A 31-count superseding indictment was revealed in a federal court in Brooklyn, introducing three new defendants, namely Yuan Yuan Chen (also known as “Xiao Pang”), Yichu Chen, and Johnnie Kim.
Additionally, it adds 10 more assaults related to racketeering to the existing charges against co-defendants Rong Rong Xu (also known as “Eleanor”), Siyang Chen, Siyu Chen (also known as “Ban Ban”), Carlos Cury (also known as “Red”), Bo Jiang, Meizhen Song (also known as “Die Die”), and Jilong Yu.
These charges revolve around their involvement in a criminal organization based in Queens, New York, engaged in sex trafficking, violent assaults, and robberies targeting numerous women across the United States.
The three newly indicted defendants were apprehended today and will face arraignment before United States Magistrate Judge Peggy Kuo this afternoon.
Yuan Yuan Chen (“Yuan Yuan”) faces charges including racketeering conspiracy, sex trafficking conspiracy, interstate prostitution conspiracy, and assault in-aid-of racketeering, among others. Yichu Chen (“Yichu”) and Johnnie Kim are variously charged with Hobbs Act robbery and conspiracy to commit Hobbs Act robbery.
The superseding indictment also introduces new charges against Cury, Xu, Siyang Chen, and Jiang.
Breon Peace, United States Attorney for the Eastern District of New York, along with James Smith, Assistant Director-in-Charge of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) New York Field Office, and Edward A. Caban, Commissioner of the New York City Police Department (NYPD), announced the superseding indictment and arrests.
The defendants are accused of preying on vulnerable women through sex trafficking, brutally assaulting them to maintain loyalty to their criminal enterprise. The case exemplifies the commitment to bringing sex trafficking organizations to justice and protecting victims from violence and coercion.
The FBI, NYPD, and law enforcement agencies across the country played pivotal roles in the investigation.
Multiple police departments, including the Beaverton (Oregon) Police Department, Michigan State Police, Missouri Highway Patrol, Oklahoma City (Oklahoma) Police Department, Omaha (Nebraska) Police Department, Overland Park (Kansas) Police Department, Portland (Oregon) Police Department, Southfield (Michigan) Police Department, and Troy (Michigan) Police Department, provided invaluable assistance.
The defendants allegedly participated in a nationwide prostitution business, trafficking women and resorting to violent attacks to protect their territory and deter rival sex workers. Victims were subjected to brutal assaults using various weapons, resulting in injuries and fear.
Yuan Yuan played a key role in sex trafficking and maintaining control over sex workers. Yichu Chen and Johnnie Kim were enforcers involved in violent attacks on sex workers.
The superseding indictment adds 10 more assaults related to racketeering and includes evidence of planning and executing violent attacks, including videos depicting victims being bound, bleeding, and beaten with various weapons.
These charges are allegations, and the defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty. If convicted, Yuan Yuan faces a mandatory minimum sentence of 15 years' imprisonment, up to life imprisonment. Yichu and Kim each face up to 20 years' imprisonment for Hobbs Act robbery charges.
Two defendants from the original indictment, Raymond Jiarun Yan and Zerong Tang, previously pleaded guilty and are awaiting sentencing.
A woman with a history of deception reached a plea agreement on Monday, trading it for a thirty-year prison sentence. Her charges stem from a tragic incident where she fatally shot a college student in Florida in front of his girlfriend, who they had stopped to assist. See detailed story here
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