Massage parlor chief from Mt. Pleasant admits to human trafficking, promoting prostitution

A Chinese native who state prosecutors said ran a string of local massage parlors that were fronts for prostitution pleaded guilty Thursday to human trafficking offenses.

Hui Xu, 45, also known as Sherry Caruso, of Mt. Pleasant operated four Tokyo Massage Parlors in Murrysville, Delmont and Monroeville, where police said workers performed sex acts for clients.

“We believe these are the first human trafficking convictions in Western Pennsylvania,” Deputy Attorney General Katie Wymard said.

Prosecutors said women, mostly brought to the area from China through a network that ran through Flushing, N.Y., staffed the parlors where they lived and worked in deplorable conditions.

Those women were routinely shifted among Xu’s businesses and a fifth massage parlor, Judy’s Oriental Massage Parlor in Murrysville, owned by one of Xu’s former employees.

In court Thursday, Xu, with the help of a Mandarin translator, pleaded guilty to four counts, including human trafficking, as well as charges that she promoted prostitution and conspiracy.

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

Wymard said 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 last year.

Prosecutors dismissed more serious racketeering and conspiracy charges against Xu in return for her guilty plea, Wymard said.

Common Pleas Judge Rita Hathaway imposed terms of the negotiated plea bargain: four concurrent sentences that require Xu to serve just less than a year in jail. As part of the sentence of one year, less a day, to two years less two days, Xu was given credit for time she has served since her arrest.

“I know the defendant is facing possible deportation, so it is appropriate to give her concurrent sentences,” Hathaway said.

Prosecutors dismissed a separate case that alleged Xu attempted to intimidate a witness.

Xu was days away from a citizenship interview with federal immigration officials when police raided her businesses and home last October.

Wymard said Xu’s attempts to gain citizenship were halted and she may be deported.

Meanwhile, prosecutors said Xu’s massage parlors are no longer in business.

“We believe most of the victims we were able to rescue are now mostly back in China,” Wymard said.

She said, while none of Xu’s customers were charged, new state laws enable the prosecution of massage parlor patrons who receive sexual favors.

“If men didn’t go to them and pay for sexual services by workers subjected to indentured servitude, these businesses wouldn’t pop up every five miles,” Wymard said.

Xu’s defense lawyer, Anastasia Williams, declined to comment after Thursday’s hearing.

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.

Xu’s plea served as the linchpin in the cases against three others charged in connection with the human trafficking ring.

Huicun Wei, 47, of New York, the owner of Judy’s Massage Parlor in Murrysville, pleaded guilty to a reduced misdemeanor count of public nuisance and three summary disorderly conduct offenses. Human trafficking and conspiracy charges were dismissed.

Wei was sentenced to serve 11½ to 23 months in jail. Prosecutors said Wei, who purchased her business with money she earned working for Xu, cooperated with investigators.

Wei was returned $10,000 seized following her arrest, while about $40,000 and a car were forfeited to the state, according to court records.

Felony human trafficking and conspiracy counts were dismissed against Chang Yu Chen, 51, of Monroeville and Robert Delano Yerick, 85, of Delmont. Chen was described by prosecutors as a handyman and administrator, and Yerick was said to be a manager who drove workers to and from the massage parlors.

Both were subjected to a reduced count of disorderly conduct and accepted into the Accelerated Rehabilitative Disposition program, a jail diversionary program for first-time nonviolent offenders. They were each ordered to serve four days on probation.