A Malaysian man and two Chinese women who were accused of operating a brothel near Atlanta that Asian women from around the US to work as prostitutes have been sentenced to prison.
- Pleaded guilty to operating prostitution scheme involving money laundering
- After 21-month jail term, deportation back to Malaysia
The accused were Chan Kong Chow, 59, from Malaysia, and Biyun Gong, 54, and Xiaohong Huang, 45, from China.
Huang, also known as Michelle and Jenny, operated a brothel at an apartment complex in Doraville from December 2005 through May 2017, while Chow and Gong handled the day-to-day operations. The trio lured women of Asian descent from across the US to work as prostitutes, arranging for them to travel to Atlanta on commercial flights on a rotating basis roughly every 10 days.
Huang advertised the brothel online and by word-of-mouth, and used checking accounts to launder more than $150,000 in illegal proceeds from the brothel.
The three pleaded guilty in July to conspiring to operate an interstate prostitution scheme involving money laundering.
Huang was sentenced to serve two years and nine months. A large home in Johns Creek, cash, high-end watches and designer purses belonging to her were ordered to be forfeited.
Chow, also known as Blake Wong, received a prison term of one year and nine months, and Gong was slapped with a sentence of one year and three months.
All three will be deported after completing their prison sentences.
In court filings before the accused were sentenced, their lawyers said their clients’ actions were not as serious as prosecutors asserted.
A lawyer for Gong noted she had only arrived in the US in 2015, long after the brothel began operating, and that she could most accurately be described as a cook, not someone with any management responsibility.
Chow’s lawyer said he had no decision-making authority and took orders from Huang – carrying out tasks like driving the sex workers to and from the airport – during the two years he worked for her.
Huang’s lawyer stressed that she didn’t coerce any of the sex workers, saying the women would contact her when they were coming to Atlanta and she would arrange transportation to and from the airport as well as provide lodging and a place to perform sex acts. In exchange, she would get $40 of the $120 the women charged, her lawyer wrote, saying the sex workers were effectively independent contractors.