Alleged Riverside Brothel Operators Facing Felony Charges

The Suffolk County District Attorney's office has sought to pursue felony charges, so far with no plea bargain offer, on the two men who were arrested for allegedly running a Riverside brothel in November.

Manuel Lopez-Garcia and Francisco Israel Gonzalez-Chavirria are currently charged with the felony of promoting prostitution in the third degree, a class D felony, when they were arrested by Southampton Town Police Street Crime Unit as the operators of an alleged brothel on Vail Avenue in Riverside.

Both men were found to be illegal aliens, and are currently on "ICE hold" by Immigration Customs and Enforcement at the jail in Riverhead.

During a Jan. 18 court date in Southampton Justice Court before Justice Barbara Wilson, Austin Mangham III, attorney for Lopez-Garcia and Gonzalez-Chavirria, asked for an adjournment, as he said the D.A.'s office did not present to the court exactly what course it intended to pursue. However, Mangham said he understood the D.A. would be offering his clients no plea bargain.

According to New York State Penal Code, third degree promotion of a prostitute is defined as the following: when someone knowingly, "advances or profits from prostitution by managing, supervising, controlling or owning, either alone or in association with others, a house of prostitution or a prostitution business or enterprise involving prostitution activity by two or more prostitutes."

Robert Clifford, spokesman for the Suffolk County D.A., responded by e-mail about the case. As to the question if plea bargains were or were not common  in prostitution cases, Clifford responded: "I can’t speak to what is common or uncommon – in this case they are charged with felony promoting prostitution.  There are ICE (US Immigration and Customs Enforcement) holds on each defendant.  This means each defendant will be subject to an immigration hearing and possible deportation at the conclusion of their incarceration if indeed that’s what happens in these two cases."   

Both men, Clifford said, could face jail time, prison time, probation, or a mix of both if found guilty.

Mangham said, "They could get six months and five years probation, or just probation. Six months becomes four months with good behavior."

If the felony charges stick, the case may move from Southampton Town Justice Court to Suffolk County Criminal Court in Riverside.

When asked why the D.A.'s office had put no specific course on the table at the Jan. 18 court date, Clifford declined to comment. The Assistant D.A. prosecuting the case is Erin Cho, who also would not comment on the matter when reached by phone.

Clifford indicated the defendants "do not have priors in Suffolk County." He could not immediately say if they had been arrested anywhere else in the country.

Garcia’s residences are listed as Moriches and Guatemala City; Gonzalez-Chavirria as Hampton Bays and Mexico. 

Illegal aliens convicted of a crime in the U.S. serve their time here. As to just where Lopez-Garcia and Gonzalez-Chavirria could be incarcerated, Clifford said, "sentences over one year in duration are served upstate in a prison, one year or less in the local jail.  At the conclusion of their sentence, they will be in the custody of ICE." 

Mangham related that illegal aliens who have finished their sentences and await deportation would be held at a special ICE facility in New Jersey.

In December, the two women arrested in the November prostitution sting were tried in Southampton justice court; one was released on adjournment in contemplation of dismissal (no charges if she is not arrested in the next year), while the other was charged with disorderly conduct. 

Awaiting upcoming court dates in the matter are the two "johns" arrested in the raid, Luis Gabriel Mateus, and Emigdio Rayes, whose Jan. 12 appearance in Southampton Town Court was moved to Feb. 8 due to inclement weather.