Thread: NY-3 held in NY alien-prostitution case

3 held in NY alien-prostitution case

August 10, 2009 11:35 AM ET

CENTRAL ISLIP, N.Y. (AP) - Federal authorities are accusing three New Yorkers of forcing illegal immigrants from Central America to work as prostitutes.

The three - a brother and sister who own two bars and the bars' manager - were due in federal court in Central Islip (EYES'-lihp) on Monday. They are charged with conspiracy, sex trafficking, forced labor and alien harboring.

Prosecutors say they lured Central American immigrants - some as young as 17 - to engage in sex acts with bar patrons for money. If the women refused, authorities say they were assaulted and sometimes raped.

They also were threatened with being reported to immigration authorities. The number of women involved was not immediately available.

The Long Island bars are located in Lake Ronkonkoma and Farmingville.



http://www.wcax.com/global/story.asp?s=10877108

3 Accused in Suffolk Sex Slave Ring Held Without Bail

Written by Timothy Bolger on Aug 11th, 2009 and filed under L.I. News, News. You can follow any responses to this entry through RSS 2.0. You can leave a response or trackback to this entry

The registered sex offender and his sister who investigators accused along with a third man of forcing illegal immigrants to work as prostitutes at two Suffolk County bars were held without bail at their initial hearing in federal court Aug. 10.

Antonio Rivera, 34—who was convicted of raping a 13-year-old girl in 1998—and his sister, Jasmin Rivera, 31, owned Sonidos de la Frontera in Lake Ronkonkoma and La Hija del Mariachi in Farmingville, which were managed by John Whaley, 29, authorities said. They lured young Central American immigrant women—some as young as 17—with the promise of jobs as waitresses and hostesses, then forced them to have sex for money with patrons, according to federal prosecutors.


If the women refused, authorities said they were assaulted and sometimes raped. They were also threatened with being reported to immigration authorities and their movements controlled, said authorities, between the bars and other locations in Hempstead, Huntington and Brentwood by being driven around in vehicles registered to the Riveras and Whaley. The number of women involved was not immediately available.

Each was charged with conspiracy, sex trafficking, forced labor and alien harboring after search warrants were executed at both bars, according to a spokesman for the U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of New York. They were arraigned before U.S. Magistrate Judge Michael L. Orenstein and represented by federal public defenders.

The alleged conspiracy, which is said to have started in September 2007, was uncovered through a joint investigation between the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Immigration and Customs Enforcement, the Internal Revenue Service and Suffolk police. The initial tip came from a confidential informant, who told a Suffolk police detective about the alleged prostitution ring in August 2008.

One of the girls was first interviewed by investigators in January 2009, and told them that she was threatened with death if she didn’t at least dance nude in the bar, according to court documents. Rivera allegedly raped her on numerous occasions.

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

Licenses of 2 LI bars in sex slavery raid were at risk
August 11, 2009 By ROBERT E. KESSLER robert.kessler@newsday.com

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The two Long Island bars that federal officials say were the epicenter of a sexual slavery ring were in the process of having their permits revoked by the state for unrelated violations, according to state records and a spokesman for the State Liquor Authority.

A revocation hearing that had been scheduled for next week in Manhattan by the liquor authority now is unlikely to occur, however, because the licensee of the bars, Jasmin Rivera, was one of the three people arrested early Monday morning during a raid by federal agents and Suffolk police, according to officials.

The bars are also unlikely to reopen because the other two operators - her brother, Antonio Rivera, and John Whaley - were also arrested, and all three are being held without bail.

They are all charged with slavery, trafficking in sexual workers and harboring illegal immigrants.

The two bars are La Hija del Mariachi in Farmingville and Sonidos de la Frontera in Lake Ronkonkoma.

Sonidos had numerous violations of the Town of Brookhaven's building and fire codes and for being the site of at least five fights or assaults in 2008, according to state records and SLA spokesman Bill Crowley.

Brookhaven Town Supervisor Mark Lesko said the charges were the result of a joint investigation by town inspectors, Suffolk police and SLA investigators.

The civil lawyer for Jasmin Rivera in the licensing cases - Stacy Weiss of Manhattan - declined to comment Tuesday.

According to court records, the raids and arrests were made based on information from four female bar employees, and an undercover Suffolk police officer and an informant who "entered the bars on numerous occasions" since August 2008.

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Chaka Khan Ashanti (musician) Department of Health Joey Buttafuoco "On numerous occasions observed female employees . . . engage in sex acts with patrons, including oral sex in the main areas of the bars," the records said.

While hundreds of male patrons who were immigrants are typically in the bars, none were arrested Monday.

"We focus our attention on individuals we identify as part of the criminal organization," Luis Martinez, a spokesman for U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, said Tuesday.


http://www.newsday.com/long-island/suff ... -1.1363744