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| Du, who was found guilty at the Fengtai District People's Court of recruiting dozens of prostitutes, crying after hearing the verdict |
A woman who headed what was described as China's biggest prostitution ring wept and said her life was ruined after being jailed for 14 years in Beijing Friday.
The 28-year-old, surnamed Du, was found guilty at the Fengtai District People's Court of recruiting dozens of prostitutes, including teenagers and foreigners, between 2007 and 2010.
Her husband and fellow ringleader, a 43-year-old surnamed Cui, was jailed for 13 years.
The couple were also each fined 100,000 Yuan (RM48,107), the Legal Evening Newsreported.
Some 65 accomplices were also found guilty for their roles in the business, which the newspaper described the biggest prostitution ring uncovered in China.
The 28-year-old, surnamed Du, was found guilty at the Fengtai District People's Court of recruiting dozens of prostitutes, including teenagers and foreigners, between 2007 and 2010.
Her husband and fellow ringleader, a 43-year-old surnamed Cui, was jailed for 13 years.
The couple were also each fined 100,000 Yuan (RM48,107), the Legal Evening Newsreported.
Some 65 accomplices were also found guilty for their roles in the business, which the newspaper described the biggest prostitution ring uncovered in China.
On hearing her sentence, Du broke down. "I admitted that I was guilty, but I don't deserve such a sentence," she cried. "My life is totally ruined."
Du said she would appeal for a more lenient sentence.
Another 32 members of the vice ring, including drivers, pimps and people involved in producing call girl cards, also received jail sentences Friday.
Several women burst into tears on hearing their sentences, the newspaper said.
In January, 33 pimps were sentenced to jail terms ranging from eight months to three years.
Du, from the northeastern Liaoning Province, began working as a prostitute in 2007 and later began organizing the business.
The couple ran the ring like an agency, handpicking call girls, charging "management fees" and arranging their working hours, the court heard.
Pimps distributed call girl cards around high-end hotels, offering a door-to-door service, the newspaper said.
Du kept a low profile, working 12-hours a day in an Internet cafe, it was reported.
A prostitute could make between 500 Yuan and 2,000 Yuan from a client, 40 percent of which went to Du and one third of the remainder to her pimp, the Beijing Times reported.
"I earned more than 100,000 Yuan between February and June 2011," Du told Legal Evening News.
"It was easy money," Chen Haijun, one of the pimps, told the newspaper.
"I just distributed cards and made some phone calls."
The prostitution ring was busted last June at a Beijing Internet cafe and tens of thousands of yuan plus 11 boxes of call girl cards seized by police.
