A Palo Alto couple that ran a network of brothels in Santa Clara County has signed a deal that will send the husband to prison for eight years and the wife to four years of house arrest, court records show. Detectives found an Excel spreadsheet with over 10, entries, appearing to be a ledger listing the names and phone numbers of customers.
Davies and Hu once placed letters around an apartment complex in Milpitas where a rival brothel operated, urging tenants to report the brothel to police, Thanh said. Liang said she started working as a masseuse but was lured into sex work by group chats on WeChat, a Chinese messaging platform.
When she arrived at a brothel for work, she would turn over her passport and personal belongings for as long as she was there. Liang said she had no choice but to work while inside the brothel so that she could pay for her food.
Officers found no evidence of brothel activities inside the Palo Alto home. Only Davies was there when officers executed their search warrant.
Hu and Davies advertised their brothels online and in the Sing Tao Daily newspaper. Hu and Davies had associates who helped them by renting apartments and managing the brothels. They offered maintenance workers cash tips and access to girls in exchange for their silence, investigators found. Vanier agreed to release six months of living expenses to Davies.
