Centereach Man Charged with Murder in New Jersey

Town Sound Beach Man Pleads Guilty to Sex Traffi cking

BY KYLE BARR KYLE@TBRNEWSMEDIA.COM

A Sound Beach man who was arrested last year for sex traffi cking pled guilty Feb. 4. He is set to be sentenced in March and faces what could be more than nine years in prison.

The Suffolk County district attorney announced Raymond Rodio III pled guilty to several counts of sex traffi cking, selling drugs and several counts of promoting prostitution.

Police and prosecutors said Rodio had been conducting a human traffi cking operation in the basement apartment of his parent’s house located on Lower Rocky Point Road in Sound Beach, in which police said they identifi ed more than 20 victims who had been moved through that house. Rodio engaged in drug sales, including heroin and crack cocaine, and used those drugs to keep better control of his victims, which he pimped out in motels around Long Island.

“This is an individual who clearly had no regard for the women he victimized, subjecting them to exploitation, fear and humiliation,” District Attorney Tim Sini (D) said after the defense’s guilty plea was read out. “It is our hope that this guilty plea delivers justice for the many survivors of Rodio’s scheme.”

Police AntiTraffi cking Initiative Page A7

The house where Raymond Rodio III allegedly committed acts of sex traffi cking. Rodio would allegedly keep women inside his basement apartment as he pimped them out on sites like Craigslist and Backpage. File photo by Kyle Barr

Police also said Rodio would keep women in that basement for an extended period of time, forcing them to use a bucket as a toilet since there was no bathroom in the apartment. The Sound Beach man would post advertisements on websites, including Backpage and Craigslist, promoting prostitution by the victims and would keep either a large percentage or all of the profi ts of their prostitution.

Rodio’s attorney is listed as Scott Gross, a Garden City-based criminal defense attorney. Gross did not return calls for request for comment.

Police originally started investigating Rodio after a Suffolk County police offi cer noticed a suspected victim of traffi cking in his car during a routine traffi c stop in August 2018. The man was later arrested in March 2019 after an investigation found a score of other victims.

Rodio is scheduled to be sentenced by Acting Suffolk County Supreme Court Justice Mark Cohen March 9. The court promised the defendant a 9½-year with fi ve years of postrelease supervision on the top count. He will also be required to register as a sex offender upon his release from prison.

TASK FORCE Continued from A2

existing recycling programs, develop strategies for increasing the effi ciency of recycling regionally, and to develop mechanisms to encourage the streamlining of the local recycling process.

Hahn stressed the continuation of educating the public on the benefi ts of recycling and reducing plastic waste in their everyday lives.

The 5-cent minimum fee for plastic bags in stores, which took effect in January 2018, has been successful — with reports showing a 70 to 80 percent reduction in the use of the bags. Hahn also sponsored a bill that would create a plastic straw ban in restaurants that took effect last month. In addition, the Styrofoam bill bars businesses from using items such as cups, trays and containers that are made from polystyrene, as well as ban retail stores from selling those products. It will require businesses in the county to use biodegradable products. “They go hand in hand — the success has been apparent in reducing plastic waste in the county,” she said. “I’m hoping we can work with Brookhaven and other municipalities in fi nding a way to properly handle this and do the right thing for residents.”

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