Press Release

Queens District Attorney Melinda Katz announced that Xu Cheng Sun and Jingchao Zhang have been indicted by a grand jury on charges of sex trafficking, promoting prostitution and other crimes for trafficking a Chinese woman inside an East Flushing brothel. The woman arrived in the US from China in November and was taken to a location with other women where her cash and jewelry was confiscated. She was then forced to engage in prostitution and held against her will.

District Attorney Melinda Katz said: “These defendants are charged with treating a woman as if she were property and forcing her to engage in prostitution. As alleged, the victim arrived in this country, had her possessions taken from her and was ultimately trafficked in New York City by these defendants. My Human Trafficking Bureau is dedicated to eliminating this degrading enterprise from our communities and helping survivors, like the brave woman who came forward in this case, to recover.”

Sun, 30, of Roosevelt Avenue in Flushing, and Zhang, 29, of Kissena Boulevard in Flushing, were charged in an indictment with two counts of sex trafficking and with promoting prostitution in the second and third degrees. Sun was additionally charged with assault in the second and third degrees, promoting prostitution in the fourth degree and criminal possession of a weapon in the fourth degree. Zhang was also charged with criminal possession of a weapon in the second degree.

Sun was arraigned on April 10 before Supreme Court Justice Peter Vallone, who remanded him and ordered him to return to court May 1. If convicted, he faces up to 25 years in prison.

Sun, along with codefendant Peilong Tang, 46, of 37^th Avenue in Flushing, were additionally arraigned on a criminal complaint charging them with promoting prostitution in the third and fourth degrees. Criminal Court Judge Sharifa Nasser-Cuellar ordered them to return to court June. They face up to 2 1/3 to seven years in prison if convicted.

Zhang, who is in custody on a prior weapon possession and promoting prostitution charges, is expected to be arraigned on the additional charges May 1. If convicted, he faces up to 25 years in prison.

District Attorney Katz said that, according to the charges and investigation, on January 31, 2025, an undercover officer answered an online prostitution and was directed to go to a location on 162^nd Street in East Flushing. Once there, Zhang opened the door and led the officer to the second floor where he met Sun. Sun pointed to at least 10 women and said sex with each would cost $120.

Two women led the officer to a bedroom and agreed to have sex with him for cash. The officer then notified members of his team who entered the location. Sun jumped out a window and fled. Police found a loaded 9 mm Smith & Wesson pistol under a towel on a bedroom nightstand.

One of the women at the location later told investigators that she arrived at John F. Kennedy International Airport last fall from China. She was picked up, along with three other women, in a black car and taken to a house in an unknown location. She was locked in a room with other women and a man took away her gold bracelet and $2,500. When she and the others refused to give up additional possessions, they were kicked and hit repeatedly.

The 43-year-old woman was separated from the other women days later and taken to various locations in Brooklyn and Queens to engage in prostitution. If she refused, she was beaten. Around December 1, the woman heard several people talk about selling her for $8,000 and shortly after that, another woman took away her passport.

In mid-January, the woman was ultimately transported to the house on 162^nd Street in Flushing and forced to continue engaging in prostitution, allegedly by defendants Sun and Zhang. Sun is alleged to have kicked her if she refused to engage in prostitution acts, and Zhang allegedly threatened her that there were guns in the house.

Zhang was arrested on January 31.

Sun was arrested along with Tang on April 8. At that time, an undercover officer called a phone number in an online prostitution ad and was directed to go to the house on 162^nd Street in East Flushing where he was greeted by Tang and Sun. Sun pointed to approximately 10 women in the house and asked him to select one for sex. He was directed to go to a bedroom where the woman agreed to have sex for money.

Assistant District Attorneys Marina Arshakyan of the District Attorney’s Human Trafficking Bureau is prosecuting the case under the supervision of Assistant District Attorney Jessica Melton, Bureau Chief, and under the overall supervision of Executive Assistant District Attorney for Investigations Gerard A. Brave.