An agreement has been reached with the first of the twenty-five men who were charged with prostitution in connection with the Jupiter day spa operation of last month.
Afternoon, the misdemeanour prostitution allegation that had been filed against Timothy R. Goering, who is 52 years old and lives in Jupiter, accepted an offer from the prosecutors to drop the charge. During January, he was one of the twenty-five men who were captured on undercover surveillance cameras paying for sex acts at the Orchids of Asia Day Spa in Jupiter. Other men who were caught on camera included Robert Kraft, owner of the New England Patriots, and John Havens, former president of Citigroup.
In exchange, Goering conceded that he would have been found guilty if the case had been brought to trial. In addition to this, Goering will be required to conduct community service, pay a fine of $5,000 and cover court costs, finish an education class regarding prostitution, and undergo a screening for sexually transmitted medical conditions.
During the brief hearing that took place at the North County Courthouse in Palm Beach Gardens before Circuit Judge Frank Castor, neither Goering nor his attorney, Edward Reagan, made any comments concerning the proceedings.
From the perspective of the Palm Beach County State Attorney’s Office, each of the 25 men who were arrested in connection with the Orchids of Asia case was presented with the same deal as Goering. By agreeing to the terms of the settlement, Goering will be able to avoid having a criminal record. According to the police, Goering was videotaped on January 19 both paying for and receiving a sexual act.
Attorneys representing Kraft, a part-time resident of Palm Beach who is facing two counts of soliciting a prostitute, submitted a written notice of his plea and waived arraignment. This occurred two days before he was set to appear in court for a formal reading of the allegations against him. The following hearing in his case is set to take place on April 9th.
As long as a defendant’s attorney submits a request for discovery from the prosecution or until the individual’s first pretrial hearing, the offer that the state attorney has made to each of the remaining 24 defendants will continue to be eligible for consideration. As stated on Wednesday, Mike Edmondson, who serves as a spokesperson for the office,
The arrests that took place in Jupiter were a part of an investigation into storefront day spas throughout Palm Beach, Martin, Indian River, and Orange counties that were reportedly operating as quasi-brothels. The enquiry was an investigation into human trafficking and prostitution.
A plea bargain was provided to around sixty men who were charged with soliciting prostitutes in Martin County. These men were allegedly captured paying for sex at spas in Stuart and Hobe Sound. The state attorney’s office in Martin County in Florida, offered the plea deal.
However, this offer, which requires convicts to enter guilty pleas and accept a year of probation in addition to accepting fines of more than $7,000, is considered to be more stringent than the bargain that was granted to the Jupiter “johns.” Nirlaine Smartt, an assistant state attorney for the 19th Judicial Court, which includes Martin, St. Lucie, Okeechobee, and Indian River counties, stated that as of Wednesday afternoon, none of the males who were facing charges in Martin County had consented to take the plea. This information was provided by Smartt.
There will be hearings on Thursday for a number of persons who were arrested in connection with the Jupiter investigation. The Palm Beach County State Attorney’s Office had anticipated that five additional defendants would accept its offer during the hearing; however, Edmondson stated on Wednesday that counsel may instead ask a court to reschedule those cases to a later date.
Criminal charges have been brought against several women who are accused of working at or managing spas in the areas of Jupiter and Martin County.
Workers at the Bridge Day Spa in Hobe Sound, Li Ping Wang Borja, 49, and Young Wang, 43, have entered a plea of no contest to the charge of receiving financial support from the proceeds of prostitution.
Their sentences are scheduled to be handed out on July 19. They might face a sentence ranging from 15 years in prison to no time at all. As a result of the plea agreement, three further charges that had been brought against the women were dismissed.
According to the office of the state attorney, the formal charging of two women who are suspected of operating the Orchids of Asia Day Spa in Jupiter was set to take place.
The proprietor, Hua Zhang, who is 58 years old, and the manager, Lei Wang, who is 39 years old, are both facing accusations relating to prostitution, including 26 counts of recruiting another person to engage in prostitution.
Timothy Goering Appears in Court with Attorney
The first of the twenty-five men, including Robert Kraft, owner of the New England Patriots, who were charged in connection with a prostitution operation that took place at the Orchids of Asia Day Spa, made an appearance in court on Wednesday and accepted a plea agreement.
In court, Timothy Goering, who is 51 years old and lives in Jupiter, was there with his attorney.
Goering allegedly paid a female employee of the Orchids of Asia Day Spa with cash and received a sexual act that was captured on surveillance video, according to the Jupiter police department reports.
Having accepted the first-time offenders deferred prosecution plea offer, Goering will have the misdemeanour charge removed from his record if he fulfils all of the criteria. These requirements include community service, a $5,000 fine, and a class on the hazards of prostitution.
After the hearing, neither Goering nor his attorney would make any statements or comments.
In the meantime, Kraft has declined the same plea bargain and has requested that the case be tried by a jury. Greg Henning, a criminal defence attorney who specialises in Boston, where Kraft resides, stated that it is highly improbable that the NFL franchise owner will end up in court.
According to Henning, “the likelihood of any case in the criminal justice system going to a jury trial is extremely, extremely low.”
According to the Palm Beach County State Attorney’s Office, the request for a jury trial is typically considered to be routine defence procedure.
One of the reasons is that it automatically stopped the arraignment hearing that was scheduled on Thursday for Kraft.
Another reason is that once Kraft’s case is assigned to a trial judge, he has the opportunity to make a plea offer directly to the judge, with the expectation that the judge will give him a sentence that is more favourable than the first-time offenders programme.
Additionally, by requesting a trial, Kraft’s legal team will have additional time to fight against the publication of the surveillance videotape that has footage of his two alleged contacts.
According to Henning, “In this particular case, there is a video that is going to be at the centre of the case because it is alleged that there is evidence of Mr. Kraft engaging in some kind of illegal behaviour.” The attorneys are going to put up a struggle and make an effort to hide that material from the court.
The legal representatives for Kraft have already submitted a motion on his behalf, along with the motions of numerous other defendants, requesting that the release of evidence be waived in these particular cases.
In a motion that was submitted on Wednesday, ABC News, The New York Times, The Associated Press, and several other media outlets asked to intervene in the motion. They argued that in this extremely troubling investigation of possible human trafficking, the public has a right to see the evidence, and there is no reason for a blanket exemption because Florida law allows for the release of the evidence.
Why We Can’t Ignore the Spa Prostitution Case?
Prevalence & Scale
- 9,000+ illicit massage businesses (“massage parlors”) operate across the U.S., often functioning as fronts for commercial sex and trafficking.
- In California alone, over 3,300 massage parlors are estimated to be fronts for sex trafficking, particularly in L.A., Orange, and Santa Clara counties.
Trends & Growth
- A 2024 Portland study revealed a rise from 36 illicit massage parlors in 2019 to at least 114 in 2024 — a more than 3× increase in five years.
- Houston documented 292 illicit massage businesses, serving up to 2,869 customers daily during peak hours; many tied to sex trafficking.
Human Trafficking Dynamics
- Victims—often Southeast Asian women—are trafficked through coercion, psychological manipulation, and debt bondage .
- Trauma is widespread: these businesses combine sex trafficking, labor trafficking, immigration fraud, and money laundering.
Law Enforcement & Legal Actions
- Texas case (Mar 2025): Shaoping Wen and Xu Wang convicted for running seven massage parlors across Texas & New Mexico, implicated in interstate racketeering and sex operations.
- Danbury, CT (Apr 2025): Raided spa disguised as brothel. Nine sex-trafficking incidents in a decade; city enacted stricter licensing, transaction recording, and health supervision for massage businesses.
Why It Matters
- Large-scale exploitation: Tens of thousands of women trapped in illicit operations nationally.
- Rapid expansion: Numbers growing significantly in recent years.
- Complex criminal ties: Involves trafficking, fraud, money laundering, cross-border crime.
- Evolving law enforcement response: Stepped-up raids, prosecutions, and municipal regulations.
is this an old article? I remember the events that happened in 2019 not in 2025. Or is there any important news about this case?