A woman in El Monte who operated massage parlors has been acquitted of federal charges accusing her of sex trafficking immigrant women and forcing them into prostitution, as revealed in court documents received on Wednesday.
The defendant, Mei Xing, 62, from San Gabriel, was found not guilty on Tuesday of three counts of sex trafficking involving force, fraud, or coercion, according to court papers filed in Los Angeles federal court.
Xing’s initial trial was interrupted and resulted in a mistrial due to a defense motion and the subsequent recusal of the presiding judge. The case was then reassigned to a different judge.
Following a 17-day trial presided over by U.S. District Judge Fernando Olguin, Xing was acquitted.
The U.S. Attorney’s Office spokesperson declined to comment, and Xing’s attorney has yet to respond to a message seeking their statement.
An indictment filed in 2020 included five charges of sex trafficking by force, alleging that between July 2016 and October 2018, Xing coerced immigrant women into working at her massage parlors.
During the retrial, Xing faced three sex trafficking charges.
The victims claimed that Xing exerted pressure on them to engage in commercial sex acts at the massage parlors, as outlined in court documents.
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