The cases of two women accused of prostitution in Bethesda have been placed on an inactive docket.
The charges against Ekaterina G. Shouldice, 32, and Zhainagul Tolemissova, 33, will be on the inactive, or stet, docket for one year, starting July 15.
Shouldice, Tolemissova and Teresa Ilyina, 52, were each charged in May with two counts of prostitution. The charges against Ilyina are still pending.
Ilyina failed to appear at a July 15 hearing and a warrant for her arrest was issued. She does not face any additional charges as a result of the failure to appear, said Ramon Korionoff, a spokesman for the Montgomery County State’s Attorney’s Office. However, if a judge found her failure to appear as an act of constructive contempt of court, or not in the presence of the court, she could face up to 90 days in jail, according to Maryland law.
Shouldice, Ilyina and Tolemissova were employed at Bethesda Holistic Center, which offers massages and physical therapy, on Montgomery Avenue, according to charging documents.
Tolemissova was originally listed in the court system under the name Jain Makeneraeskya.
“Criminals often have multiple names or aliases,” Korionoff said. “The [current] last name in the system seems to be her real name.”
Montgomery County police arrested the women on May 29 and charged them with general prostitution the next day, said Dmitri Chernov, an attorney representing Shouldice and Ilyina.
Charging documents say that from August 2018 to May 2019, “multiple men had been stopped after leaving this establishment” and admitted to sexual contact “during and after massages.”
From September 2011 through January 2012, the police department’s Vice and Intelligence Unit investigated several massage businesses in the county for suspicion of prostitution, resulting in the closure of some businesses, according to a police department press release.
In 2013, the unit conducted another investigation into unlicensed spa and massage establishments in the county, which resulted in the closure of eight establishments, including LA Nails in Bethesda, for “criminal activities and permitting violations” and other reasons, according to the press release.
The stet ruling means that the women’s cases become inactive for a year and are eligible for expungement after three years, according to Maryland law.
“However … [if] this crime ends up showing that there’s something more nefarious or that they’re part of a criminal enterprise … we may be able to levy other charges within that year’s time if they are involved in other criminal activity,” Korionoff said.
