DUBLIN — It seemed like an easy enough job at the outset.
HongChao Bi, 38, was supposed to supervise a group of sex workers and take care of their day-to-day needs, cooking, cleaning, and providing transportation for them as they stayed at a brothel on Starward Drive in Dublin, according to authorities. For these services he was allegedly to be paid $4,000 per month.
But Bi’s tenure as a brothel operator came to a swift end just four days into his job, when the cops came-a-knocking, according to court records. Responding to an online ad featuring scantily clad women, Dublin detectives negotiated a $600 fee and were led to the Starward Drive location last August, authorities said.
Their instructions came with a note to go to a particular location near the brothel and “wait for the butler here,” authorities said. That person turned out to be Bi, who was promptly arrested and gave a full confession, according to court records.
In addition to the $4,000/month stipend, Bi allegedly received cash “tips” from the women he cooked, cleaned, and cared for, authorities said.
Bi was charged with operating a house of prostitution on Sept. 30, and settled his case less than a month later. In a plea deal with prosecutors, he agreed to plead no contest to a lesser offense, accessory.
The agreed-upon sentence was almost as short as Bi’s tenure in the brothel business. He was given one day in jail, followed by a two-year probation term, with a chance to reduce his conviction to a misdemeanor if he lives by the law for the next year, according to court records.
It is unclear from court filings whether Bi, a resident of New York, told police who he was working for. Authorities say they have several ongoing prostitution investigations in the Tri-Valley area, including suspected brothels operating in Dublin and Pleasanton.