ALEXANDRIA, Va. – Jin Seob Oh, 41, originally from South Korea but now of Annandale, Va., pled guilty today to operating an unlicensed taxi business that brought women from other states to perform sexual services for patrons at an Annandale-based massage parlor.

            Neil H. MacBride, United States Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia; John P. Torres, Special Agent in Charge of Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) in Washington, D.C.; Rick A. Raven, Special Agent in Charge of the Internal Revenue Service Criminal Investigation’s (IRS-CI) Washington, D.C., Field Office; and John Wagner, Special Agent in Charge of the Naval Criminal Investigative Service’s (NCIS) Washington, D.C., Field Office, made the announcement after the plea was accepted by United States District Judge Gerald Bruce Lee.

            Oh pled guilty to conspiracy to transport women to engage in prostitution, which carries a maximum penalty of five years in prison, and conspiracy to commit money laundering, which carries a maximum penalty of 20 years.  Sentencing is scheduled for Feb. 15, 2013.

            In a statement of facts filed with his plea agreement, Oh admitted that from 2010 to June 2012, he owned and operated an unlicensed taxi business known as “Royal Taxi.” From February 2011 to April 2012, Oh served as the primary taxi driver for women who worked at “Peach Therapy,” a massage parlor located in Annandale, Va., that provided sexual services to customers.  These services included everything from masturbation of customers to sexual intercourse.

            The former owner of Peach Therapy, Susan Lee Gross, also known as “Ju Mee Lee Gross,” 46, originally from South Korea but now of Trinidad, Colo., encouraged or instructed the women to only obtain transportation from Oh to minimize the number of people who knew the details about the women working at Peach Therapy, the sexual nature of the business, and how they were transported to the massage parlor.  The women paid him $40 per trip.

            At the direction of Lee Gross, Oh also deposited thousands of dollars of proceeds from commercial sexual activity into Bank of America accounts that belonged to Lee Gross and those opened in the name of a family member.  He admitted that he understood that these bank accounts were used to conceal the unlawful source of the money and to ensure that activity could continue.

            This case was investigated by HSI, which participates in the Northern Virginia Human Trafficking Task Force, and IRS-CI and NCIS.  They were assisted in the investigation by the Fairfax County Police Department.  Assistant United States Attorney Michael J. Frank is prosecuting the case on behalf of the United States.

            Founded in 2004, the Northern Virginia Human Trafficking Task Force is a collaboration of federal, state, and local law enforcement agencies – along with nongovernmental organizations – dedicated to combating human trafficking and related crimes. From FY2011 to the present, 44 defendants have been prosecuted in 25 cases in the Eastern District of Virginia for human trafficking and trafficking-related conduct involving at least 32 victims.

A copy of this press release may be found on the website of the United States Attorney's Office for the Eastern District of Virginia at http://www.justice.gov/usao/vae.  Related court documents and information may be found on the website of the District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia at http://www.vaed.uscourts.gov or on https://pcl.uscourts.gov.

 

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