Helena woman sentenced to four years in massage parlor trafficking case

A Helena woman has been sentenced to four years in the Montana Women's Prison for helping run a Cedar Street massage parlor that prosecutors said was used to recruit Asian women and provide sexual services to clients. The sentence is the latest courtroom consequence in a case that has become one of Helena’s clearest public-safety and trafficking investigations.

Court records and related reporting identified the business as Oasis Massage, which operated in 2023 and 2024. Prosecutors said the operation was not a routine vice case but an organized, exploitative business that used the appearance of a normal massage storefront to conceal trafficking activity. The woman co-owned and operated the business with Steven Kyle Miller.

Investigators said the storefront hid harsh conditions behind the front desk. Some women at Oasis Massage could not speak English, and court documents said they were charged $40 per day to live there. A search warrant allegedly turned up condoms and lingerie hidden inside the business, and investigators linked the phone number on the sign to known escort websites.

The investigation was triggered in part by a tip from the Helena Regional Airport. TSA reported that Miller was repeatedly seen picking up and dropping off young Asian women, speaking for them and appearing overly controlling. On Oct. 25, 2023, TSA also reported that Yu tried to fly to New York with $50,000 in cash while Miller attempted to go through security without a ticket. Those warnings pulled airport personnel, state investigators and local prosecutors into the same case.

The sentencing adds to a broader legal reckoning. Miller pleaded guilty in October 2025 to one count of felony human trafficking and was sentenced in March 2026 to 10 years in prison, with five years suspended, plus a $5,000 fine. Yu was scheduled to be sentenced in June 2026. The case has also drawn attention to the reach of Montana’s human trafficking unit, which was created in 2019 and typically sees up to 120 cases a year, while Attorney General Austin Knudsen said the department had already seen more than 60 human trafficking cases in 2026.

The Cedar Street location underscored how visible the business was in the middle of Helena. MTN reported that the corridor carries more than 17,000 cars a day, a constant stream of traffic past a storefront investigators now describe as part of a wider statewide problem. For Lewis and Clark County, the case has become a test of whether licensing checks, inspections, airport alerts and police follow-up can spot trafficking operations before they run for years in plain sight.