TOMS RIVER – A Berkeley Township woman who ran a brothel out of a massage parlor on Lakehurst Road in Toms River has been placed on probation for a year, while charges against a co-defendant have been dropped, according to court records.



Superior Court Judge Rochelle Gizinski last week placed Nina X. Meng, 58, of Edgebrook Drive, on probation and fined her $155, as well as assessing probation fees, court records show.

Charges against Meng’s co-defendant, James M. O’Brien, 61, of the same address as Meng, were dismissed at the prosecutor's request, according to the records.



Meng was arrested Jan. 4, 2017 following an investigation by township police, the Ocean County Prosecutor’s Special Operations Group and the federal Department of Homeland Security into allegations that Redwoods Wellness Center, run by Meng at 515 Lakehurst Road, was soliciting prostitution, police said. The allegations were confirmed through the investigation as well as financial documents collected during a search of the premises, police said. O’Brien was arrested at a later date.

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Earlier this year, an Ocean County grand jury charged Meng and O'Brien in an indictment that accused them of promoting prostitution by “owning, controlling, managing, supervising or otherwise keeping a house of prostitution or a prostitution business.’’

Meng pleaded guilty to the offense on Oct. 1.



Promoting prostitution is a third-degree crime that carries a maximum prison term of five years, but a presumption of no incarceration for first-time offenders.



Gizinski imposed the probationary term on Meng on Nov. 30, the same date that charges against O’Brien were dismissed.

Kathleen Hopkins: 732-643-4202; Khopkins@app.com