Chinese national pledges to continue appeal of human trafficking conviction and deportation order

A former Mt. Pleasant woman awaiting deportation to China told a Westmoreland County judge she will continue to appeal her conviction for human trafficking without the help of a lawyer.

Hui Xu, 48, appeared for court Monday and, with the help of a Mandarin translator, asked to fire the Philadelphia-based lawyer who was representing her during the appeal.

Common Pleas Judge Scott Mears agreed to allow Xu’s lawyer to withdraw from the case.

Xu pleaded guilty in 2019 to two counts of human trafficking and single charges of conspiracy and promoting prostitution. Police said she operated massage parlors in Murrysville, Delmont and Monroeville, where workers performed sex acts for clients.

Her plea served as the linchpin in the cases against three others who were convicted in connection with the human trafficking ring.

Xu served an 11½- to 23-month jail sentence and was released from custody in 2021. The state’s Superior Court last year upheld the conviction.

Meanwhile, a U.S. immigration judge previously ordered her to be deported, but Xu has remained in the country after China refused to allow her to return. Xu said she is appealing the deportation order.

Xu is also asking the state Supreme Court to hear another appeal of her conviction. She contends she was coerced into pleading guilty based on erroneous advice from her former Pittsburgh-based defense lawyer.

“My plea to guilty was based on lies, and my attorney’s advice was misleading,” Xu said through an interpreter following Monday’s hearing. “My attorney lied to me and didn’t tell me the consequences if I pleaded guilty.”

Prosecutors said Xu operated a human trafficking ring that involved women who were brought into Western Pennsylvania from China through a network that ran through Flushing, N.Y. Authorities said the women worked at massage parlors owned by Xu, who also was known as Sherry Caruso, before her arrest in March 2019.

Police claimed Xu, with her husband, Henry “Sonny” Caruso, conspired to operate the human trafficking ring through the massage parlors and laundered proceeds from the businesses.

According to court records, Xu and prosecutors agreed to a settlement regarding more than $700,000 seized from her home and bank accounts. The state kept about $620,000 and returned $100,000 in cash and one vehicle to Xu.

Caruso, 49, a former jail guard who worked at Westmoreland County Prison, would have been charged for his role in the operation had he not committed suicide in 2018, a state prosecutor previously said.

According to court records, Xu now lives in Monongahela. She said she fears for her life.

“I am scared. I am traumatized. My life has been turned upside down,” she said. “I trust American law will give me justice.”

Related:

• Mt. Pleasant woman's appeal of human trafficking conviction rejected

• Mt. Pleasant massage parlor owner facing deportation seeks withdrawal of human trafficking plea

• Massage parlor chief from Mt. Pleasant admits to human trafficking