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Four Chinese citizens plead guilty to running brothels

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The Associated Press

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) - Four Chinese citizens pleaded guilty Wednesday to federal charges related to running an underground network that sold Asian women for sex out of Bay Area brothels.

The four entered their pleas in U.S. District Court to charges including conspiracy to harbor aliens, money laundering and tax evasion. Prosecutors said they led a $700,000 enterprise that transported Taiwanese, mainland Chinese and Korean women to the United States to sell them for sex in 10 residential brothels in San Jose, Santa Clara, Sunnyvale and San Mateo.

Xiao Feng Shen, 35; Jia Jing Chu, 34; Yan Song, 42; and Ai-Ching Chang, 45, pleaded guilty Wednesday. A fifth defendant, Ming Sun, 32, pleaded guilty Feb. 1.

"We want to make it perfectly clear that the degradation of women will not be tolerated in our communities, and we will be proactive in our efforts to arrest those who prey upon the plight of other human beings," San Jose Police Chief Rob Davis said in a statement.

The investigation began in 2004 when one of the defendants tried to bribe a San Mateo police officer to dismiss pimping and pandering charges against a co-defendant.

After federal raids in October, authorities detained 31 women to determine if they were sex trafficking victims forced to work against their will. Nineteen were deported; 12 remained to testify against the ringleaders.

Sentencing is scheduled for May 3.