Lee was sentenced.
Lee exchanged thousands of messages with clients through the “brothel phone,” arranging appointments and payments across the brothel network.
Messages between Lee and the brothel’s clients — highlighted in a series of probable cause hearings for the clients last month — painted a picture of the brothel’s operations.
After arranging the appointments, Lee directed the men to enter the apartment complex through a side entrance. He instructed clients to go directly to the apartment and not to linger in the hallway or draw attention to themselves. Once inside, Lee warned the clients not to make direct deals with the women or they would be banned.
Prosecutors used Lee’s text message conversations as evidence to advance criminal charges against the clients. More than 30 individuals are currently facing misdemeanor charges for purchasing sex from the brothel network and are scheduled to be arraigned in May.
Lee pleaded guilty to the charges last October after federal authorities found a cellphone in his apartment that contained more than 2,8000 contacts of individuals connected to the brothel network. Lee made between $6,000 and $8,000 per month managing and transporting women between apartments for paid sex.
—Staff writer Laurel M. Shugart can be reached at laurel.shugart@thecrimson.com. Follow them on X @laurelmshugart.
