Spa owner pleads guilty in human-trafficking case
GULFPORT, Miss. (AP) – A Mississippi spa owner has pleaded guilty for her role in a human trafficking operation she ran in the St. Martin community that served as a front for sex slaves.
The Sun Herald reports 41-year-old Yeon Sook Hwang, of Biloxi, pleaded guilty Wednesday to a federal charge of conspiracy to commit money laundering. In exchange for her plea, federal prosecutors said they plan to dismiss the remaining charges of human trafficking and four counts of money laundering.
Judge Sul Ozerden set her sentencing for Sept. 1. Hwang is facing a maximum prison term of 20 years.
Hwang managed operations at JJ Spa and Massage parlor in a St. Martin strip mall.
She has remained jailed without bond since her arrest in November.
