WARREN — Six women and a man who participated in the operation of the Tiger Spa, 420 W. Market Street, and the Sunny Spa, also on West Market Street, pleaded guilty to various charges Tuesday in Trumbull County Common Pleas Court, such as promoting prostitution, attempted promoting prostitution, obstructing justice, money laundering and possessing criminal tools.

They will be sentenced next week, but Ohio Assistant Attorney General Dan Kasaris, who led the prosecution and presented each case to Judge Ronald Rice during about 2 1/2 hours of plea hearings, did not state what type of sentence he would recommend.

Kasaris did mention that many of the defendants are cooperating with prosecutors and must testify against others if necessary.

Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost announced the 83-count indictment in the case May 1, 2025, naming eight women — six of whom entered guilty pleas Tuesday — who ran a human trafficking ring that “forced women into prostitution at illicit massage parlors in the Mahoning Valley.”

The announcement called the Tiger Spa and Sunny Spa, which is farther west on West Market Street, “Illegal fronts for sex trafficking and money laundering” that “allegedly trapped Korean women at the establishments for three months at a time, forcing them to live on the premises 24/7 and perform sex acts for money.” The Tiger Spa was no longer in business, the announcement stated.

The investigation was carried out by the Mahoning Valley Human Trafficking Task Force, which served search warrants in March 2023 as part of “Operation Saving Daylight.”

The seven people who entered guilty pleas Tuesday are:

• Tae Suk Hwang, 63, of Saginaw, Michigan, who pleaded guilty to three counts of attempted promoting prostitution, one misdemeanor count of engaging in prostitution, three counts of possessing criminal tools, one count of attempted money laundering and one count of obstruction of justice.

• Dong Meliodon, 63, of Duluth, Georgia, who pleaded guilty to attempted promoting prostitution, attempted money laundering and five counts of possessing criminal tools.

• Miock Dong Schaffer, 59, of Norwalk, who pleaded guilty to promoting prostitution, attempted money laundering and three counts of possessing criminal tools.

• Chang Mi Hwang, 60, of Duluth, Georgia, who pleaded guilty to two counts of possessing criminal tools.

• Young Hee Yoon, 58, of Warren, who pleaded guilty to four counts of promoting prostitution, one count of possessing criminal tools and four counts of attempted money laundering. Kasaris said she managed the Sunny Spa, “where prostitution occurred.”

• Young Sug Kim, 63, of New Waterford, pleaded guilty to possessing criminal tools and two counts of obstruction of justice.

• Charles McGill, 69, of East Avenue in Warren, pleaded guilty to attempted compelling prostitution, two counts of attempted money laundering, three counts of promoting prostitution and two counts of obstruction of justice.

Kasaris said McGill transported women to and from the Sunny Spa and bought food and other supplies to feed the women who were living at the spa and performing sex acts.