Four unlicensed massage defendants plead guilty - St. George Daily Spectrum

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A sign advertises services at Golden Coast Massage on Tabernacle Street in this January file photo.(Photo: Kevin Jenkins / The Spectrum & Daily News)Buy Photo


Four more defendants arrested in a sweep of Asian-themed massage parlors in January have resolved their cases with pleas that acknowledge they were working in St. George without a legal license.

Yuhua Liu, 47; Shanmei Olmstead, 48; Yuxoang Wang, 58; and Li Ying, 49, all entered written pleas submitted by mail to 5th District Court Thursday. They pleaded guilty to misdemeanor counts of practicing massage without a license, which will be held in abeyance for 24 months after which they can ask the court to eliminate the criminal convictions.

Wang also faced a misdemeanor count of sexual solicitation resulting from the investigation in which undercover officers reported many of the Asian women were practicing prostitution for pay as a side element of their unlicensed massage businesses. But Wang’s solicitation charge was dismissed Thursday.

“There was only one in that group that we actually had evidence (of sexual solicitation) against, but we believe all of them were involved in it,” Deputy County Attorney Jerry Jaeger said Friday. “Out of fairness … we offered them all the same plea. I didn’t feel like it was fair that we hammered (Wang) harder for something they were all doing.”

Yuhua Liu (Photo: Washington County Sheriff's Office)


There were additional reasons that led the prosecution to dismiss the prostitution charge, he said, citing concerns that the women might themselves be victims of human trafficking crimes as well as the difficulty of gathering evidence from out-of-state defendants in misdemeanor prosecutions who speak a foreign language.

“Many of them, right after this happened, they all left,” Jaeger said. “One went back to China. Two went back to California. And one’s back East somewhere.”

Attorney Aric Cramer, who represented all four defendants, said his clients had California massage licenses but acknowledged they didn’t get licenses to practice in Utah.

“I don’t think they understood why they were getting rousted,” he said. “But if they come back, they have to be licensed.”

Jaeger said Chinese interpreters have had to come from the Salt Lake area to facilitate communication in court, and Cramer said he hired a court-certified translator to work through the plea agreements with his clients.

“The language barrier on these gals is so high. We have to have a translator every time we talk,” Cramer said.

Yuxoang Wang (Photo: Washington County Sheriff's Office)


Cramer said Wang was adamant that she wasn’t involved in prostitution.

“I think Homeland Security thought this was a human trafficking thing. And it was just a bunch of gals who said, ‘There’s too much competition (for massage) down here in California so we’re going to go up to St. George,’” he said. “There’s no hanky-panky going on.”

Prostitution arrests involving people who come from outside Utah to do business in the St. George area are common, and a handful of cases are awaiting disposition in the local courts. But January’s sweep was unusual in that it reined in brick-and-mortar businesses with a permanent presence.

Those businesses were also distinctive in that their employees were Chinese women who spoke little or no English. Investigators cited online ads for “escort”-type services that favored the idea clients could get sexual fringe benefits that would not be offered at a more “legitimate” massage business.

Wang and Ying worked at Golden Coast Massage, located on East Tabernacle Street in the heart of St. George’s downtown business district. Liu and Olmstead worked at Japan Massage about a block away on St. George Boulevard.

Shanmei Olmstead (Photo: Washington County Sheriff's Office)


Japan Massage’s Facebook account advertised its grand opening in 2014 with a photo of a woman much younger than the defendants wearing on off-the-shoulder short dress and a description of “Nice and Friendly Asian Masseuses” that were “Seductive & Energetic.” Golden Coast encouraged clients to get a “full body massage & enjoy magic touch on your body with beautiful Chinese girl” when it advertised its opening.

Both businesses have continued to flash electronic signs advertising that they are open since the arrests. Jaeger said investigators are keeping an eye on developments.

The investigation also targeted two store fronts owned by Dixie Massage in St. George and Washington City, plus the home-front operation of Massage Therapy on Tabernacle Street. Both businesses have since closed and advertise their property as available.

Follow reporter Kevin Jenkins on Twitter, @SpectrumJenkins. Contact him at 435-674-6253.

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