Freddie Rice, 34, of Bay Shore, convicted of sex trafficking, DA says

A Bay Shore man was found guilty Friday of sex trafficking and promoting prostitution after a jury determined he coerced victims with narcotics, Suffolk County District Attorney Ray Tierney said.

Freddie Rice, 34, of Bay Shore, “preyed upon the drug addictions of multiple women to control and coerce them” the district attorney’s office said in a news release. Trial evidence revealed between August 2019 and December 2023, Rice withheld heroin and crack from multiple female victims so they would “engage in sexual acts with various men” for money.

The women were forced to provide the money they made to Rice and never able to clear “their alleged ‘debt’” Rice told them they owed him, Tierney’s office said. If he caught the women keeping any cash for themselves, he “‘punished’ them by withholding the drugs,” causing them “to experience intense and dangerous physical withdrawal symptoms.”

The trial against Rice lasted eight days, according to online court records.

On Friday, a jury convicted Rice before Supreme Court Justice John B. Collins at Suffolk County Court in Riverhead of two counts of sex trafficking and third-degree promoting prostitution, the district attorney said.

“Today, justice was served,” Tierney said in a statement. “Freddie Rice’s crimes were calculated, predatory, and [devastating] to his victims. My office encourages anyone who is a victim of sex trafficking to call 911 or the Suffolk County District Attorney’s Office Human Trafficking Tipline,"  631-852-2950.

Anthony Rutkowski, the defense attorney who represented Rice at trial, could not be reached for comment Friday evening.

Friday’s verdict was the first of two that have been awaiting Rice. He will return to Suffolk County Court for sentencing on an unrelated conviction for third-degree criminal possession of a controlled substance with intent to sell and criminal possession of a controlled substance/narcotic drug, according to Tierney.

Rice pleaded guilty to the drug charges on June 16, according to court records.

The Bay Shore man has been convicted of felonies on four previous occasions, starting with a second-degree attempted assault and third-degree burglary conviction in 2009, according to Tierney. He was convicted of another third-degree burglary charge the following year. In 2012, he was convicted of criminal sale of a controlled substance. The next year, he was convicted of third-degree attempted criminal possession of a controlled substance.

Rice is scheduled for sentencing on Nov. 25 and faces up to 50 years to life in prison, the district attorney said. Following Friday’s conviction, he has been certified as a sex offender.