A veteran cop and an experienced teacher are part of a crew arrested and charged with running brothels and managing sex workers on Long Island, New York, in what authorities described Tuesday as a "shocking betrayal of public trust.”
Years of investigation resulted in the indictment of Suffolk County Police Officer George Trimiliozzi, 55, who has spent 18 years on the force, and Steven Arey, 53, a teacher for 26 years, the Suffolk County District Attorney's Office said.
Along with Frank Saggio, 60, and his girlfriend, Dana Ciardullo, they are accused of enterprise corruption and promoting prostitution, among other crimes.
“It is a sad day in law enforcement when a public servant is arrested,” District Attorney Raymond A. Tierney said in a statement. “The allegations in this indictment describe a long-term pattern of organized criminal activity.”
The DA's office alleges that from October 2019 to June 2024, Saggio led a group that "profited from the systematic promotion of prostitution at two locations in Suffolk County."
The four are accused of collecting "house fees" from sex workers and advertising their services. Specifically, Trimigliozzi and Arey are accused of working as managers at a building in Holbrook known as the American Girls Spa "Suite 3" and two additional alleged brothels known as “Suite 4” and Reiki for Healing "Suite 5."
The investigation found that a customer was alleged to have been robbed at American Girls Spa in March 2021. Trimigliozzi, authorities say, got a call from a sex worker to warn him that the customer had called 911 and that the police were on their way.
Trimigliozi was on duty at the time, and the indictment alleges that he abandoned his assigned post in the Third Precinct and drove to the brothel at almost 90 mph in his marked police car.
He is accused of then falsifying police paperwork that did not mention his unauthorized visit to American Girls Spa.
Saggio is charged with two counts of sex trafficking, and he is accused of making sex workers — some of whom authorities said could not read or speak English — sign leases requiring them to pay him $6,000 to $12,000 a month. He is also charged with 51 counts of promoting prostitution. He faces up to 25 years if convicted on the most serious charges and is held on a $500,00 bond.
Trimigliozzi is charged with 18 separate counts, including counts of promoting prostitution; Arey faces 28 separate counts, while Ciardullo is charged with 18 counts.
Each of the four could face eight to 25 years if convicted. Attorneys representing all four defendants did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
