Asian brothel raid brings probation

The first person to be sentenced as a result of this spring's high profile bust of Asian brothels was given five years of probation Monday.

Ping Sheng Chang, 30, was one of six people arrested during April raids conducted by the Las Vegas police and FBI. He pleaded guilty to one count of attempted pandering, which carried a potential sentence of up to four years in prison.

The arrests made headlines after Las Vegas police announced that the two-year investigation, dubbed Operation Doll House, had found 25 Asian women who were victims of human trafficking and had been forced into prostitution.

In May, Dave Staretz, an FBI spokesman, said the women, who have not been charged, were here voluntarily. On Thursday, he again said the FBI had not found evidence of human trafficking in the case.

Police said a criminal organization was operating brothels in eight Las Vegas residences raided by authorities in the area of Arville Street and Spring Mountain Road. Chang, however, was not one of the people running the prostitution ring.

"You are a mid-level guy in a large organization," District Judge David Barker told him Monday.

Chang was paid $100 a day and provided free room and board. He had been answering the door and arranging dates at illegal brothels for about a month, according to police.

Prosecutor Shanon Clowers said Chang, who has no prior U.S. criminal history, minimized his crime by saying it was "just a massage house" he operated.

According to the police report, Chang encouraged an undercover police officer to have sex with a prostitute.

"I'm sorry," Chang said through a Mandarin interpreter Monday. "I did violate the law."

He promised not to commit any more crimes.

Chang might be deported before his probation is up, his attorney Kirk Kennedy said.

Chang said he came to Las Vegas from Taiwan in March on a tourist visa. He intended to visit his grandmother in Texas, but he met some friends in the Chinatown-area of the valley and they offered him the job and free place to live.

Kennedy said his client's visa expires in September. He said Chang did not know any of the other defendants arrested in Operation Doll House: Mouhua Liu, John Keyes, Xu Yane, Yi Feng Ge and Christopher Raven.

Keyes is the only other defendant who has been prosecuted so far. He pleaded guilty to living from the earnings of a prostitute in July and will be sentenced in September for the probational offense.

"They (Las Vegas police) did a big show and arrested a bunch of people and not much has happened since," Kennedy said.

Las Vegas police Sgt. Anthony Arnone said the cases of the four other defendants, who have made bail, are being reviewed by the U.S. Attorney's Office and they could be prosecuted federally.

Raven, Ge, Liu and Yane were key players in the organization that operated the illegal brothels, Arnone said.

"We've pretty much cut the head off the snake," Arnone said. "We haven't seen any others in neighborhoods spurt up."