Shaoping Wen and her son, Xu Wang, were sentenced on March 18, 2025, for operating massage parlors that functioned as fronts for commercial sex operations. The announcement was made by Acting U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Texas Chad E. Meacham.
In September 2024, both Wen, aged 65, and Wang, aged 42, faced charges from a federal grand jury in Lubbock, Texas. They were indicted for conspiracy to commit interstate travel and use of interstate facilities in aid of racketeering enterprises and other offenses related to their operations in Texas and New Mexico. Additionally, they faced money laundering charges. Court documents indicate that Wen owned at least seven massage parlors where illegal commercial sex took place. When Wen was out of state, Wang managed these parlors.
Wen pled guilty to conspiracy charges in November 2024 and received a sentence of 12 months and one day in federal prison from U.S. District Judge Matthew J. Kacsmaryk. Her sentence includes a subsequent one-year supervised release term. She is also required to forfeit $291,990.88 in currency and pay a money judgment amounting to $1,771,360.
Xu Wang admitted guilt to misprision of a felony in November 2024 and was sentenced by Judge Kacsmaryk to time served (362 days), followed by one year of supervised release.
Undercover officers visited Wen's parlors on at least ten occasions between June 2023 and February 2024 across Texas and New Mexico. The officers reported being greeted by women dressed in lingerie who agreed to engage in sexual acts for additional fees ranging from $140 to $200. Some women used translation apps during negotiations with clients. Those arrested identified themselves as Chinese citizens with the occupation "laborer." Payments for their cash bonds were sometimes facilitated by either Wen or Wang.
Officers observed Wen transporting Asian females directly from the airport to her establishments; neighbors noted that these women did not leave the premises once inside. Searches revealed beds on floors indicating residency within the parlors.
On an occasion when a passerby heard screaming from within a parlor, he found three provocatively dressed women inside upon investigation.
The massage parlors were advertised online on platforms associated with commercial sex services featuring partially naked women under headings like “100% sexy” girls offering experiences such as “girlfriend experience” or “porn star experience.” Prostitution remains illegal both in Texas and New Mexico.
Law enforcement searched Wen’s seven massage parlors in March 2024 uncovering further evidence of residential arrangements along with condoms indicative of sexual activities plus $291,990.88 cash present onsite while casino records showed frequent trips taken by Wen into California purportedly laundering illicit gains via casinos wherein she cashed out approximately $1,771,360 over five years spanning January 2018 through August 2023.
The investigation involved multiple agencies including the FBI’s Dallas Field Office – Lubbock Resident Agency; Homeland Security Investigation’s Dallas Field Office; Texas Department of Public Safety; Lubbock Police Department aided also by FBI’s Albuquerque Field Office among others contributing alongside ICE entities together prosecuting under Assistant U.S Attorney Callie Woolam’s direction.