Following formal charges being filed on Monday, September 22nd against five of the seven people who were arrested during a multi-agency sting earlier in the month, the City of Yakima has revoked the businesses of a half-dozen so-called “Asian Massage” outlets.
The buildings where each of the outlets were located have been posted with an official notice from the City of Yakima that the business license for that location has been revoked based on evidence gathered during the sting “…conducted by the Yakima Police Department on September 6th consisting of criminal activities.” The same notices were simultaneously mailed to the last known address of the owners of the businesses.
Officials from the Washington State Department of Health and the U.S. Department of Homeland Security also took part in the September 6th sting.
The City has revoked the business licenses of Far East Spa (1517 Summitview Avenue), Sunshine Massage (901 W. Yakima Avenue), Oriental Spa (707 North 1st Street), Asian Massage (111 North 1st Street), Lavender Spa (4809 Tieton Drive), and Asian Foot Massage (1102 West Lincoln Avenue).
Xue Mei Dilley, Yue Ping Feng, Yu Xue Guan, Ping Jiang, and Ming Lei were charged in Yakima County District Court on Monday with gross misdemeanors for practicing medicine without a license. Jiang and Lei were also charged with prostitution. Additionally, a bench warrant was issued on Monday by District Court Judge Al Schwepee for the arrest of Tao Wang who failed to appear in court.
Prosecutors decided not to charge the seventh person arrested during the sting.
“The licenses of those business have been revoked based on multiple violations of the Yakima Municipal Code,” said Code Administration Manager Joe Caruso. “The City had to wait until the people who were arrested during the sting were formally charged before revoking the business licenses. One of the reasons the City can revoke a business license is if the licensee or a licensee’s employee is charged with a crime that directly relates to the activity for which the license was granted,” said Caruso. “That’s exactly what happened in this case.”
According to the revocation notices, the owners of the six massage outlets will not be granted another business license for at least one year.