By Owen Boss and Ben Storrow
Staff Writers
HADLEY - An army of police cruisers massed behind a neighboring building Wednesday before officers with guns drawn and carrying shields stormed a Hadley massage business to arrest a suspected prostitute, a witness reported Thursday.
Court documents show the arrest and another at a nearby parlor were the result of a sting operation in which the two women allegedly offered sex for money to two undercover officers.
Xiumei Zheng, 43, and Zenshu Li, 47, both of Russell Street in Hadley, pleaded innocent Thursday in Eastern Hampshire District Court in Belchertown to a charge of offering sexual conduct for a fee.
On Oct. 28, 2009, Agawam police Detective Michael Gruska, as part of a multi-agency law enforcement task force, entered Hadley Massage Therapy, at 215 Russell St., posing as a customer and was given a massage by Li, according to court documents.
At the end of the massage, Li reportedly asked Gruska if he "wanted more massage," and when asked what that meant she reportedly pulled her hair back, and made suggestive gestures with her lips and hands, according to a police report. After reportedly pulling away, Gruska asked Li how much additional services would cost, and she allegedly told him "whatever you want to give me."
Five days later, on Nov. 3, state police trooper William McMillan posed as a customer at nearby Jane's Spa, at 206 Russell St., where Zheng was his massage therapist, according to police.
Toward the end of the massage, Zheng reportedly asked if McMillan wanted "more time," and the two allegedly discussed prices for additional services. Zheng reportedly told him to "turn over," and asked him if he was "happy." When he said he wasn't, she too made suggestive gestures and said she would make him "very happy," according to court documents.
Judge Laurie MacLeod ordered both women, who requested a Chinese interpreter at their arraignment, released on $250 bail and scheduled both to return for a pretrial hearing on Dec. 16.
If found guilty of the charges, Li and Zheng face imprisonment of up to one year or a fine of not more than $500, or both.
Coordinated effort
Northwestern Assistant District Attorney Michael Cahillane said the Hadley raids were coordinated along with simultaneous raids in Hampden County.
Cahillane declined to give any further information regarding Wednesday's events. He would not confirm whether the two women arrested were U.S. citizens and did not say whether law enforcement officials suspected any human trafficking in the case.
Paula Grenier, a spokeswoman for the U.S. Immigration and Custom Enforcement agency in Boston, confirmed that ICE had participated in the Hadley raids. She said that six individuals had been arrested for immigration violations in the two-county sweep and that all were being held pending a removal hearing in immigration court. None of those arrests occurred in Hadley, she said.
Shock, amusement
In Hadley, residents greeted news of the raids with a mix of amusement, shock and a sense of apprehension Thursday.
Gregg Thornton, owner of Greggory's Pastry Shop located in Norwottuck Shopping Plaza, two storefronts down from Jane's Spa, said he had never noticed anything suspicious about his neighbors.
"I'm surprised because it is in this town," Thornton said Thursday, as he applied the finishing touches to a cake. "This is an old, Polish, Catholic, farming community. It's a very nice town to live in. Something like this, it's not this town."
Astonishment was the word used to describe Wednesday's events at Loonar Tattoo and Piercing, the store next door to Jane's, where employees said two Asian women from Jane's Spa were frequent visitors to their store.
Liz Peterson, a tattooist, said she received a massage from the store's owners just after the shop opened earlier in the year, but never suspected anything illegal.
"They were always really nice," Peterson said, as she worked on a tattoo. "I would never have guessed. I haven't had a lot massages in my life, but they were good."
Al Valenta, another tattooist at Loonar, said he often sent customers over to Jane's while they were waiting to get their tattoos.
"They came back and said it was great," Valenta said of the customers who had received massages there. He said none had mentioned anything to suggest that something more than a massage was available. What's more, Valenta added, the two women who worked there did not appear the sort who would be involved in prostitution.
Sketchy parlor
Valenta said that while everyone at Loonar always figured that Jane's was a professionally run business, it was known locally that Hadley Massage Therapy down the street was a place where one could receive more than a standard massage.
"We always knew that the one up the street was sketchy," Valenta said.
He said a Loonar employee had found Hadley Massage Therapy advertising "adult services" on Craig's List, an Internet listing site, and that he had heard tales through the grapevine of men who had gone to the shop and paid for sex acts.
On Thursday, the sign at Hadley Massage Therapy had been removed. Insulation and frosted panes covered the windows and doors of the two story building, which resembles the type of home found in suburbs across the country.
Kevin Michelson, a 30-year Hadley resident and the owner of property abutting Hadley Massage Therapy, witnessed the raid while working next door. On Thursday, he described what he saw.
"They had 20 cruisers, guys with shields, and they had their guns drawn," Michelson said. He said police massed behind Unlimited Business Partners, the building adjacent to Hadley Massage, before storming the parlor itself. "It looked like an army," Michelson said.
The longtime Hadley resident said he had heard rumors of a prostitution operation at Hadley Massage.
"I only heard about it three weeks back before the bust, and I attributed it to regular Hadley gossip," Michelson said.
Linked parlors?
The extent to which the various parlors were linked was unclear Thursday. Jane's Spa has a business certificate registered to one Fenghua Yu, of 253 Belmont Ave., Springfield, according to the Hadley town clerk's office. The Corporate Division of the Secretary of State's Office, the state entity charged with registering businesses in the commonwealth, listed Jane's Spa Inc. to one Jizhen Fan, of 253 Belmont Ave.
Masslive.com reported on its Web site Thursday that a Jane's Spa at 249 Belmont Ave. was raided by police Wednesday.
The state listed David Thatcher as the owner of Norwottuck Shoppes Reality Co. LLC at 208 Russell St. in Hadley, the shopping plaza were Jane's Spa is located.
On Thursday, his son, Justin Thatcher, who helps manage the property, spoke about the spa.
"The people who came to look at the space originally didn't speak English, but they brought an interpreter," Thatcher said in a phone interview. "They said they had been running a location in Springfield."
Thatcher said he could not recall the name of the store's owner. He did say that nothing about the business gave him reason to suspect a prostitution operation might be going on there and noted that the store had a license, which it displayed on the wall.
In 2006, an adult book shop known first as Adults Only and later as The Coin Emporium, was shut down by the Hadley Zoning Board of Appeals for a violation of the town's zoning bylaws.
Hadley Massage Therapy was registered with the state to one Chun Nu Li. The business was also registered with the state Division of Professional Licensure as a licensed massage establishment. Chun Nu Li was the name given on that license, as well.
Hadley Town Administrator David Nixon said that in the past massage parlors had to register with the local board of health, but noted that the state was now in charge of licensing such establishments. Nixon said he had heard that a raid at the two parlors was imminent for several weeks.
He said both businesses had been in operation for four months.
Owen Boss can be reached at oboss@gazettenet.com. Ben Storrow can be reached at bstorrow@gazettenet.com.
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