Three found guilty in sex slave case

Three Suffolk County men face up to life in prison after being found guilty in Central Islip federal court Thursday of running a sex-slavery ring that used beatings and rape to intimidate illegal immigrants into prostitution.

Antonio Rivera, 36, of Patchogue; John Whaley, 31, of Bellport; and Jason Villaman, 33, of Brentwood, had been charged with numerous counts of sexual trafficking, forced labor and immigration violations.

After five days of deliberations, jurors found Rivera, whom federal prosecutors called the ringleader, guilty of all 36 charges against him in operating the ring from 2005 to 2009.

Whaley was found guilty of 19 of 29 charges, and Villaman was found guilty of 16 of 17 charges. They face mandatory prison sentences of at least 15 years and could receive as much as life in prison. A sentencing date has not been set.

The women exploited by the ring were ostensibly hired as waitresses at two cantinas, Sonidos de la Frontera in Lake Ronkonkoma and La Hija del Mariachi in Farmingville. But federal prosecutors John Richmond, Demetri Jones and Licha Nyiendo said the women were forced into having sex with customers.

Almost all the victims who testified were young undocumented women from Central America who said they were frightened that they would be deported if they contacted authorities about their mistreatment, according to a joint investigation by Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents and Suffolk County detectives.

Defense attorneys argued that the women knew all along that they were being hired to have sex with cantina patrons for up to $300 a night, and they only testified against the defendants after they discovered they could obtain papers to stay in the United States if they were viewed as victims of sex trafficking.

"These bars were brothels and these women were prostitutes," said Rivera's defense attorney, Glenn Obedin, during closing arguments.

Prosecutors, however, put a parade of women who worked at the cantinas on the stand to testify how they suffered brutal beatings, rape and threats they would be deported if they did not comply with orders to have sex with patrons.

Because it was considered too prejudicial, jurors did not learn that Rivera is a registered sex offender who had been convicted of raping a 13-year-old and a 14-year-old girl in 1998, according to state records.

After the verdict, defense attorneys said their clients would appeal.