On August 19, Zigui Zheng was sentenced to 10.5 to 21 years incarceration for three counts of corrupt organizations, two counts of dealing in proceeds of unlawful activities, three counts of prostitution, and one count of trafficking in individuals. The conviction is a result of an August 2023 human trafficking operation titled, “Closed2Trafficking” by Cumberland County law enforcement.
As we previously reported, on September 5, 2023, Zheng was the second person arrested in the Closed2Trafficking operation. The yearlong investigation determined that five massage parlors located throughout Cumberland County were linked to one another and operating as fronts for labor and sex trafficking. Zheng’s co-conspirator, Yan Qui, who was convicted of nine counts in June, has an active search warrant and has not yet been sentenced as her whereabouts are currently unknown.
When imposing the over a decade long sentence, the Honorable Judge Christylee Peck cited multiple factors including the impact Zheng’s crimes had on the community. According to the case prosecutor, Zheng took extreme advantage of her employees who were undocumented Asian immigrants with no family ties to the United States, who did not speak English, and were forced to work under debt bondage, having to pay travel fees to those who brought them to the country. Authorities discovered multiple online ads promising sexual favors from “escorts” who worked at New Healing Hands Spa. The case against Zheng was also connected to activity at massage parlors in Lemoyne, Upper Allen Township and Hampden Township, all of which are now closed. Prosecutors further noted that Zheng greatly benefitted from operating the spa, making a cash down payment of over five hundred thousand dollars on a one million dollar apartment in Queen, New York days before the raid in August 2023.
Illicit massage parlors are common throughout Pennsylvania and provide a venue for commercial sexual exploitation. The women who are trafficked in illicit massage businesses are typically immigrants from China or South Korea and are promised work opportunities and a better quality of life but are then trapped in a cycle of cultural manipulation, fraud, and coercion. The complex vulnerabilities associated with race, ethnicity, immigration, and class often prevent victims of exploitation from immediately self-identifying as trafficking victims to law enforcement or service providers.
While it is imperative that those selling sex are not criminalized as part of these operations, law enforcement and prosecutors such be looking beyond those operating these illicit businesses and also hold their patrons accountable. During these investigations, while Cumberland County law enforcement was on sight to search the businesses, officers observed various men trying to enter the parking lots of the massage parlors. Since the sex trade relies on supply and demand, prostitution would not occur without sex buyers. Buying sex and sexual exploitation are inextricably linked. In fact, it was through a larger operation called “Impact Demand,” aimed at identifying and arresting sex buyers, that Cumberland County was able to connect individuals to the multiple massage parlors associated with Zheng’s conviction.
The CSE Institute commends DA McCormack, the Cumberland County Prosecutors, the Cumberland County Trafficking Task Force, and investigators for their commitment to dismantling illicit massage businesses and holding sex buyers accountable. Equally important, the task force partnered with local community programs to connect survivors of labor and sex trafficking with critical resources and support. This conviction underscores not only the prevalence of human trafficking but also its deep ties to organized crime and the urgent need for continued, coordinated action.
All views expressed herein are personal to the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of Villanova University Charles Widger School of Law or of Villanova University.