Joseph Ferreri

Joseph Ferreri drove his wife to and from the massage parlors where she worked. He was arrested on February 4, 2021. In the probable-cause affidavit, Officer Shawn Lott cited those rides as enabling criminal activity and wrote that Ferreri said he suspected his wife was providing sexual services because she had previously been arrested for similar conduct.

All four charges were later dismissed. Ferreri filed a federal lawsuit against American Fork City and Officer Shawn Lott. According to Ferreri’s federal complaint, the arrest and public accusations deeply affected his life: he lost his job with the Utah Department of Corrections, was turned down three times when he reapplied after the charges were dropped, and was ostracized in his community and taunted by coworkers.

American Fork City settled for an undisclosed amount.

Ferreri later moved to Montana to obtain a job as a correctional officer, where he has worked since 2023.

Here are the officers who were involved in the encounter. Click their profile links below:

Joseph Ferreri was charged in Utah with aggravated exploitation of prostitution, engaging in a pattern of unlawful activity, human trafficking, and money laundering. All four charges were dismissed without prejudice on December 8, 2021.

Wang Ju Ying, Ferreri’s wife, was separately charged in Utah with two misdemeanor prostitution counts and one felony count of engaging in a pattern of unlawful activity. All three charges were dismissed without prejudice on January 28, 2022.

Wang had previously been charged in Bryan County, Oklahoma, in March 2017 with offering to engage in prostitution after an arrest at the Red Lotus Spa in Calera, where she worked. Wang and Ferreri had married in Texas the previous month. In November 2017, the Oklahoma court dismissed the case without costs because Wang was being held at the Tulsa County Detention Center on an immigration detainer. The dismissal record does not state that she was deported or that deportation was certain. A later federal complaint states that the Department of Homeland Security issued Wang a visa recognizing her as Ferreri’s spouse on May 14, 2018.

Court docket: A timeline of the lawsuit’s filings and hearings. It records the settlement and the closing of the case.

Federal complaint: Ferreri’s account of what happened, why he believed the arrest violated his rights, and how it affected his life.

Settlement conference order: The court’s instructions for the March 17, 2025 meeting where both sides would try to resolve the case.

Stipulation of dismissal: Both sides agreed to end the lawsuit permanently, with each paying its own attorney fees and costs. Filed May 13, 2025.

Initial news coverage focused on the massage-parlor investigation and law-enforcement allegations involving prostitution and human trafficking.

Later reporting focused on the dropped prostitution charges, Ferreri’s account of the consequences of the allegations, and his civil lawsuit against the police.