11 men arraigned on felony patronizing a victim of human trafficking charges stemming from Loyalsock spa
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Eleven men surrendered Wednesday morning to face a felony charge of patronizing a victim of human trafficking and a misdemeanor charge of patronizing prostitutes at the former Green Spa and Massage, 1208 River Ave., in Loyalsock Township, according to state police. The charges were the result of a six-month ongoing investigation that began in January, police said.
Each of the men went into the business to get a massage, but while there, the female employees performed various sexual acts for them, it was alleged in court documents filed by the lead investigator, Cpl. Jonathan Thompson, at the office of District Judge William Solomon.
The defendants, several of whom were accompanied by attorneys, began arriving at Solomon's office on Lycoming Creek Road about 8:30 a.m. By 9 a.m., the small parking lot was filled.
Five of those charged were from Lycoming or Clinton County. They were: Lamar Ploppert, 54, of 1726 Almond St.; Mark John Harding, 59, of 2101 Mill Lane; Justin Anthony Lutz, 49, of 614 Campbell St.; Mark Lee Bletz, 59, of 1078 Sixth Ave., Pine Creek Township, and Ryan Michael Williams, 45, of 360 Cottage Lane, Mill Hall.
Others who were charged included: Justin Carpenter, 46, of Gillett, Bradford County; Scott Gunter, 55, and Ian Hoffman, 35, both of Bradford, McKean County; Colin Jacobs, 25, of Jim Thorpe, Carbon County; Robert Streams, 43, of Blairsville, Indiana County, and Austin Steele, 30, Vienna, West Virginia.
Solomon said several of those who were arrested were self-employed contractors or were employed by the natural gas industry.
Those who came with their lawyer to be arraigned stood next to their attorney directly in front of the judge's bench. At their attorney's advice, each one waived the reading of the charges filed against them. The lawyers and their clients each spoke in very low voices when answering Solomon's questions. The proceedings went very quickly with the arraignments ending by 10:30 a.m.
Solomon gave each defendant an order to get fingerprinted and instructed them on when their preliminary hearing was scheduled. "You are innocent until proven guilty. There are just allegations at this point," the judge told each one. All 11 were released on $50,000 bail each.
In his affidavits, Thompson reported that each of those charged was seen leaving the business and upon being questioned by him, admitted that after getting a massage from an Asian female employee, they received sexual gratification from the woman after giving her extra cash.
One of those who was charged on Wednesday told Thompson that he had paid an Asian female $70 for an hour-long massage and then paid her $20" to perform sexual favors for him. The accused said he had received sexual gratification at the spa "on multiple occasions."
The alleged offenses involving all 11 took place at the spa between mid-April and June 12, when troopers, armed with a search warrant, raided the business after an undercover officer walked in and was offered by two women to perform sexual acts for him in exchange for cash.
Arrested that night were Zhengmei Liu, 44, and Liao Longmei, 47, both of Flushing, New York, Both were charged with a felony and a misdemeanor offense of promoting a house of prostitution, and are awaiting trial. The spa was closed immediately following the raid and the township later condemned the building.