The massage spa busts that led to New England Patriots owner Robert Kraft and hundreds of other people being charged are being handled much differently than similar past cases in Florida, an AP review finds.
FILE- In this Feb. 19, 2019 file photo, a sign is posted outside Orchids of Asia Day Spa in Jupiter, Fla. An Associated Press review of state records shows that officers and deputies in Florida have investigated hundreds of massage parlors for illegal sexual activity for years, but the owners and employees usually get off with civil fines and misdemeanor charges, even when there are signs of potential trafficking.
In stark contrast, the investigation announced last month spanned several jurisdictions between Palm Beach and Orlando and focused heavily on the possibility of widespread human trafficking. Several spa owners, most of them women originally from China, were charged with felony racketeering and money laundering and could face years in prison.
The AP reviewed records from more than 150 Florida Department of Health cases involving massage parlors whose licenses had been revoked, suspended or voluntarily surrendered in the past decade. In 2017, Mi Cha Jones, owner of the Jee Jee spa in Miami Beach, was charged with two felony counts of human trafficking and one felony count of deriving support from the proceeds of prostitution. Jones was sentenced to only two years of probation after pleading guilty to the latter count in 2018.
Florida Department of Health spokesman Brad Dalton said revoking a spa’s license is the most severe punishment available to the department’s Board of Massage Therapy. “Any action above that would have to come from law enforcement,” Dalton said.
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