Crime & Safety
Man Pleads Guilty to Pinole Brothel Charges
He ran a ring of brothels in 10 Bay Area cities, including Pinole.
Pinole, Calif - The leader of a prostitution ring that operated 40 Bay Area brothels and employed primarily women trafficked from Asia has pleaded guilty in federal court in San Francisco to 32 criminal counts.
Allen Fong, 59, of San Mateo, entered the plea before U.S. District Judge Richard Seeborg on Tuesday and will be sentenced by Seeborg on Oct. 25.
A 2014 grand jury indictment described Fong as the head of a racketeering enterprise, with the role of supervising the recruitment of prostitutes from Asian countries, renting apartments for use as brothels,
transporting prostitutes and arranging online advertising.
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The indictment said the enterprise operated 40 brothels in Peninsula, South Bay and East Bay cities at various times between 2002 and 2014.
The cities included San Mateo, the site of 14 of the brothels, Redwood City, Belmont, San Bruno, Colma, Foster City, South San Francisco, Santa Clara, Sunnyvale and Pinole.
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The 32 counts on which Fong was convicted include conspiracy to racketeer, conspiracy to use foreign and interstate commerce to promote prostitution, using interstate commerce to further prostitution, money
laundering and conspiracy to launder money.
Other counts were conspiring to transport foreign funds to the United States for an illegal purpose, transporting foreign funds and conspiring to transport an undocumented immigrant to the United States for
the purpose of prostitution.
Several of the counts carry sentences of up to 20 years in prison.
Fong was one of 10 people indicted in connection with the enterprise. He was the only defendant charged with all 32 counts in the indictment.
Fong's brother, Waylen Fong, 72, previously pleaded guilty to one count of racketeering conspiracy and was sentenced by Seeborg Tuesday to probation.
The indictment said Waylen Fong's role was to rent two of the apartments.
Charges remain pending for the other eight defendants, who are scheduled for status conferences before Seeborg on July 26 and August 2.
--Bay City News; Image via Shutterstock