Massachusetts Man Sentenced for his Role in Interstate Prostitution Ring

BOSTON – A Lexington man was sentenced yesterday in federal court in Boston in connection with his role in a long-running interstate prostitution ring. 

Kyung Song, 52, was sentenced by U.S District Court Judge Douglas P. Woodlock to one year of home confinement. In July 2018, Song agreed to plead guilty to one count of conspiracy to engage in money laundering. On March 15, 2018, Kim was charged and arrested with co-defendants Yoon I. Kim, 36, of Haymarket, Va.; Taehee Kim, a/k/a “Hyunsook Kim,” 46, of Haymarket, Va.; Susan Bashir, a/k/a “Susan Redmon,” a/k/a “Susan Redmond,” 41, of Stone Mountain, Ga.; and Jineok Kim, 38, of Watertown, Mass.

According to court documents, from December 2017 to March 2018, Song participated in an interstate prostitution network that maintained multiple brothels in high-end apartments in Cambridge, Mass.; Atlanta, Ga.; and eastern Virginia. They advertised appointments with Asian women on various websites. The women advertised on the websites were moved from city to city within the network, working as prostitutes for the organization.

Song transported women working from brothel locations in Cambridge. Song also retrieved cash proceeds from each of the Cambridge brothel locations and allegedly laundered the proceeds according to Taehee Kim’s instructions, which included depositing the money into accounts belonging to Taehee Kim or sending postal money orders to Taehee Kim.

In November 2018, Yoon Kim and his wife, Taehee Kim, pleaded guilty and are scheduled to be sentenced on April 24, 2019. Susan Bashir and Jineok Kim agreed to plead guilty and are pending sentencing.

United States Andrew E. Lelling; Peter C. Fitzhugh, Special Agent in Charge of Homeland Security Investigations in Boston; Joseph W. Cronin, Inspector in Charge of the U.S. Postal Inspection Service; and Cambridge Police Commissioner Branville G. Bard Jr. made the announcement today. Assistant U.S. Attorneys David J. D’Addio and Amy Harman Burkart of Lelling’s Civil Rights Enforcement Team prosecuted the case.