BOSTON – Elected officials, doctors and lawyers are among dozens of men fighting to keep their names secret as clients of a alleged brothelThe Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court will hear their case on Monday.
In November, U.S. Attorney for Massachusetts Joshua Levy announced that there were three people arrested for alleged exploitation a high-end brothel network of apartment complexes in Cambridge, Dedham and Watertown, Massachusetts and Virginia.
Brothel case in Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court
More than a dozen of the alleged clients wish to remain anonymous.
The full Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court will hear that argument Monday, after a judge last week decided to make the case public.
The brothel leaders are said to have advertised on websites where nude Asian models were photographed for professional purposes, as a cover for prostitution.
“They’re doctors, lawyers, accountants, high-tech executives, pharmaceutical companies, military officers, government contractors, professors, scientists,” Levy said of the brothel’s customers when the arrests were announced. “Pick your profession, they’re probably represented in this case.”
According to their lawyers, these individuals would suffer “irreparable harm” if their identities were revealed.
Accused gang leaders try to change plea
Junmyung Lee of Dedham, Han Lee of Cambridge and 68-year-old James Lee of Torrance, California, were initially charged with conspiracy to coerce and entice persons to travel and engage in illegal sexual activity.
Last week, two of the three people accused of running the brothel filed a motion to change their pleas. They pleaded not guilty months ago. That case will go to trial later this month.
