Man accused of running prostitution business is extradited to Honolulu
HPD
Wei Li: The Los Angeles resident is brought to the islands to face racketeering charges.
A man who Honolulu Prosecutor Keith Kaneshiro says brought women to Hawaii and the mainland from China to work as prostitutes in massage parlors is in custody at Oahu Community Correctional Center.
Honolulu police arrested Wei Li at Honolulu Airport when he arrived Friday after being extradited from California. Li was scheduled to be arraigned in state court this morning. His bail is $200,000.
An Oahu grand jury in June 2015 indicted him on racketeering charges for operating or owning an illegal prostitution business. Authorities in California arrested him in April. He had been fighting extradition since then. Li, 42, lists a Los Angeles address as his residence.
Li’s co-defendant, Biyu Situ, owner of the now-defunct Mayflower Massage parlor, turned herself in to authorities in June and is free on $100,000 bail. She also is charged with racketeering for operating an illegal prostitution business. Her trial in state court is scheduled for November.
Situ is also facing federal charges for allegedly trying to bribe a U.S. Department of Homeland Security investigator to protect her business from law enforcement raids and to help her gain U.S. citizenship. Her trial on the federal charges is scheduled for November in U.S. District Court.
The state indictment against Li and Situ was the first in Kaneshiro’s latest strategy of using state racketeering laws to crack down on prostitution. He has since secured other racketeering indictments against the owners and operators of two other Honolulu massage parlors.
Don't miss out on what's happening!
Stay in touch with breaking news, as it happens, conveniently in your email inbox. It's FREE!
5 responses to “Man accused of running prostitution business is extradited to Honolulu”
Leave a Reply
You must be logged in to post a comment.
“An Oahu grand jury in June 2015 indicted him on racketeering charges for operating or owning an illegal prostitution business.” a most curious statement!! aren’t ALL, isn’t ANY, prostitution business illegal?? or am i missing something? is it a jurisdictional thing? that might make sense! just thinking out loud!
Technically yes, but there are exceptions where the prosecutor will likely throw the case out or intentionally cause a mistrial if any of the Johns involve government elected officials in the pro’s secret black book. 😉
Generally, the wording of an indictment is very important. If it doesn’t follow the proper form, the case can be dismissed. (I recall one case back in the 80s where the defendant was indicted on a charge of “Attempted Robbery” because someone mistakenly put the wording in a report. At the time, there was no crime called “Attempted Robbery” in the HRS. The crime is either “Robbery” or it’s not. The charge was dismissed without prejudice because of the error in charging and the guy briefly walked.)
Now lets see if the system can actually put this scumbag away for an extended period.
VILE ANIMAL!!! Should send him to Iraq where he can get his limbs separated from his body via an IED!! That’ll be justice served.