Massage Parlor Pursuits

When I saw the WFTV video of Li Ping Ding being taken away by agents of the Metropolitan Bureau of Investigation (MBI) on March 30, 2007, I couldn't miss the perplexed look on her face. Ms. Ding looked truly surprised, and at that moment had no clue as to the seriousness of the prosecution. I'm sure that the camera aimed at her face and the questions the reporter spewed forth didn't help her to understand the complexity of the events that would follow. I'm also sure that at that moment she perceived the situation to be fixable and her name cleared in the interim. She had two factors working against that though: the MBI and the Office of Statewide Prosecution (OSP). As a former defendant I am all too aware of the overkill capabilities of both agencies.

The OSP has all of the power, and funding, of the Department of Justice (DOJ). Prosecutors with this Florida agency do whatever they want. The Florida Attorney General describes the purpose of the OSP:

"The mission of the Office is to investigate and prosecute multi-circuit organized crime and to assist other law enforcement officials in their efforts against organized crimes. The prosecutors in the Office work regularly with their federal and state counterparts to coordinate efforts against criminal activity."

In other words, when the feds are not interested and/or do not have a case, the state uses the multi-jurisdictional organized crime card to destroy the victim/defendant. In the case of Li Ping Ding, the overkill came in the form of 22 counts, with 21 of the charges serious felonies. Count 1 was "Racketeering (RICO)" which is punishable by up to 30 years in a prison – it's a first degree felony in Florida. There were also 17 counts of "live off the earnings of prostitution," all felonies, and 3 counts of "maintaining a structure for the purpose of prostitution," and a lone count of misdemeanor "solicitation to commit prostitution" thrown in for good measure, as if Ms. Ding stopped running this far-reaching organized crime ring to offer an agent her sexual services. The misdemeanor had its purpose, no doubt to defame the defendant and paint a sordid picture for any potential jury, should she consider the option of trial. It is an Orange County, Florida case, number 07-CF-0004712-0.

I was rooting for Ms. Ding on the sidelines and hoping that she would call their bluff, but in the end she took the deal as most others in her situation do. Similar to almost all MBI cases, this case involved a GPS tracking device placed on her vehicle, without warrant, and various other acts of legal misconduct committed by agents and known to prosecutors. We do have a Fourth Amendment to the United States Constitution, although agents and prosecutors frequently forget that it exists. How convenient.

Two years after her arrest, Li Ping Ding pled guilty to the one count of racketeering, and all other charges were noted as nolle prosequi which translates to dropped. On April 17, 2009 her sentence was imposed: six months in the county jail with court-ordered work release; ten years felony probation; no contact with any witnesses; may not own, manage, or be a part of any massage parlor; fines and costs totaling $15,535; and provide substantial assistance when asked.

The part wherein Ms. Ding is required to provide substantial assistance when asked is a big win for agents and prosecutors: They now have a member of the local Asian community in their pockets, and it's unlikely that most Orlando residents, including others in the close-knit, yet sizable, community that she was a part of, have any idea what happened with the case as there was no publicity, cameras, or newspaper articles concerning her plea bargain. I'm unique – I follow-up on almost everything.

In recent news the MBI raided more Asian massage parlors, and live on television for all to view. On December 10, 2008, an International Drive spa run by several women was raided by agents. As in the Ding case, the MBI commander, Paul Zambouras, came out on camera discussing something else entirely:

"What we always look for in these types of cases is human trafficking and sex trafficking," said Cmdr. Paul Zambouras from the MBI. "A lot of times these women are smuggled into the country and they're forced to perform prostitution to help pay off their smuggling debt."

I've got a newsflash for Zambouras: Women from Vietnam, Korea, China, or any other part of East Asia, do not need to be smuggled into the U.S. – does he really believe that smugglers bring women in from this region to work in massage parlors? The women arrested in these raids are all in their 30s, 40s, and 50s. Does Zambouras think they arrived in boats or walked through Mexico, or what? I'd love to hear more from the MBI on this massage-smuggling phenomenon! It's unlikely that we will hear a word from this former MBI commander though – the agency rarely does follow-up.

In these parlor cases, the MBI admits to tracking down the clients via credit cards used at the business. Now there’s a reason to never accept credit cards, or try to use one, for any adult business service. No doubt that this is how they found so many of the customers in the Ding case.

In early February of 2009, the MBI raided a café in the Orlando Asian community, alleging that it was a front for a sports gambling bookmaking operation. Dung Ngoc Nguyen, the alleged head of the organized operation, had a puzzled look on his face as the WFTV reporter spewed accusations of his threatening violence to collect on unpaid debts – an unsubstantiated and uncharged accusation at that. Nguyen and Hau Tan Thai were both booked on racketeering, bookmaking, receiving money bets for a game of chance or skill, and unlawful use of a two-way communication device. That is 3 felonies and 1 misdemeanor, including the MBI signature racketeering charge. The cases are numbered 09-CF-0001668 and 09-CF-0001669, and they are not yet merged as co-defendants, in Orange County, Florida. Zambouras was there for the cameras with his expected rhetoric:

"Gambling is one of the things that leads to the violent crime, like I said before, these guys aren't nice guys, you owe them money and their may be a crime that happens to your family, property and so on," said MBI Commander Paul Zambouros.

Someone might remind this former commander of the MBI that the State of Florida runs the biggest organized gambling operation in the state – it is referred to as the Florida Lottery. You've got to wonder who set these guys up….