KCBD Investigates: Owners of Lubbock massage parlors to face trial in August - KCBD

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LUBBOCK, Texas (KCBD) - A federal judge has set a trial date in the case against the owners of several Lubbock and New Mexico massage parlors.

The owner of three Lubbock County massage businesses is in jail on federal commercial sex charges.

Shaoping Wen, 64, and her associate Xu Wang, 41, are charged with interstate travel in aid of racketeering enterprises.

PREVIOUS COVERAGE: New details in multi-agency investigation into Lubbock massage businesses suspected of prostitution

The trial was first scheduled for June 10, 2024.

The public defenders assigned to this case submitted a motion for continuance, stating they needed more time to sort through the discovery and work through language barriers.

In the motion, the attorneys stated, “An initial round of discovery was provided to the defendants on May 6, 2024. This discovery is voluminous. The government has worked steadfastly to provide remaining supplemental discovery in its possession to the parties and also that further supplemental discovery not yet in the custody of the United States is expected. The government has not been dilatory in its provision of discovery to the defendants.”

The attorneys also stated Wen and Wang are not conversant in English.

“All meetings between the defendants and their respective counsel must be coordinated for times during which the facility, interpreter, and counsel have overlapping availability,” the motion states.

U.S. District Judge Matthew Kacsmaryk granted the defendant’s motion for continuance, which the government did not oppose.

The trial is now set for Tuesday, Aug. 13 at 9 a.m. in the United States District Court for the Northern District of Texas.

According to court documents, in June 2023, a concerned citizen contacted law enforcement about possible human trafficking at My Massage Place in Wolfforth.

During the investigation, law enforcement learned Wen had at least seven other massage businesses across Lubbock and New Mexico.

Court documents indicate law enforcement is familiar with Wen.

Law enforcement stated Wen previously operated illicit massage parlors in Lubbock that have since closed.

Officers also looked into her business associate, Wang, who told an officer he was Wen’s son during a traffic stop.

As DPSs began to investigate, they found the businesses advertised on websites known within the sex trafficking industry.

Concerned citizens reported they saw Asian women with suitcases dropped off at Wen’s Wolfforth location. The citizens reportedly told law enforcement they believed the women lived there.

They also reported male customers entered the business as late as midnight.

Law enforcement reported they also watched on multiple occasions as grocery bags were dropped off at the businesses.

On two occasions, an officer went undercover and reported women were wearing lingerie and offered to have sex for $140.

In August, the Lubbock Police Department conducted an undercover operation at one of Wen’s businesses off of 34th Street in Lubbock.

The officer reported that during a massage, the employee agreed to have sex with him for $160. The woman was arrested for prostitution.

During a sweep of the building, police said they found beds placed on the floor, a blow-up mattress and surveillance system.

Officers said Wen bailed the woman out of jail.

Undercover officers reported women offered to have sex in exchange for payment on two other occasions, one as recently as January of this year.

Officers conducted another undercover investigation at Wen’s second Lubbock massage location last month, also off of 34th Street, where the officer reported a female employee, greeted him dressed in a flight attendant costume.

During a massage, the officer said a woman offered to have sex for $140.

Law enforcement began tracking Wen’s vehicle and reported she picked up Asian females at the Roswell Air Center and drove them straight to her massage businesses in New Mexico.

An investigation into Wen’s New Mexico business locations matched what law enforcement reported discovering in Lubbock County.

Law enforcement also tracked Wen’s vehicle to a California casino where, according to records, Wen purchased more than $1.5 million in chips.

Law enforcement believes this is how she laundered the money.

If convicted, Wen and Wang face up to five years in a federal prison.

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