Ex-vice cop sentenced for helping out prostitution and gambling ring
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Photo via Pexels.
By Jonathan Sperling
The ex-NYPD vice detective who helped mastermind a million-dollar gambling and prostitution ring that stretched throughout Queens, Brooklyn and Long Island was sentenced to up to six years of prison on Wednesday.
Acting Queens District Attorney John Ryan announced said that the sentencing of former Brooklyn South Vice Detective Rene Samaniego, “should serve as a warning to anyone who sets up their illegal enterprise,” in the borough.
“This defendant took an oath to protect and serve when he joined the NYPD. Instead, sadly, he chose greed over honor. He tarnished the badge he wore to line his pockets with cash,” Ryan added in a statement.
Samaniego pleaded guilty before Justice Ronald Hollie in May to corruption charges for his role in providing the boss of the operation with intel on police procedures, scheduled raids and other information that helped keep the brothels open and making money.
In addition, Samaniego disclosed detailed descriptions of undercover police officers — what they were wearing, their exact location and when they were conducting an undercover operation and approaching a brothel, prosecutors said, putting undercover officers as risk.
This intel on vice procedures enabled the brothels’ manager to set up protocols for new clients that would weed out undercover detectives, prosecutors said. Samaniego knew that undercover police officers could not expose their genitals during interactions with prostitutes, so new brothel clients would be required to undress and allow themselves to be fondled before passing the security screening.
The brothels operated at as many as eight different locations including at Liberty and Onderdonk Avenues in Queens. Prosecutors believe that the prostitution ring alone generated more than $2 million in profits in 13 months using online ads to attract customers.
The gambling ring consisted of illegal lotteries set up in various businesses, including a deli on Springfield Boulevard and a hair salon on 243rd Street in Queens.
