Former Police Officer Gets 2 Years For 'Violating Public Trust' In Suffolk Brothel Operation: DA

RIVERSIDE, NY — A former police officer from Islip was sentenced to two years imprisonment on Monday in connection with charges of promoting prostitution and official misconduct for running a brothel — one time leaving his post to check on a location that was robbed, Suffolk District Attorney Ray Tierney said Monday.

George Trimigliozzi, 56, has been terminated by the Suffolk County Police Department, according to Tierney's office.

Patch has reached out to his attorneys, William Keahon of Hauppauge, and Tara Laterza of East Moriches.

Tierney said it "is particularly egregious when a sworn police officer abandons his duty to participate in criminal activity."

“George Trimigliozzi violated public trust when he chose to manage a brothel instead of upholding the law. This prosecution dismantled a years-long criminal enterprise, and I commend my Public Corruption Bureau for holding the defendant responsible for his actions," he added.

Suffolk police Chief of Operations Milagros Soto, who attended the sentencing, said the department "does not stand for corrupt officers, and we took pride in working with the district attorney’s office to hold this person, a former officer, accountable for his actions," Newsday reported.

"We do not stand for corruption here in Suffolk County and we will do whatever we can and work closely with the district attorney to hold people accountable," she added, according to the report.

Between October 2019 and March 2021, George Trimigliozzi, an 18-year veteran of the Suffolk's police department, served as co-manager of one of two locations that Frank Saggio, 61, of West Islip, led "as a criminal enterprise" that profited from the systematic promotion of prostitution in the county, prosecutors said.

The operation included locations on Sunrise Highway in Holbrook, running as Suite 3 – American Girls Spa, Suite 4 – Spa, and Suite 5 – Reiki for Healing, as well as a location in West Babylon known as the "Tunnel of Love," according to prosecutors.

Trimigliozzi managed the Suite 3 location, along with co-defendant Steven Arey, a 26-year employee of the Islip School District, and Trimigliozzi admitted that he abandoned his police duties on March 19, 2021, when he responded to a robbery at his brothel location, driving nearly 90 miles per hour in his patrol car, while knowing he was unauthorized by the police department to abandon his assigned post, prosecutors said.

During his plea, Saggio admitted to operating the prostitution enterprise between October 2019 and June 2024 in the county, in which he employed his co-defendants as managers, according to prosecutors.

Saggio further admitted he required sex workers to pay substantial monthly fees ranging from $6,000 in Holbrook to $12,000 in West Babylon, prosecutors said.

Saggio's girlfriend, Dana Ciardullo, 33, of North Bellmore, managed the West Babylon location known as "Tunnel of Love," according to prosecutors.

Saggio, Trimigliozzi, and Ciardullo each pleaded guilty in September.

Trimigliozzi pleaded guilty to charges stemming from two separate indictments, the DA said. In the first indictment, he pleaded guilty to third-degree promoting prostitution, a felony, and official misconduct, a misdemeanor, Tierney's office said.

Under the second indictment, he pleaded guilty to second-degree unlawful imprisonment, a misdemeanor, stemming from his unlawful imprisonment of a woman in his personal vehicle following a date in Patchogue, according to Tierney's office.

Ciardullo pleaded guilty to third-degree promoting prostitution, a felony, and is scheduled to be sentenced on Dec. 18, the DA's office said.

Saggio pleaded guilty to enterprise corruption, a felony, and agreed to pay $1,875,000 in forfeiture as part of his plea agreement, Tierney said.

Arey was indicted and charged with enterprise corruption and 27 counts of third-degree promoting prostitution, Tierney said.

Saggio and Arey’s case's are pending, the DA said.