A Bedford woman has been sentenced to 25 years in prison on a conviction for continuous trafficking of persons, according to Tarrant County court records. Authorities say the trafficking operation ran out of a massage business where women were forced to provide sexual services, had their identification taken and were kept at the premises. The case grew from a Bedford Police investigation that began in 2023 and culminated this spring with the state prison term.
Tarrant County court listings show 47-year-old Fujun Zhu charged in the 213th District Court, naming Assistant District Attorneys Danielle Bonanno and Mollie Mallin as prosecutors on the case, with investigator Raul Rodriguez and victim coordinator Carma Anderson on the docket, per Tarrant County. The same county record shows the court status as "25Y TDC," indicating a 25-year term to be served in the Texas Department of Criminal Justice. The charge listed on the docket is continuous trafficking of persons.
In a post by the Tarrant County District Attorney’s Office on Facebook, prosecutors said a victim reported agreeing to work at Zhu's massage parlor when it opened in 2024, only to have her passport and other identification taken and be told she would be required to perform sexual services to be paid. The DA’s post says Bedford police found prostitution being conducted inside the business and that the city closed three of Zhu’s establishments after an investigation that began in 2023. The office publicly thanked Bedford police for their role in the investigation and prosecution.
How Investigators Built the Case
Bedford officers and county prosecutors say the conviction rested on victim testimony, on-site investigative work and other evidence gathered during the probe. The case was handled by the DA’s trafficking unit working alongside local investigators, a multi-agency effort that prosecutors say was aimed at both proving a pattern of criminal conduct and prioritizing victim safety. Court records and the public docket list the key attorneys and investigators involved.
Crackdown on Massage Businesses and Trafficking
State and local agencies have increasingly focused on massage establishments as possible fronts for sex trafficking. A Tarrant County Public Health data brief notes that fake massage/spa businesses are among the top reported venues for sex trafficking in Texas, a pattern that has helped drive the creation of local task forces and survivor resources. Reporting on statewide Texas Department of Licensing and Regulation actions shows the agency issuing emergency closure orders for suspected trafficking operations in multiple Texas cities as regulators and police coordinate enforcement efforts.
What Texas Law Says About Continuous Trafficking
Continuous trafficking of persons under Texas law is a first-degree felony punishable by a prison term of 25 years up to 99 years or life, which helps explain the length of the sentence in this case. The statute covers repeated trafficking conduct committed two or more times during a period of 30 or more days, allowing prosecutors to aggregate serial offenses into a single enhanced charge.
The DA's office said it remains committed to supporting survivors and working with local law enforcement to pursue both buyers and organizers. Tarrant County Public Health and local victim-service groups list resources for survivors and witnesses, including the National Human Trafficking Hotline at 1-888-373-7888 and Unbound Now North Texas at 817-668-6462.
