Two more suspects arraigned in Trumbull County sex trafficking case

Two more suspects in a sex trafficking case out of Trumbull County have been arraigned on Thursday.

According to the Trumbull County Prosecutor's Office, 64-year-old Suk Hui Starr and 62-year-old Tae Suk Hwang aka "Jeannie" were arraigned in court on Thursday.

Starr pled not guilty to one count of engaging in a pattern of corrupt activity, 12 counts of money laundering and two counts of promoting prostitution. Starr is a legal U.S. citizen and she surrendered her passport to the court.

Meanwhile, Hwang pled not guilty to one count of engaging in a pattern of corrupt activity, one count of trafficking in persons, 58 counts of money laundering and 14 counts of promoting prostitution. She has been living in the U.S. for 42 years, but is not a citizen. Her passport was surrendered and ICE has been notified of her case.

Bond for both Starr and Hwang was set at $50,000. There is no word yet on when either are due back in court.

These two suspects are the latest to have been arraigned in connection with this case. Four others were arraigned last week including Chang Mi Hwang, Dong Meliodon, Kum Cha Shugars and Young Hee Yoon.

Two more suspects, Young Sug Kim and Miock Dong Schaffer have yet to be arraigned in this case. Court records do not show any arraignment information for those two yet.

All eight suspects are charged in connection with a crime ring that allegedly trapped Korean women at multiple massage parlors in Warren for three months at a time and forced them to perform sexual acts for money.

Search warrants on the Tiger Spa and Sunny Spa on West Market Street in Warren were conducted in March of 2023. Those search warrants culminated in the indictments of the eight suspects.

You can read much more about this investigation in our related coverage below.

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