Korean Massage Parlor Owners Found Guilty of Peonage

Five South Koreans were found guilty in a New York court Friday of involvement in a sex-trafficking ring that involved several brothels across the northeastern United States.^[1] The five owned or managed brothels in Washington, New York and Connecticut that operated under the cover of massage parlors, spas and acupuncture clinics going by names such as "Magic Health Salon" and "OK Spa."^[2]

The five were convicted of conspiring to transport women across state and foreign borders to engage in prostitution and were among 31 people arrested in August last year and charged with immigration and trafficking offenses.^[3]

An investigation began more than two years ago after a South Korean couple who owned a chain of brothels in New York City attempted to bribe an undercover detective to avoid being raided.^[4] The resulting investigation turned up a network of brothels stretching from Rhode Island in the north to Washington.^[5]

It was asserted at trial that the trafficking ring found women in South Korea who wanted to move to the United States and either smuggled them in through Canada or Mexico or provided them with false immigration documents.^[6] The women would incur debts running into tens of thousands of dollars and would be forced to work as prostitutes to pay off their debts.^[7]

The five, named as Sun Daneman, Hyang Ran Kim, Seng Hee Ryan, Jae Shim, and Tae Nam Thompson, face between five and 10 years in jail and are due to be sentenced in March next year.^[8]

Peonage
Peonage is defined as "illegal and involuntary servitude in satisfaction of a debt."^[9] It is distinguishable from involuntary servitude, which is defined as "The condition of one forced to labor—for pay or not—for another by coercion or imprisonment,"^[10] and slavery, which is defined as "A situation in which one person has absolute power of the life, fortune, and liberty of another," because it the labor is for the payment of a debt.^[11]

Peonage is covered under 18 U.S.C. § 1581; the predecessor statute to §1581 was passed to further implement the Thirteenth Amendment, and is directed at individuals regardless of whether the individual was acting under color of law.^[12] Therefore, it is reasonable to assume that that would still be the case. Section 1581 states that whoever holds or returns any person to a condition of peonage, or arrests any person with the intent of placing him in or returning him to a condition of peonage, shall be fined under this title or imprisoned not more than 20 years, or both. If death results from the violation of this section, or if the violation includes kidnapping or an attempt to kidnap, aggravated sexual abuse or the attempt to commit aggravated sexual abuse, or an attempt to kill, the defendant shall be fined under this title or imprisoned for any term of years or life, or both.^[13] Also whoever obstructs, or attempts to obstruct, or in any way interferes with or prevents the enforcement of this section, shall be liable to the penalties prescribed in subsection (a).^[14]

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^[1] AFP Staff, Five South Koreans convicted in US over sex-trafficking ring, Agence France-Presse, November 10, 2007, available at LEXIS, News Library, Wire News Services File.
^[2] Id.
^[3] Id.
^[4] Id.
^[5] Id.
^[6] Id.
^[7] Id.
^[8] Id.
^[9] Black's Law Dictionary 1171 (8th ed. 2005).
^[10] Id. at 1402
^[11] Id. at 1422.
^[12] United States v. Gaskin, 320 U.S. 527, 528 (1944).
^[13] 18 U.S.C. § 1581(a)(2007).
^[14] Id., at § 1581(b).