Thread: Update: FBI report on forced prostitution case

http://www.fbi.gov/newyork/press-releas ... 081009.htm

Story from above URL

[quote]Three Arrested in Long Island Sex Trafficking and Alien Harboring Case
Owners and Manager of Lake Ronkonkoma and Farmingville Bars ChargedU.S. Attorney’s Office
August 10, 2009 Eastern District of New York
(71 254-7000


Two owners and the manager of two Suffolk County bars were arrested last night pursuant to a federal complaint charging them with crimes involving forced prostitution. The complaint charges Antonio Rivera, Jasmin Rivera, and John Whaley with conspiracy, sex trafficking, forced labor, and alien harboring. Simultaneously with the arrests, law enforcement agents executed search warrants at both bars. The defendants are scheduled to make their initial appearances this afternoon before United States Magistrate Judge Michael L. Orenstein at the U.S. Courthouse, in Central Islip, New York.

The charges were announced by Benton J. Campbell, United States Attorney for the Eastern District of New York; John Morton, Assistant Secretary, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), New York; Richard Dormer, Suffolk County Police Commissioner; Joseph M. Demarest, Jr., Assistant Director-in-Charge, Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), New York Field Office; and Patricia J. Haynes, Special Agent-in-Charge, Internal Revenue Service (IRS), Criminal Investigation, New York.

According to the complaint unsealed today, the joint investigation revealed that Antonio Rivera, a Registered Sex Offender, and his sister Jasmin Rivera owned and operated the Sonidos de la Frontera bar, located in Lake Ronkonkoma, and the La Hija del Mariachi bar, located in Farmingville. Whaley was employed as a manager in both bars. From September 2007 through the present, the Riveras and Whaley allegedly lured young women, primarily Central American illegal immigrants, to work in the bars as waitresses and hostesses. Some of the women were as young as 17 years of age. As set forth in the complaint, after the women began working in the bars, the defendants forced them to engage in sex acts with bar patrons in exchange for money, with the defendants keeping half of the proceeds. When the women refused or resisted, the defendants used physical force, including rape and assaults, and threatened to report the women to immigration authorities. The defendants also controlled the movement of the women between the bars and other locations in Hempstead, Huntington, and Brentwood, transporting them in vehicles registered to the Riveras and Whaley. The complaint also charges the defendants with conspiring to harbor illegal aliens by concealing the women’s true identities and immigration status from state licensing agencies and law enforcement authorities.

“As described in the complaint, sex trafficking preys upon vulnerable young women for profit and degrades both the individual victims and the communities where these crimes are committed,â€

I should point out that the arrests took place in 2009, but the trial just began April 26, 2011.

Another note: One of the defendants in this trial, an Antonio Rivera, is a registered sex offender in NY. He was convicted in 1998 of raping a 12 yo and a 13 yo girl. One wonders how he got away with this sex slave enterprise for so many years. I think the police on LI have been over-trained in the area of ethnic targeting, and they look the other way when the suspects are hispanic.

Originally Posted by Longislander

I should point out that the arrests took place in 2009, but the trial just began April 26, 2011.

Another note: One of the defendants in this trial, an Antonio Rivera, is a registered sex offender in NY. He was convicted in 1998 of raping a 12 yo and a 13 yo girl. One wonders how he got away with this sex slave enterprise for so many years. I think the police on LI have been over-trained in the area of ethnic targeting, and they look the other way when the suspects are hispanic.

Or are in some way related to the horse farm owners. We all know most of your illegals on LI are employed at either: Aqueduct, Belmont or work on the horse farms!