YOUNGSTOWN — Three women accused of operating illicit massage parlors in Beaver and Springfield townships in 2024 entered guilty pleas Wednesday in Mahoning County Common Pleas Court and received probationary sentences.

Aixin Cheng, 54, of Virginia, pleaded guilty to a high-level felony of conspiracy and felony promoting prostitution, both with a specification of forfeiture of money, and felony money laundering. Judge Maureen Sweeney sentenced Cheng to five years of probation supervised by the Adult Parole Authority.

Her attorney, Joe Ohlin, asked that Cheng’s electronically monitored house arrest be eliminated and her phone be returned to her. Prosecutors did not oppose that and Sweeney approved it.

Jinzhi Gong, 52, of Illinois and Main Street in Poland, pleaded guilty to first-degree misdemeanor procurement of prostitution for another with a specification of forfeiture. In return, several other charges were dismissed. Sweeney sentenced her to one year of nonreporting probation.

Man Ryung Yeo, 55, of Whitestone, New York, pleaded guilty to misdemeanor procurement of prostitution, attempted possession of criminal tools and misdemeanor soliciting. Sweeney also sentenced her to one year of nonreporting probation.

All three women also received warnings that there is no guarantee the federal government won’t try to deport them.

Mahoning County Assistant Prosecutor Caitlyn Andrews said during the hearings that “Given the citizenship status of this co-defendant, as well as the last co-defendant, I do believe the court must instruct them on the potential for deportation.” Andrews was talking about Cheng and Gong at the time.

Attorney Ron Yarwood, who represents Gong, said the certified interpreter assisting with the hearing informed Gong through Yarwood “that I’m a criminal defense lawyer, not an immigration lawyer, and I make no representations to that (deportation), but (Gong) had been advised that there are potential consequences.”

The charges arose from a yearlong investigation by the Mahoning Valley Human Trafficking Task Force, according to Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost and Mahoning County Sheriff Jerry Greene.

At the time the indictments were issued, a news release stated that Cheng had the most charges at 10. They were felony engaging in a pattern of corrupt activity, conspiracy, three counts of promoting prostitution, three counts of money laundering and single counts of possessing criminal tools and misdemeanor soliciting prostitution. If she had been convicted of the felonies, she could have gotten about 30 years in prison.

Yeo was indicted on six charges — engaging in a pattern of corrupt activity, conspiracy, money laundering, two counts of misdemeanor soliciting prostitution and one count of possessing criminal tools. If convicted of the felonies, Yeo could have gotten about 20 years in prison.

Gong was indicted on five charges — engaging in a pattern of corrupt activity, promoting prostitution, possessing criminal tools, practicing medicine without a license and misdemeanor soliciting. If convicted of the felonies, Gong could have gotten more than 10 years in prison.

The news release stated that the task force’s investigation connected the three defendants to massage parlors in Beaver and Springfield townships, where sexual services were offered in exchange for money, the news release states.

Detectives executed seven search warrants at the parlors and at hotel rooms rented by the trio, establishing that the women funneled large amounts of cash through various bank accounts, the release stated.

Cheng also had an address in Liberty, the news release stated. Her charges resulted from a human trafficking operation carried out at 9215 Market St., Unit 7, in Beaver Township, according to Beaver Township police. The business was called Healthy Massage. Beaver Township police Chief Eric Dattilo said Cheng’s arrest was part of an ongoing investigation into soliciting-prostitution offenses.

The task force includes representatives from the Austintown Police Department, Youngstown Police Department, Bureau of Criminal Investigation, Ohio Investigative Unit, East Palestine Police Department, Adult Parole Authority, Salem Police Department and Columbiana County Sheriff’s Office. Assisting with the investigation were the Beaver Township Police Department, Springfield Township Police Department, Poland Village Police Department, Mahoning County Prosecutor’s Office and Ohio Department of Public Safety.