Summations made in sex trafficking case

Federal prosecutors and defense attorneys sharply clashed Wednesday over the character of the women ostensibly employed as waitresses at two Suffolk cantinas that federal officials say were at the center of a sexual-slavery ring.

To federal prosecutor John Richmond the women were "the weak and the helpless" forced into sex with customers by the three men on trial for sex trafficking, forced labor and harboring and transporting illegal aliens.

To defense attorney Glenn Obedin, the women were "prostitutes" who willingly worked in bars that "were brothels."

The contrasting views were part of summations in the case against three men accused of running the ring out of the cantinas -- Sonidos de la Frontera in Lake Ronkonkoma and La Hija del Mariachi in Farmingville.

The cantinas closed in 2009 after raids by federal agents and Suffolk County detectives. The defendants are Antonio Rivera, 35, of Patchogue; John Whaley, 31, of Bellport; and Jason Villaman, 32, of Brentwood.

Federal prosecutor Richmond, noting the parade of undocumented waitresses who testified that they were beaten, raped and threatened with deportation if they did not work, said "this is not a case about prostitution . . . it's about power and control."

The ring involved "a plan . . . to exploit vulnerable women and sell access to their bodies. . . . They controlled the women who worked for them [by] use of force: slaps, punches and sexual abuse," Richmond said in federal court in Central Islip.

"Once women were trapped, they were sold to customers," he said. The defendants "created a market for illegal immigrants in this country and exploited them."

But Obedin, Rivera's attorney, said, "These bars were brothels and these women were prostitutes."

"All of them had a chance to see the bars for what [they were] before they started working . . . the money was far greater than they could make in factories . . . that's why they stayed.

And, Obedin pointed out the women knew they could get permits to stay in the country if they were considered victims of exploitation. A "pretty sweet deal . . . especially if you an illegal alien who happens to be a prostitute," Obedin said.

Defense attorneys for Villaman and Whaley said their clients were innocent, caught up in what Villaman's attorney, Terrence Buckley, called "the wildfire" of the federal and Suffolk County investigation.

Buckley maintained his client was only a part-time security guard at Sonidos.

Whaley's attorney, Tracey Gaffey, said her client's only crime was that "he drove the van" that took the waitresses to and from their homes.