Bay Shore Man Gets 18-36 Years In Prison For Sex Trafficking: DA

BAY SHORE, NY — A Bay Shore man was sentenced to 18 to 36 years in state prison after being convicted of sex trafficking offenses that prosecutors said involved exploiting women struggling with addiction for profit.

According to the Suffolk County District Attorney’s Office, Freddie Rice, 35, of Bay Shore, was sentenced on Friday, Jan. 9, after a jury found him guilty at trial in October 2025 of two counts of second-degree sex trafficking, both Class B felonies, and one count of third-degree promoting prostitution, a Class D felony.

Suffolk County District Attorney Ray Tierney said Rice preyed on vulnerable women by manipulating their substance use disorders to maintain power and control.

Prosecutors said evidence at trial established that between August 2019 and December 2023, Rice targeted multiple women addicted to heroin and/or crack cocaine. According to the DA’s office, Rice used their addictions as a tool of coercion, withholding drugs unless they complied with his directives.

The victims were required to respond to buyers of sex, charge specific fees for specific sexual acts, and turn over all money earned to Rice, prosecutors said. If a victim kept any of the money, Rice punished her by withholding drugs, causing severe and dangerous withdrawal symptoms, prosecutors say.

Prosecutors said Rice also claimed the victims owed him a financial “debt” and forced them to engage in commercial sex to work it off. The DA said the debt was never reduced, regardless of how much money the victims generated for him.

On Oct. 24, 2025, after a jury trial before Suffolk County Supreme Court Justice John Collins, Rice was convicted of the sex trafficking and promoting prostitution charges. Justice Collins sentenced Rice on Jan. 9 to 18 to 36 years in prison on the second-degree sex trafficking convictions, prosecutors said.

On the same day, Rice was also sentenced to six years in prison on an unrelated case in which he was convicted of third-degree criminal possession of a controlled substance with intent to sell and third-degree criminal possession of a controlled substance involving a narcotic drug, both Class B felonies, according to prosecutors. The sentences will run pursuant to the court’s order.

Prosecutors said Rice has four prior felony convictions, including a 2013 conviction for attempted third-degree criminal possession of a controlled substance, a 2012 conviction for third-degree criminal sale of a controlled substance, a 2010 conviction for third-degree burglary, and a 2009 conviction for third-degree burglary and attempted second-degree assault.

Rice was represented by defense attorney Anthony Rutkowski, who did not immediately respond for comment.

“What this defendant did was despicable: preying on people fighting addictions and twisting their pain into profit,” Tierney said. “Thankfully, today, justice has caught up with him. With this substantial sentence, he will no longer have the opportunity to victimize others.”

The Suffolk County District Attorney’s Office encourages anyone who may be a victim of human trafficking to call 911 or the DA’s Human Trafficking Tipline at 631-852-2950.