Rowland Heights Man Sentenced to 4 Years for Running Brothel

Posted by Alexander Nguyen

A 35-year-old man Monday admitted operating a brothel in Irvine and was immediately sentenced to four years in prison.

Gao Yang Zhou of Rowland Heights pleaded guilty to three counts each of pimping, pandering and money laundering and one count each of conspiracy to pimp, conspiracy to pander and conspiracy to commit money laundering.

He also admitted a sentencing enhancement for money laundering in excess of $50,000 in accepting a plea deal from Orange County Superior Court Judge Robert Fitzgerald.

Co-defendant Yuzhen Xie, 32, of Rowland Heights remains at large.

Zhou advertised prostitution services between April and December of last year, running the Irvine brothel out of an apartment on Alton Parkway. Zhou used multiple bank accounts to hide the criminal activity, prosecutors said.

He also ran a brothel in Torrance out of a motel, according to prosecutors.

— City News Service