COVINGTON, Ky. — Yong Cho was sentenced Wednesday, Dec. 30, to 15 months in prison by United States District Court Judge Danny C. Reeves for operating a brothel on Nicholas Street in Florence.
In December 2009, Cho, 42, of Florence, Ky., pleaded guilty to the charge: "inducing women to travel in interstate commerce for the purpose of engaging in prostitution." She also admitted that she owned Kings Spa, a purported massage parlor that was in fact a brothel.
Between Feb. 1, 2009 and May 7, 2009 she hired seven different women to work at Kings Spa as masseuses, all of whom, the U.S. Attorney’s office in a press release said, provided sex acts to customers for a fee.
Cho’s spa is the same spa that previously operated under different ownership and was known as the Temporal Zone.
The Temporal Zone was one of four area massage parlors shut down by federal authorities as part of a multi-agency raid in May 2008.
Previous owners or operators of the Temporal Zone included Chin Buckner, Jin
Ziegler and Yong Williams.
These individuals were previously sentenced between five and 25 months for conspiracy to racketeering, among other offenses.
At the time of her plea, Cho acknowledged that she acquired the former Temporal Zone in 2009 after the initial federal raid and changed the name to Kings Spa.
Under federal law, Cho must serve 85 percent of her prison sentence, and, upon
release; will be under the supervision by a probation officer for two years.
