A Bay Shore man was sentenced to 18 to 36 years in prison after a jury found him guilty of using narcotics and financial coercion to induce victims to engage in sexual acts with third parties in exchange for money.
Between August 2019 and December 2023, Freddie Rice preyed upon the drug addictions of multiple women to control and coerce them to engage in sexual acts with various men for his own profit. Each of the victims was addicted to heroin and/or crack cocaine, which he withheld to ensure that they complied with his directives, namely, by responding to buyers of sex and charging specific fees for specific sexual acts.
The victims were required to hand over all the money that they earned to Rice. If they were caught keeping any of the money for themselves, Rice “punished” them by withholding the drugs that they were addicted to, causing the victims to experience intense and dangerous physical withdrawal symptoms.
Additionally, Rice told the victims that they must engage in sex acts with buyers to earn money to work off their alleged “debt” to him. They were never able to pay off any of the supposed debt, no matter how much money they brought in for him.
On October 24, 2025, Rice, 35, was convicted after a jury trial heard before Supreme Court Justice John B. Collins of two counts of Sex Trafficking, both Class B felonies, and one count of Promoting Prostitution in the Third Degree, a Class D felony.
On January 9, 2026, Collins sentenced Rice to 18 to 36 years in prison on the sex trafficking case. On the same day, Rice was also sentenced to six years in prison on an unrelated conviction for Criminal Possession of a Controlled Substance with Intent to Sell in the Third Degree and Criminal Possession of a Controlled Substance/Narcotic Drug, both Class B felonies.
Rice has four additional prior felony convictions:
- Attempted Criminal Possession of a Controlled Substance in the Third Degree in 2013
- Criminal Sale of a Controlled Substance in the Third Degree in 2012
- Burglary in the Third Degree in 2010
- Burglary in the Third Degree and Attempted Assault in the Second Degree in 2009
“What this defendant did was despicable: preying on people fighting addictions and twisting their pain into profit,” said Suffolk County District Attorney Ray Tierney. “Thankfully, today, justice has caught up with him. With this substantial sentence, he will no longer have the opportunity to victimize others.”
Tierney encouraged anyone who is a victim of sex trafficking to call 911 or the Suffolk County District Attorney’s Office Human Trafficking Tipline at (631) 852-2950.