Those Indicted Include Suffolk County Officer, School Teacher
By Hank Russell
Suffolk County District Attorney Ray Tierney held a press conference in his Hauppauge office on October 15 to announce that — after a three-year investigation — four people have been indicted for their roles in a prostitution ring.
The four who were indicted include Frank Saggio, George Trimigliozzi, Steve Arey, and Dana Ciardullo. Trimigliozzi was an officer with the Suffolk County Police Department and Arey was a teacher with the Islip School District. The Suffolk County DA’s Office received assistance from the Suffolk County Police Department and its Internal Affairs Bureau, the Suffolk County Sheriff’s Office and the Federal Bureau of Investigation.
A grand jury investigation resulted in the indictment of the four subjects on 58 counts, collectively, of enterprise corruption, sex trafficking and promoting prostitution.
According to the years-long investigation, between October 2019 and June 2024, Saggio was allegedly the leader of a criminal enterprise that profited from the systematic promotion of prostitution at two locations in Suffolk County.
According to Tierney, each of the criminal defendants are alleged to have unlawfully promoted prostitution by hiring sex workers, collecting proceeds of prostitution from sex workers known as “house fees,” and posting advertisements seeking patrons of prostitution. Trimigliozzi and Arey allegedly served as managers on Saggio’s behalf at a building located on Sunrise Highway in Holbrook known as the American Girls Spa “Suite 3.” The Sunrise Highway building also contained two additional brothels allegedly managed by Saggio: Spa “Suite 4” and Reiki for Healing “Suite 5.” Ciardullo, the fourth member of the alleged criminal enterprise, and Saggio’s girlfriend, served as a manager on Saggio’s behalf at a location in West Babylon known as the Tunnel of Love.
During the press conference, Tierney showed a photo of the Holbrook building. “It looks like one building, but there were three separate units, each one housed an alleged sex worker, and a manager who had to pay Saggio, who was the operator of the enterprise,” he said. Tunnel of Love, Tierney said, “was a sex toy store that was a front … for prostitution.”
The investigation further uncovered that an alleged robbery occurred at the American Girls Spa on March 19, 2021. Trimigliozzi, in his capacity as a manager of the brothel, was called by a sex worker who reported a customer had been robbed while waiting for prostitution services at the American Girls Spa. The sex worker further notified Trimigliozzi that police officers would be dispatched to the location in response to the prostitution customer’s call to 911.
Trimigliozzi, who was on duty as a police officer at the time, allegedly abandoned his assigned post in the Third Precinct without permission from the police department and drove at a speed nearing 90 miles per hour in his marked patrol car to the brothel in Holbrook, which was located in the confines of the Fifth Precinct. He then allegedly falsified paperwork with the police department in which he did not disclose his unauthorized response to the American Girls Spa. He also allegedly falsified the records of the police department by not disclosing to the department his outside employment as a manager in Saggio’s alleged criminal enterprise.
Saggio was also indicted on two counts of sex trafficking related to his alleged requirement that sex workers engage in prostitution in order to pay him a minimum amount of money each month. Specifically, he allegedly had sex workers who could not read or speak in English sign purported leases which required them to pay $6,000 per month at Suite 4, and $12,000 per month at Tunnel of Love.
On October 15, the defendants were each arraigned on the indictment before Supreme Court Justice Timothy P. Mazzei.
Saggio, 60, of West Islip, was charged with one count of Enterprise Corruption and two counts of Sex Trafficking, all Class B felonies; and 51 counts of Promoting Prostitution in the Third Degree, a Class D felony. Mazzei ordered Saggio held on $250,000 cash, $500,000 bond or $5 million partially secured bond during the pendency of the case. Saggio is due back in court on December 9 and faces 8-1/3 to 25 years in prison if convicted on the top count.
Trimigliozzi, 55, of Islip, is charged with one count of Enterprise Corruption, a Class B felony; 13 counts of Promoting Prostitution in the Third Degree, all Class D felonies; two counts of Falsifying Business Records in the First Degree and one count of Offering a False Instrument for Filing in the First Degree, all Class E felonies; and one count of Official Misconduct, a Class A misdemeanor.
Mazzei ordered TrimigliozziI held on $25,000 cash, $50,000 bond or $500,000 partially secured bond during the pendency of the case. Trimigliozzi is due back in court on December 9 and faces 8-1/3 to 25 years in prison if convicted on the top count.
Arey, 53, of Islip, is charged with one count of Enterprise Corruption, a Class B felony, and 27 counts of Promoting Prostitution in the Third Degree, all Class D felonies. Mazzei ordered Arey held on $25,000 cash, $50,000 bond or $500,000 partially secured bond during the pendency of the case. Arey is due back in court on December 9 and faces 8-1/3 to 25 years in prison if convicted on the top count.
Ciardullo, 32, of North Bellmore, is charged with one count of Enterprise Corruption, a Class B felony, and 17 counts of Promoting Prostitution in the Third Degree, all Class D felonies. Mazzei ordered Ciardullo held on $25,000 cash, $50,000 bond or $500,000 partially secured bond during the pendency of the case. Ciardullo is due back in court on December 9 and faces 8-1/3 to 25 years in prison if convicted on the top count.
Tierney pointed out that most public servants are honest, hardworking people. “That’s why the prosecution of public corruption is so important … [It’s] to make sure they serve the public and not just themselves.”
“It is a sad day in law enforcement when a public servant is arrested,” Tierney added. “However, I made a commitment to this county that no one is above the law, and that includes those who are supposed to embody the best of public service,” Tierney said of . “The allegations in this indictment describe a long-term pattern of organized criminal activity and a shocking betrayal of public trust.”