CA: Sunnyvale Cop Busted For Running Prostitution Ring

Bonnie Lee - Jul 25, 2002 12:36 am
Edited by Jul 24, 2002 5:44 pm

Cop Charged with Prostitution Ring Connection

Officer charged in sex racket SUNNYVALE: BUSINESSES ALLEGEDLY PAID FOR HELP WITH THEIR IMMIGRATION, PROSTITUTION SCHEMES

By Roxanne Stites, Michael Cronk and Rhashad Pittman Mercury News

A Sunnyvale police officer faces federal racketeering and extortion charges involving two Korean ``hostess bars'' that allegedly gave him gifts, cash and sex in exchange for police information and protection, according to police and the FBI.

The bars -- Crystal Palace Nightclub and Ok Yeo Bong -- recruited women from Korea for at least two years, authorities say, paying traveling expenses and getting visas, but then forced the women to repay their debts through prostitution.

Patrolman David Lee Miller Jr., who has spent 15 years on the force, allegedly helped the bar owners build their enterprises by warning them of police inspections. Federal court documents say the 38-year-old Morgan Hill resident also helped track down women who skipped out on the clubs without paying back the expenses of bringing them into the country.

Arrested along with Miller were Sue Yun Song, 43, and Roger K. Li, 50, both owners and operators of the Crystal Palace, at 1183 W. El Camino Real; and Sang Ye Han, 42, and Robert Kwong Wong, 53, who owned Ok Yeo Bong at 606 S. Bernardo Ave. All four face charges ranging from racketeering and extortion to concealing and harboring aliens.

``Everyone is just dumbfounded that this could occur and that one of our officers would be involved,'' said Capt. Byron Pipkin of the Sunnyvale Department of Public Safety, which suspended Miller without pay. ``We know this person, so it's been difficult for our department. But, this is a significant breach of trust and we have to have the trust of our community to be able to do our job.''

Miller was unavailable for interview requests Tuesday at the San Jose jail, jail spokesman Mark Cursi said. Miller and the others are scheduled to appear today in federal court.

A former Crystal Palace worker tipped off Sunnyvale police in April 2000. What investigators found in the next two years is detailed in a 48-page affidavit filed in U.S. District Court in San Jose. According to the complaint:

Han met Miller about eight years ago when he began going into the Ok Yeo Bong and harassing her about the business.

Han told an undercover investigator that she began to ``educate'' Miller about the Korean culture and explained to Miller that if he shut her down, someone else would take her place. She said she eventually began giving Miller gifts and arranging female companionship, according to court documents. She paid him $2,000 a month so that he would overlook anything suspicious and warn her about inspections.

She said her relationship with the officer circulated throughout the Korean community, and before long, other hostess bar owners began paying him for his services. Han bragged that she was the one who spread the word about Miller.

The word reached the Crystal Palace, where Miller soon became a regular customer, sometimes walking into the business in his police uniform. Soon, authorities say, Miller started warning the Crystal Palace about upcoming inspections. He also checked a police database when the club wanted to make sure a client wasn't a cop.

For the help, Song allegedly gave Miller free access to the prostitutes, along with $200 for his birthday, Thanksgiving and Christmas. She also paid him to travel to Hawaii and other places to find former employees who owed her money, authorities say.

While neither business appeared to be in cahoots with the other, they appeared to operate in similar fashions. Documents state that the owners typically sought Korean women in their 20s, with past work experience at hostess bars. Club owners obtained visas for the women, paid their travel expenses and arranged lodging. Song told an informant that while she spent about $10,000 for each woman to enter the United States, she charged the women up to $30,000. To make sure the debts got paid, she would hold on to the women's visas.

``Even if you find girls, they don't stay very long,'' Song told the informant. ``They might work one week and run away.''

In May 2001, Miller allegedly traveled with Song to Maui, Hawaii, to collect money from a young woman. With the officer by her side, Song explained to the woman that she had three options: pay the money, go to jail or be deported to Korea, court documents say. She later paid $17,000 and told Song of possible places she could find two other employees who skipped out on her.

Later that year, Miller also allegedly traveled to Las Vegas with Han to try to collect money she was owed. For the help, Han told an informant she paid him $7,000 to take care of his air fare, lodging and gambling expenses, the affidavit says. She also provided him with a female employee to be his girlfriend.

Miller, married and the father of three small children, is described by those who know him as handsome, with a muscular physique. Sunnyvale police hired him in 1987 for his first job in law enforcement and colleagues regarded him as a good officer, Pipkin said.

Both the Ok Yeo Bong and Crystal Palace were closed Tuesday afternoon. Employees at neighboring businesses weren't surprised to hear Ok Yeo Bong was an alleged front for prostitution.

``You'd see lots of girls in and out of there,'' said Steve Beby, service manager at a nearby 76 gas station.

Employees who worked near the Crystal Palace said they rarely if ever saw people enter the club during the day.

Donald Drake, who works at a McDonald's in the same shopping center, said he sometimes saw men in business suits entering the bar as late as 2 a.m., though the bar seemed closed.

``They'll stay for 10 or 20 minutes and leave,'' Drake said.

About three months ago Drake said he entered the bar just to check it out.

``It looks like your classic strip joint,'' he said.

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