Ex-Suffolk officer George Trimigliozzi sentenced to 2 years for helping run brothels in Holbrook, West Babylon

The former Suffolk police officer who admitted he managed brothels in Holbrook and West Babylon when he pleaded guilty to promoting prostitution and other crimes in September was sentenced in a Riverhead courtroom on Monday to almost 2 years behind bars.

Suffolk Supreme Court Justice Timothy P. Mazzei sentenced George Trimigliozzi, 56, to 364 days in a county jail for third-degree promoting prostitution and 364 days for official misconduct. Mazzei ordered the sentences to run consecutively.

Mazzei also sentenced Trimigliozzi, of Islip, to 30 days in jail on an unlawful imprisonment charge which stems from his conduct while on a date with a woman he met on a dating app. Mazzei ordered that sentence to run concurrently with the other sentences.

"Obviously, 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," said Suffolk County Police Department’s Chief of Operations Milagros Soto, who attended Monday’s hearing.

"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," Soto added.

Trimigliozzi did not address the court. He had been free on bail and was immediately taken into custody to serve his sentence. Trimigliozzi’s attorney, William Keahon of Hauppauge, declined to comment on the case.

The brothels managed by Trimigliozzi were part of a criminal enterprise operated by self-described mafia associate Frank Saggio, 61, of West Islip. Dozens of women worked at the brothels as sex workers, authorities said. One wept inside the courtroom as Trimigliozzi was sentenced. She did not address the court or speak to reporters.

By pleading guilty on Sept. 12, Trimigliozzi acknowledged that from October 2019 to March 2021, he was a "co-manager" of the Holbrook brothel, which was disguised on the outside to appear as if it was a sex toy shop.

Trimigliozzi, who was paid $314,706 by the police department in 2023, was fired by Suffolk police on the same day he pleaded guilty. The 18-year veteran of the department was suspended without pay in August 2024 on allegations unrelated to the brothels.

Trimigliozzi also admitted that while on duty as a patrol officer in the Third Precinct, he showed up "unauthorized" to the brothel, which was outside his coverage area, when a robbery was reported there.

His behavior after the robbery report raised questions in the police department and kicked off the criminal investigation, Suffolk County District Attorney Ray Tierney has said.

"It is particularly egregious when a sworn police officer abandons his duty to participate in a criminal activity," Tierney said in a statement on Monday. "George Trimigliozzi violated public trust when he chose to manage a brothel instead of upholding the law."

Trimigliozzi also pleaded guilty to second-degree unlawful imprisonment. That charge stemmed from his unlawful imprisonment of a woman in his personal vehicle following a date in Patchogue, prosecutors said.

Trimigliozzi managed the Holbrook brothel along with co-defendant Steven Arey, an Islip School District gym teacher, according to Tierney’s office.

Saggio pleaded guilty, also on Sept. 12, to operating a prostitution operation and acknowledged that he required sex workers to pay monthly fees ranging from $6,000 (Holbrook location) to $12,000 (West Babylon location). Saggio is scheduled to return to court on Dec. 18, although Mazzei agreed to postpone sentencing until he is sentenced in the Eastern District of New York on a federal mail fraud case.

Arey is charged with enterprise corruption and 27 counts of third-degree promoting prostitution. His case is pending, the district attorney’s office said.

Dana Ciardullo, 33, of North Bellmore and Saggio’s girlfriend, pleaded guilty on Sept. 12 to third-degree promoting prostitution and is expected to receive a sentence of 6 months in jail when she is sentenced on Dec. 18. Ciardullo admitted she was the manager of the West Babylon brothel, called the Tunnel of Love.

The women had trusted Trimigliozzi because of his status as a police officer, prosecutors have said.

Investigators from the Suffolk County District Attorney’s Office, with help from the FBI and the Suffolk County Sheriff’s Office, used surveillance, informants and undercover police officers to build a case, which went before a special grand jury.

Prosecutors had alleged in a civil forfeiture complaint against Saggio and Ciardullo that the brothel operation produced nearly $2 million in revenue for Saggio, which he laundered through corporations to purchase real estate on Fire Island.