A Palisades Park husband and wife quietly admitted in federal court that they ran a multi-year prostitution operation tied to nine massage spas scattered across New Jersey and New York, a network that prosecutors say generated piles of cash, luxury goods and even a hefty down payment on a multimillion-dollar home.
Zhejun Piao and Miyeon Choi, both 38, pleaded guilty in Trenton federal court on May 26 to an information charging them with conspiring to promote prostitution using interstate travel and mail, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office, District of New Jersey. Federal prosecutors say the network dated back to at least 2017 and reached spas in Paterson, Passaic, Fairview, Edgewater, East Brunswick and Toms River in New Jersey, along with a location in New Rochelle, New York.
Choi was described by prosecutors as the operation’s leader, recruiting workers, handling bookings and controlling the proceeds. Piao, they say, handled the ground game, transporting supplies, collecting cash and gathering business records, according to local reporting. Surveillance and documents reviewed by reporters showed customers cycling in and out of the spas for short visits while staff worked long, repeated shifts. Investigators conducting surveillance observed frequent, brief customer visits at the locations, Daily Voice reported.
Court filings describe customers typically paying about $160 per visit, and in some cases $175. Spa ledgers and online ads allegedly used coded language and photos to market services. Some businesses ran loyalty or stamp-card programs to keep regulars coming back, according to investigators, and records show certain workers allegedly serving as many as 20 men in a single day. Testimony, surveillance and business records tie Piao and Choi to this network, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office, District of New Jersey.
Under their plea agreements, the couple agreed to give up roughly $1.2 million in cash seized from their Palisades Park home, along with designer handbags, watches and jewelry. Prosecutors say the operation was lucrative enough to let them put nearly $1 million down on a $2.15 million house. Reporting based on the federal announcement notes that the conspiracy charge carries a maximum five-year prison term and a $250,000 fine, with sentencing set for Oct. 6, 2026, according to MyCentralJersey/AOL.
How investigators built the case
Federal and state investigators leaned on a full toolbox to unravel the operation, using undercover payments, video surveillance, bank records and emails to trace money and purchases tied to the spas. Authorities also reviewed wholesaler purchase records, online advertising receipts and other documents that, prosecutors say, linked cryptocurrency and bank transfers to the enterprise, according to NJ101.5.
Charges, penalties and next steps
The guilty pleas resolve an information charging a conspiracy to use interstate travel, mail and other facilities in aid of a prostitution enterprise, a type of racketeering-style offense aimed at cross-jurisdictional prostitution rings. The relevant federal statute, 18 U.S.C. § 1952, can be read at the Legal Information Institute. The U.S. Attorney’s Office says the government will press ahead with forfeiture and that other prosecutions tied to the wider investigation may continue.
The case now heads to sentencing on Oct. 6, 2026, when a federal judge in Trenton will decide prison terms, financial penalties and finalize the forfeiture agreements. Court records and future filings in the case will lay out the official timeline as it moves toward that hearing.
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