RIVERHEAD, N.Y. (WCBS 880) — A Long Island man was sentenced Tuesday to 9 1/2 years in prison for running a prostitution ring out of his parents' home.
Suffolk County District Attorney Tim Sini said 49-year-old Raymond Rodio III would find his victims by posting ads on Craigslist and Backpage.
He kept the women captive in the basement of his parents' home on Lower Rocky Point Road in Sound Beach and forced them into a life of prostitution by using violence and drugs, including crack cocaine and heroin.
"This defendant had a sex dungeon in his parents' home and he forced women into sex slavery — he got them addicted to drugs, he used their addiction to control them, he took their money from them to pay for their drugs," Sini said.
There were at least 20 victims. Two died of overdoses.
"Raymond Rodio III was engaged in the unthinkable for years -- a sex trafficking operation in his parents' basement and today he will be punished for the damage he caused," Suffolk County Police Commissioner Geraldine Hart said.
Sini said the basement had no bathroom and victims were forced to use a bucket. Some of the women would be kept locked in the basement for long periods of time.
"This defendant left a wave of destruction and death through his actions," Sini said. "This case sends a clear message to those who are trafficking women and girls in this county: we will not stand for it."
Rodio pleaded guilty in February to sex trafficking, prostitution and drug charges.
Authorities said the investigation originally began in 2018 when police identified a suspected victim of human trafficking during a routine traffic stop.