The woman accused of running a high-end network of brothels in Massachusetts and Virginia pleaded guilty in federal court Friday, changing her plea after she was indicted alongside two other people earlier this year.
Han Lee was charged with 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; and one count of money laundering conspiracy. The judge accepted her plea and Lee was escorted back to prison, where she has remained since her arrest.
Law enforcement arrested Lee in November 2023. In her indictment in February of this year, the US Attorney’s Office said Lee and her co conspirators worked together to operate the brothel network beginning in 2020.
Prosecutors said the network included locations in Cambridge and Watertown, Massachusetts, as well as other brothels in Fairfax and Tysons, Virginia.
Prosecutors said the defendants rented apartment complexes as their locations and used advertisements for nude photography models as a front for prostitution appointments.
Though the government did not reveal the names of the alleged sex buyers, officials said the operation catered to politicians, company executives, military officers, lawyers, professors, and other well-connected clients.
Lee, who said she is not a US citizen, participated in Friday’s change of plea hearing with the help of a Korean translator.
During an initial exchange, the judge in her case said Lee, 41, of Cambridge, could be deported.
Attorneys for the government said they would draw on witness testimony, banking and financial documents, physical and electronic evidence, and surveillance of sex workers if Lee’s case ever went to trial.
Attorneys said they would prove Lee operated the alleged interstate prosecution from at least July 2020 to November 2023.
As they continued to lay out allegations, attorneys described bags of lubricant, mouthwash, and condoms used by sex workers that investigators found in Lee’s apartment during a search.
Attorneys detailed a Korean app used to communicate with sex workers and laid out a money trail through which they said payments were disguised and concealed.
Asked if she agreed with the government’s description of the facts of the case, Lee responded — “Yes.”
Through her interpreter, Lee admitted she ran the prostitution ring. But she said she never forced anyone to participate.
Asked if she communicated directly with sex workers, Lee said she did. Asked if she persuaded sex workers to travel to engage in prostitution, she said she did. As questioning continued, she again said she did not disagree with what the prosecution said. Lee said she just wanted to emphasize that she did not control the women involved in the network.
James Lee of Torrance, California, and Junmyung Lee of Dedham, Massachusetts were also indicted alongside Han Lee. They have pleaded not guilty.
Han Lee is due back in court on Dec. 20 for her sentencing.
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