BUFFALO, N.Y. — When federal agents raided a Lockport massage business in April, they seized large sums of money and containers with hidden compartments where condoms, ledgers, and other evidence of commercial sex acts were stashed, according to court papers recently filed by the government in U.S. District Court.
Additionally, the joint investigation by the FBI and Niagara County Sheriff's Office discovered that the spa's employees lived at the spas and were dependent on spa operator, Linian Song, for transportation, court records stated. Police and sex trafficking experts say workers who live at massage parlors are often victims of sex trafficking.
The federal investigation also appears to include at least one nail salon, according to statements made by prosecutors in court on Wednesday.
U.S. Magistrate Judge Jeremiah J. McCarthy on Wednesday said Song, who was arrested last month on an interstate racketeering charge, will remain in federal custody until May 29, when she will be released to live with a relative in Buffalo. Song, who will be required to wear a tracking device, also signed a waiver of extradition after prosecutors argued that she could flee to China if released from the Niagara County jail.
Prosecutors allege that Song was a key figure in a scheme stretching from Rochester to Buffalo with links to China. She operated New Elegant Shiatsu Spa at 5714 S. Transit Rd. in Lockport and another spa in Rochester. Song "is charged with essentially running a ring of illicit massage businesses that employed multiple women to provide commercial sex acts" in violation of prostitution laws, prosecutors stated.
McCarthy appeared ready to release Song on bond but hesitated after a federal probation officer said it would be "extremely challenging" to monitor Song because no one at the probation office speaks Mandarin.
"That may well be a deal-breaker as far as I'm concerned," McCarthy said.
Public defender John Morrissey said the language barrier had also "made her stay in jail much more difficult," with other incarcerated people mocking her "because of her ethnicity and the nature of the charges." He also stated that Song did not flee a few years ago after her arrest in Minnesota on similar charges that were later dropped.
McCarthy agreed to release Song on conditions that included the posting of a $5,000 cash-secured bond, a $25,000 signature bond and the extradition waiver. She will be required to remain in Western New York and is forbidden from traveling to Flushing, Queens — the New York City neighborhood where federal agents say she often traveled. Flushing has been described in news articles as the epicenter of America's illicit massage trade.
Zhuang Chen, the relative who posted her bond, previously resided and worked at a Williamsville nail salon that is part of the police investigation into illicit spas, prosecutors stated in court. Chen confirmed to McCarthy that he previously lived at the address and that police had spoken with him there.
The posting of the $25,000 bond by Chen appeared to mitigate McCarthy's concerns about releasing Song. Her release has been delayed until May 29 while federal prosecutors seek a stay from a different judge.
Through a spokesperson, U.S. Attorney Trini E. Ross declined to comment for this story. Morrissey also declined to comment on behalf of Song.
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