Junmyung Lee, a 32-year-old Korean national living in Dedham, Massachusetts, has been sentenced to a one-year prison term for his role as a 'booker' for an interstate prostitution network spanning greater Boston and eastern Virginia. Lee will undergo one year of supervised release following his term and faces deportation after serving his sentence. On April 18, this news came forth from U.S. District Court Judge Julia E. Kobick, as described in a release from the U.S. Attorney's Office of the District of Massachusetts. Along with prison time, the court mandated Junmyung Lee to pay $200,000 in forfeiture, corresponding to profits obtained during his involvement in the crime.
In late 2021 to early 2022, after being recruited, Lee worked within an operation that generated over $5.6 million in revenues from nearly 9,450 commercial sex dates with buyers. His role was mainly to vet clients, managing appointments, and maintaining communications with verified sex buyers through multiple cell phones, reported to have over 2,800 contacts each. Tasked with transporting women to and from airports, some of the women served multiple stints across different states. The network used high-end apartments in Massachusetts and Virginia as brothel venues, with additional logistics being managed by the conspirators to funnel proceeds through structured deposits and peer-to-peer payments to cover their tracks.
Lee's collaborators Han Lee and James Lee have also faced the ramifications of their actions, with Han Lee being sentenced to four years in prison in March 2025, while James Lee awaits his sentencing on May 28. The operation they conducted was extensive, involving not just management of appointments but arranging travel for women and laundering the acquired money to conceal its illicit origins. Their effort was to persuade women to engage in interstate prostitution, embroiled in schemes of money laundering conspiracy.
Hundreds of thousands of dollars from the prostitution network were used by the co-conspirators to buy money orders, an effort to evade financial tracking, and these were later used for rent and utilities of the brothels. As reported by a press release from the Department of Justice, Junmyung Lee was also personally involved in leasing one of the brothel locations in Cambridge, Massachusetts under his name. Involved in concealing cash profits, he also invested a cut into purchasing a Corvette, as Han Lee paid him monthly for his booker duties between $6,000 and $8,000.
United States Attorney Leah B. Foley, together with Homeland Security Investigations Special Agent in Charge Michael J. Krol and Cambridge Police Commissioner Christine Elow, announced the sentencing. They praised the collaborative work between various departments, including the Postal Service and local police departments, in bringing down this illegal enterprise. The public has been encouraged to reach out with any relevant information to [email protected]. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Lindsey E. Weinstein and Raquelle Kaye are recognized for their roles in prosecuting the case.
