Photo: Kendall Buhl/WBZ NewsRadio
CAMBRIDGE, Mass. (WBZ NewsRadio) — The first probable cause hearings were held in Cambridge District Court Friday for some of the alleged customers of a high-end brothel ring in the Boston area.
Twenty-eight defendants total have been accused of paying for sex, and the names of about half were made public in court Friday. The list includes John J. Doran, Kerry Hk Wu, Boya Zhou, David LaCava, Mark Zhu, Jason Zixuan Han, Peter H. MacGillivray, Yihong Zou, Pablo Domingo Maceira, Jonathan P. Lanfear, Pinhao Chao, and Patrick Walsh.
The U.S. Attorney’s Office first announced arrests in connection to the case in November of 2023, and said the brothel ring was run out of apartments around Cambridge and Watertown, as well as parts of eastern Virginia.
The three defendants charged with running the network — Han Lee of Cambridge, Junmyung Lee of Dedham, and James Lee of Torrance, Calif. — have all pleaded guilty since they were indicted by a federal grand jury in February of 2024.
The Massachusetts U.S. Attorney’s Office previously said the patrons of the brothel network included “elected officials, high tech and pharmaceutical executives, doctors, military officers, government contractors that possess security clearances, professors, attorneys, scientists and accountants, among others.”
Most of the defendants and some attorneys did not appear in court Friday. In each of the cases, the clerk magistrate ruled that enough evidence exists to move to arraignments, and that arrest warrants would be issued for any defendant who does not show up.
“Very wealthy and well connected people that I don’t really expect to show up here, because we have money and power, you don’t even have to show up for your court dates.” Audrey Morrissey, co-executive director of non-profit My Life My Choice and a former sex worker, said. She was one of multiple protesters to rally outside of the courthouse Friday.
Defendant Jason Han was among the few to appear in court Friday.
“My hope is that today we will prevent [Han] and the others from buying another human body. And if we can prevent them from doing it again, then my job is done,” Morrissey said.
A resident of one of the apartment buildings used in the network also came to the courthouse. “If there is an elected official that also really bothers me that there could be an elected official in my community who is taking part in this kind of activity,” she said.
Meanwhile, Cambridge Police Lieutenant Jarred Cabral spoke at the hearings. He explained the term “GFE,” something investigators said appeared multiple times in texts between operators and users of the brothel.
“GFE refers to girlfriend experience, and provides a more intimate experience, and blurs the boundaries between a financial transaction and a romantic relationship, typically including any and all sex acts,” Cabral said.
WBZ NewsRadio’s Kendall Buhl (@WBZKendall) reports: