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Raymond Rodio III, a resident of the Brookhaven hamlet of Sound Beach, has been sentenced to nine and a half years in prison after pleading guilty to multiple counts of sex trafficking in February.
In total, Rodio trafficked nearly two dozen women over the past five years, forcefully detaining some in the basement of his parents' Lower Rocky Point Road home without a shower or bathroom.
Suffolk County District Attorney Tim Sini said that Rodio would set up dates with men in the basement or in area motels. He allegedly also kept the women’s money and gave them heroin and other drugs instead.
According to officials, Rodio took men and women through the garage of his parents’ home and directly into the basement. Reports said that the alleged illicit activities were unbeknownst to his parents who lived upstairs.
Investigators said that the Suffolk County Police Department identified a victim of human trafficking in August last year during a routine traffic stop. An investigation by the department’s Human Trafficking Investigations Unit found evidence that the woman had allegedly been forced into sex work by Rodio.
Further investigation found more than 20 more victims of Rodio’s alleged operation, which he promoted with advertisements on Backpage and Craigslist.
"This is a dangerous and depraved individual," Sini said. "He kept women locked up in the basement of his parents' house, using the basement as a dungeon.
“He preyed on women using their vulnerabilities and their drug dependencies to maintain his control over them. This creates a vicious cycle that is extremely difficult for victims to break.”
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