A Springfield man has been federally indicted for allegedly running houses of prostitution at 6 Springfield massage parlors.
The Illinois Times reports that 60-year old Gregory L. Fraase and Jia Liu, a Chinese national were indicted by a federal grand jury on conspiracy charges. Fraase, who was released on his own recognizance after his February 8th arrest by U.S. Marshalls, has pleaded not guilty. Liu, whose age, address and whereabouts are unavailable, allegedly operated the prostitution sites in cooperation with Fraase. She hasn’t yet appeared in court.
The indictment says Fraase married Weiwei Hu of China, and was paid at least $20,000 to do so, as Fraase evaded U.S. immigration laws to help her gain American citizenship. The woman now lives in New York, according to court documents. After his arrest, Fraase told law enforcement officials that he is “supposed to be paid another $20,000” once Weiwei Hu receives her green card from American immigration authorities.
The alleged scheme generated more than $800,000 for Fraase between July 2020 and February 2024, according to the grand jury indictment filed March 7th and an initial criminal complaint filed February 9th.
Fraase, the brother of Republican Sangamon County Board member Harry “Tom” Fraase Jr., was arrested February 8th by U.S. marshals while he was driving to work at the Sangamon County Water Reclamation District where he has worked for the past 22 years, according to the Illinois Times. Fraase continues to remain employed with the Water Reclamation District despite the arrest and indictment.
Fraase, through business partners, is linked to Jade Spa, located at 1560 Wabash Avenue along with 5 other Asian massage parlors throughout Springfield that were all raided by the FBI last month.
Fraase and Liu could face maximum prison terms of five years on the single conspiracy count against each of them. Fraase could face an additional five years for one count of marriage fraud.
An initial pretrial conference in the case for Fraase was scheduled for June 20th in Springfield’s U.S. District Court, with a tentative trial date set for July 2nd.