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Six Arrested As Opioid Ring Operating Out Of Market/Deli In Area Is Taken Down, Authorities Say Six Arrested As Opioid Ring Operating Out Of Market/Deli In Area Is Taken Down, Authorities Say
Six Arrested As Opioid Ring Operating Out Of Market/Deli In Area Is Taken Down, Authorities Say A Hudson Valley drug task force announced the arrests of six people and the dismantling of a local criminal enterprise that operated out of an area market and deli, officials said. The Dutchess County Drug Task Force announced that they have broken up a drug ring that sold “counterfeit” Oxycodone pills and a fraudulent Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) benefits out of the Zaid Market and Deli on Main Street in the city of Poughkeepsie for more than a year. It is alleged that the owner of the market, Rami Nshaiwat, and his employees distributed large quantities of illegal opio…

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by Zak Failla
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Man Convicted Of Sex Trafficking Young Girls, Including From Westchester Man Convicted Of Sex Trafficking Young Girls, Including From Westchester
Man Convicted Of Sex Trafficking Young Girls, Including From Westchester A New York man has been sentenced to 25 years in prison for the sex trafficking of minors that included girls from a Westchester County residential treatment facility. Hurbert Dupigny, of Brooklyn, was sentenced on Thursday, June 24, after being found guilty in a jury trial last year, said Audrey Strauss, U.S. States Attorney for the Southern District of New York.  “Dupigny victimized and violently abused, some of the most vulnerable members of our society for his own financial gain," Strauss said. "His predatory conduct irreparably damaged the lives of his victims." From at least August …

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by Kathy Reakes
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Woman Accused Of Conspiring With Father In So-Called Westchester College Sex Cult Case Woman Accused Of Conspiring With Father In So-Called Westchester College Sex Cult Case
Woman Accused Of Conspiring With Father In So-Called Westchester College Sex Cult Case A female cohort of the man accused of running a sex cult out of his daughter’s dorm at Sarah Lawrence College in Westchester Countyis facing charges for her role in helping him run the scheme. Staten Island resident Isabella Pollok, age 29, has been charged with racketeering conspiracy, conspiracy to commit sex trafficking, and extortion conspiracy for helping Lawrence Ray manipulate and groom the college students, who the convicted felon met after moving into his daughter’s on-campus room in 2010. Original story - Father Of College Student In Westchester Charged With Sex Trafficking Her F…

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by Zak Failla
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Man Charged In Sex Cult Case At College In Westchester Accused Of Witness Tampering Man Charged In Sex Cult Case At College In Westchester Accused Of Witness Tampering
Man Charged In Sex Cult Case At College In Westchester Accused Of Witness Tampering The father of a former college student in Westchester who allegedly ran a sex cult out of his daughter’s dorm room for nearly a decade is now reportedly manipulating his victims from his prison cell. Lawrence Ray, 60, who is facing charges that include sex trafficking, extortion, and forced labor, has been allegedly attempting to control at least two of his victims from inside his cell, according to a New York Times report. Ray was released from prison in 2010 and moved into the co-ed dorm of his daughter at Sarah Lawrence College near the border of Yonkers and Bronxville. It is alleged th…

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by Zak Failla
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Bail Denied For Father Charged With Running Sex Cult At Area College Bail Denied For Father Charged With Running Sex Cult At Area College
Bail Denied For Father Charged With Running Sex Cult At Area College Bail has been denied for the father of a former college student in Westchester who allegedly ran a sex cult out of his daughter's dorm room at Sarah Lawrence College. A judge in Manhattan federal court denied the bail appeal of Lawrence Ray, 60, who pleaded not guilty to nine federal charges for allegedly moving into his daughter’s dorm at Sarah Lawrence College near the border of Bronxville and Yonkers and operating a sex cult. Specifically, Ray is charged with: Conspiracy to commit extortion; Extortion; Sex trafficking; Obtaining forced labor; Forced labor trafficking; C…

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by Zak Failla
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Father In Westchester Sex Trafficking Case Pleads Not Guilty To Nine Federal Charges Father In Westchester Sex Trafficking Case Pleads Not Guilty To Nine Federal Charges
Father In Westchester Sex Trafficking Case Pleads Not Guilty To Nine Federal Charges The father of a former college student in Westchester has denied that he ran a sex cult out of his daughter’s dorm room by manipulating students. Lawrence Ray, 60, has pleaded not guilty to nine federal charges that he’s facing for allegedly moving into his daughter’s dorm at Sarah Lawrence College near the border of Bronxville and Yonkers and operating a sex cult. Specifically, Ray is charged with: Conspiracy to commit extortion; Extortion; Sex trafficking; Obtaining forced labor; Forced labor trafficking; Conspiracy to obtain forced labor; Two counts of violating the travel act; Money l…

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by Zak Failla
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Father Of College Student In Westchester Charged With Sex Trafficking Her Friends Father Of College Student In Westchester Charged With Sex Trafficking Her Friends
Father Of College Student In Westchester Charged With Sex Trafficking Her Friends The father of a former college student in Westchester has been charged with running an alleged sex cult out of his daughter’s dorm room for nearly a decade. Lawrence Ray, 60, who was the subject of a cover story for New York Magazine, has been charged with sex trafficking, extortion, forced labor, and other offenses, officials announced on Tuesday, Feb. 11. Ray was released from prison in 2010 and moved into the co-ed dorm of his daughter at Sarah Lawrence College near the border of Yonkers and Bronxville. It is alleged that Ray subjected “his victims to sexual and psychological manipulati…

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by Zak Failla
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Man Sentenced For Sex Trafficking Minor From Facility In Westchester Man Sentenced For Sex Trafficking Minor From Facility In Westchester
Man Sentenced For Sex Trafficking Minor From Facility In Westchester A 23-year-old man from Queens will spend nearly two decades behind bars after being sentenced in Manhattan federal court for his involvement in sex trafficking minors, including one from a residential treatment facility in Westchester. Luidji Benjamin has been sentenced to 17 years in prison for sex trafficking of minor females, U.S. Attorney Geoffrey Berman announced. He was convicted by a federal jury of one count of sex trafficking of a minor and one count of conspiracy to commit sex trafficking, following a five-day jury trial earlier this year. Following his release from prison, Benjam…

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by Zak Failla
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Jeffrey Epstein Reportedly Said Cellmate, Ex-Area Cop Charged In Homicides 'Roughed Him Up' Jeffrey Epstein Reportedly Said Cellmate, Ex-Area Cop Charged In Homicides 'Roughed Him Up'
Jeffrey Epstein Reportedly Said Cellmate, Ex-Area Cop Charged In Homicides 'Roughed Him Up' Billionaire financier and accused sex trafficker Jeffrey Epstein alleged that a former police officer from the area who is behind bars after being charged in a quadruple homicide “roughed him up” before he died, according to a New York Post report. Epstein was found dead in his cell on Saturday, Aug. 10, despite being on a "special observation" watch at the Metropolitan Correctional Center (MCC) in Manhattan. Epstein's special observation required frequent checks by guards and a cellmate at all times, conditions which reportedly not followed. According to an autopsy, Epstein died from a bro…

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by Zak Failla
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Ex-Area Cop Accused Of Killing Four Questioned After Jeffrey Epstein Found Injured In Jail Ex-Area Cop Accused Of Killing Four Questioned After Jeffrey Epstein Found Injured In Jail
Ex-Area Cop Accused Of Killing Four Questioned After Jeffrey Epstein Found Injured In Jail A former police officer in the area who is behind bars for his alleged role in a quadruple homicide may have been involved in a possible assault of billionaire financier and accused sex trafficker Jeffrey Epstein, according to NBC 4 New York. Epstein, who is awaiting trial on sex trafficking charges, was found earlier this week semi-conscious with marks on his neck while he was being held in the Metropolitan Correctional Center (MCC) in Manhattan, though “details remain murky.” Investigators are reportedly looking into the possibility that Epstein attempted to hang himself, or that it migh…

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by Zak Failla
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Westchester Teen At Residential Treatment Facility Used For Sex Trafficking Westchester Teen At Residential Treatment Facility Used For Sex Trafficking
Westchester Teen At Residential Treatment Facility Used For Sex Trafficking A 23-year-old man from Queens has been convicted of sex trafficking a pair of minors, including one that lived in a residential treatment facility in Westchester County. Following a five-day trial, Luidji “Zoe” Benjamin, was found guilty of conspiracy to commit sex trafficking and sex trafficking of a minor, U.S. Attorney Geoffrey Berman announced this week. In 2015, Benjamin “engaged in sex trafficking and commercial sexual exploitation of two minors,” Berman said. Benjamin recruited, enticed, harbored, transported, provided, obtained, and maintained women for the purpose of commercial se…

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by Zak Failla
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Man Sentenced For Rape Of Teenage Girl In Northern Westchester Man Sentenced For Rape Of Teenage Girl In Northern Westchester
Man Sentenced For Rape Of Teenage Girl In Northern Westchester A Northern Westchester man sent to prison last week for sex trafficking underage girls in New York and Connecticut has now been sentenced to time in state prison for the rape of a teenage girl. Victor Gonzalez, 41, of Millwood, was convicted of third-degree rape after he assaulted the teenager in his New Castle apartment last June. Gonzalez entered his plea on Tuesday, Jan. 9 in Westchester County Sex Offender Court. This week, Gonzalez was sentenced to four years in state prison, days after he was sentenced to 19.5 years behind bars on the charges related to the sex trafficking of minors a…

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by Zak Failla