Annandale 'Doumi' Business Owner Sentenced

A 41-year-old man was sentenced to two years and nine months in federal prison Friday for employing illegal immigrants to work for his “doumi” business in Annandale and Centreville.

Youn Sok Chang, owner of “Da Bong,” recruited undocumented women from Korea to flirt, sing and dance with customers in bars for $70 an hour, according to the Washington Post. 

Chang, a South Korean immigrant, was charged not because of the nature of his “doumi” business, which means helper in Korean, but because he harbored more than 25 illegal immigrants, the Post reported.

Chang pleaded guilty to conspiring to harbor and induce illegal immigrants to live in the U.S. in May.

Prosecutors had hoped Chang would receive longer than the two years he received in order to discourage other doumi business owners from hiring and harboring illegal immigrants, the Post reported. 

The women who worked for Chang lived in homes Chang owns in Annandale and Falls Church and serviced customers out of Café Tu Ah in Annandale.

Recently, some Annandale businesses have been exposed as popular fronts for illegal massage parlors and sex trafficking. Susan Lee Gross, former owner of the Annandale massage parlor, Peach Therapy, was sentenced to 30 months in prison for transporting women across state lines for prostitution and money laundering back in March. Gross plead guilty to the charges in 2012.

Chang took charge of “Da Bong” in 2011 when Taesan Won, a Fairfax resident originally from South Korea, was arrested for his involvement in the business.

Read more about Won’s arrest on Annandale Patch: Korean Man Pleads Guilty to Illegal Annandale Companionship Business

Won pleaded guilty in June 2011 to "harboring for private financial gain at least six undocumented Korean women.” He was sentenced to a year and three months in prison.

Related Stories on Patch:

• Meet Jessica Johnson, Annandale’s Anti-Trafficking Crusader
• Authorities: Sex Trafficking a Problem at Some Local Massage Parlors
• Former Annandale Massage Parlor Owner Pleads Guilty to Prostitution, Money Laundering
• Charges Filed Against Local Massage Parlors
• Illegal Massage Parlors: Rep. Wolf Asks for Investigations