Sex trafficking case: Freddie Rice gets up to 36 years in prison after judge tells him he is a 'despicable person'
Freddie Rice during sentencing hearing in state Supreme Court Justice John Collins' courtroom with attorney Anthony Rutkowski at Suffolk Criminal Court in Riverhead on Friday. Credit: Michael A. Rupolo Sr.
A Bay Shore man convicted of sex trafficking and promoting prostitution, as well as drug charges in a separate indictment, has been sentenced to up to 36 years in prison.
State Supreme Court Justice John Collins sentenced Freddie Rice to 9 to 18 years imprisonment Friday afternoon in Riverhead for each of two counts of sex trafficking, to run consecutively, for coercing women who were addicted to drugs to perform sexual acts in exchange for narcotics.
Rice also told the women they must pay off their never-ending supposed debts to him. His manipulation constituted “heinous behavior … and he was scarily good at it,” Collins said during the sentencing hearing.
In addition to the consecutive sentences, Rice also received 2 to 4 years to be served concurrently for promoting prostitution. On the separate indictment, Rice was sentenced to two concurrent 6-year sentences with 3 years post supervision for two counts of third-degree criminal possession of narcotics.
A jury convicted Rice of two counts of sex trafficking and promoting prostitution on Oct. 24, Newsday previously reported. The jury acquitted Rice of a third sex trafficking count, as well as other charges listed in an initial indictment. Rice pleaded guilty to the two narcotics charges on June 16.
One of Rice’s sex trafficking victims, who appeared in court Friday, said she previously felt “angry and resentful” toward him but now feels “pity” and “genuinely sorry” for him since, she added, he never knew “unconditional love.”
“I don't hate you and I don't believe in good and bad people,” the woman, who Newsday is not identifying because she was the victim of a sex crime, said. “You repeated the cycle instead of breaking it.”
Rice’s children, she added, “will eventually know what you did. Does that affect how you sleep at night? … Your actions will follow them long after this courtroom.”
Before Collins handed down his sentence, Rice thanked his mother and girlfriend, who were present in the courtroom Friday, as well as his lawyers.
“I stand by my innocence,” Rice told Collins.
In asking Collins to consider Rice’s previous criminal history before sentencing him, Suffolk County Assistant District Attorney Veronica McMahon brought up his previous felony convictions on charges of second-degree attempted assault and third-degree burglary in 2009; a third-degree burglary charge in 2010; criminal sale of a controlled substance in 2012; and third-degree attempted criminal possession of a controlled substance in 2013.
Rice’s “conduct has escalated over the years” from burglary to “selling drugs … and selling humans,” McMahon told Collins.
Defense attorney Anthony Rutkowski asked Collins to consider that the previous convictions were for “nonviolent” offenses. He said “there was no physical injury caused to” the victims related to Rice’s sex trafficking convictions, and that he is a “young” and “charismatic” man.
Before issuing the sentence for the sex trafficking and prostitution charges, Collins agreed to sentence Rice as a repeat felony offender, meaning he could impose longer sentences, but he took a life sentence off the table. When Rice is released from prison, “if he survives,” Collins said from the bench, he will live with the onerous restrictions of lifetime supervision.
Rice “repeatedly thumbed his nose at authority,” Collins said. “He is a despicable person, and he has proven so since the time he was 19. However throughout his criminal history, the punishment that he has previously received by the system has … been minimal, up till now.”
On the sex trafficking counts, Collins' sentence fell between those sought by prosecutors and Rutkowski. Collins said that Rice “prayed upon susceptible women, drug addicts, and is a very very skilled manipulator.” He also noted that “the women who testified against Rice said they were not restrained traditionally.”
“Their testimony is that they pretty much came and went as they pleased,” Collins said. “He stole their money … but nonetheless, they each testified that when they wanted to leave they could.”
Snow totals may be less across the South Shore A winter storm is expected to pummel LI as artic air settles in across the region. NewsdayTV meteorologist Geoff Bansen has the forecast.
Snow totals may be less across the South Shore A winter storm is expected to pummel LI as artic air settles in across the region. NewsdayTV meteorologist Geoff Bansen has the forecast.
