Women waive cases to court
CRANBERRY TWP — The three women arrested in the Ailian Chen Chinese Massage parlor alleged prostitution case earlier this month each waived her right to a preliminary hearing Friday morning.
Di Xu, Jing Wang and Ailian Chen arrived at Cranberry District Judge David Kovach's courtroom Friday, each represented by a private attorney, in a case that Kovach called “strange.”
“There's a lot that's strange about this to say the least,” he said. “We had witnesses talked to in the hallway ... I'm glad to have this moved out of my courtroom.”
Before the hearing, an unidentified man in a blue suit approached Wang in the hallway.
Officers escorted the women to the courtroom. And once a court-approved Mandarin translator was reached by phone, the hearings could proceed.
Kovach reduced the bail of Xu and Wang from $250,000 to $25,000 each, and prosecutors withdrew the charge of possession of an instrument of a crime for each of them.
Ailian Chen, who police reports list as an owner of the massage parlor, had her bail reduced from $250,000 to $50,000 but did not have the charge of possession of an instrument of a crime dropped.
She also is charged with involvement in a corrupt organization and conspiracy.
The remaining charges against Xu and Wang are involvement in a corrupt organization and promoting prostitution.
The women had not been cooperating with the investigation, said Kovach.
After the hearing, Cranberry Township officers transported the women to Butler County Prison.
