Lawrence Ray Sentenced For Years-Long Predatory Crimes Against Students At Sarah Lawrence College And Others
summary
Lawrence Ray was sentenced to 60 years in prison for orchestrating a years-long campaign of psychological and physical abuse, sex trafficking, forced labor, and extortion against Sarah Lawrence College students and others, extracting over $2.4 million through coercion, prostitution, and fake debts, and laundering proceeds via a GoDaddy business.
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Lawrence Ray was convicted on charges including racketeering conspiracy, sex trafficking, forced labor, extortion, money laundering, and tax evasion for abusing students and others from around 2010 through 2022. He used sleep deprivation, threats, near-suffocation, sexual coercion, and isolation to force victims into paying fictitious debts by draining family savings, selling property, and engaging in commercial sex acts, amassing over $2.4 million in criminal proceeds. Ray laundered the money through a GoDaddy domain business, evaded taxes, and forced three women into unpaid labor on a North Carolina property; he was sentenced to 60 years in prison, lifetime supervised release, and ordered to forfeit $2.44 million in assets and his North Carolina home.
narrative
Lawrence Ray, a/k/a Lawrence Grecco, was sentenced to 60 years in prison for a years-long predatory campaign targeting students at Sarah Lawrence College and others, beginning when he moved into his daughter’s dorm room around 2010. He systematically groomed, manipulated, and abused victims through sleep deprivation, psychological humiliation, threats of violence, physical assault—including nearly suffocating one victim with a plastic bag—and sexual coercion to extract millions of dollars via forced prostitution, draining parents’ savings, selling real estate, and soliciting donations. Ray forced three female victims to perform unpaid, grueling labor on a family property in North Carolina, often at night, while using explicit photos and personal information to control and extort one woman into commercial sex acts. He laundered over $2.4 million in criminal proceeds through an internet domain business and evaded federal taxes on the income. Ray was convicted on multiple charges including racketeering, sex trafficking, forced labor, extortion, and money laundering, and ordered to forfeit $2,444,349 in assets and his Pinehurst, North Carolina residence. He received a lifetime of supervised release, with restitution to be determined within 90 days; his co-defendant, Isabella Pollok, is scheduled for sentencing in February 2023.
Classified racketeering(confidence 95%). No EDGAR filing fingerprint (criminal/DOJ-side scheme). detection rule →
Parties
commercial sex actsdamian williamslawrence greccolawrence ray
Keywords
rayvictimslawrencesarah lawrencelawrence collegephysicalcollegelinkforcedyears-long predatorypredatory crimescrimes againstagainst studentsstudents sarahcollege others
Extracted insights
Dollar amounts 1
- $2.44M $2,444,349 $1M–$10M
Entities 4
- person commercial sex acts
- person damian williams
- person lawrence grecco
- person lawrence ray
Triples 11
- Lawrence Ray received sentence of 60 years in prison
- Lawrence Ray convicted of racketeering conspiracy, violent crime in aid of racketeering, extortion, sex trafficking, forced labor, tax evasion, and money laundering
- Lawrence Ray sentenced by United States District Judge Lewis J. Liman
- Damian Williams is United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York
- Lawrence Ray subjected victims to sexual and psychological manipulation and physical abuse
- Lawrence Ray moved into daughter's dorm room at Sarah Lawrence College
- Lawrence Ray extracted from victims millions of dollars
- Lawrence Ray forced victim to engage in commercial sex acts
- Lawrence Ray forced victims to perform unpaid labor on family member's property in North Carolina
- Lawrence Ray convicted at trial in April 2022
- Lawrence Ray also known as Lawrence Grecco
Extracted body text (5,265c)
Press Release Lawrence Ray Sentenced For Years-Long Predatory Crimes Against Students At Sarah Lawrence College And Others Friday, January 20, 2023 Share FacebookLinks to other government and non-government sites will typically appear with the “external link” icon to indicate that you are leaving the Department of Justice website when you click the link. XLinks to other government and non-government sites will typically appear with the “external link” icon to indicate that you are leaving the Department of Justice website when you click the link. LinkedInLinks to other government and non-government sites will typically appear with the “external link” icon to indicate that you are leaving the Department of Justice website when you click the link. Email For Immediate Release U.S. Attorney's Office, Southern District of New York Damian Williams, the United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, announced today that LAWRENCE RAY, a/k/a “Lawrence Grecco,” received a sentence of 60 years in prison for racketeering conspiracy, violent crime in aid of racketeering, extortion, sex trafficking, forced labor, tax evasion, and money laundering offenses. RAY was sentenced today by United States District Judge Lewis J. Liman after being convicted at trial in April 2022. U.S. Attorney Damian Williams said: “Larry Ray is a monster. For years, he inflicted brutal and lifelong harm on innocent victims. Students who had their lives ahead of them. He groomed them and abused them into submission for his own gain. Through physical and psychological abuse, he took control over his victims’ minds and bodies and then extracted millions of dollars from them. The sentence imposed today will ensure that Ray will never harm victims again. I commend the brave victims who testified in Court in the face of incredible trauma. I also thank the career prosecutors in this Office and our law enforcement partners who made the just conviction and sentence in this case possible.” According to the Indictment and the evidence at trial: From in or about 2010 through the present, LAWRENCE RAY subjected a group of college students and other victims he met after moving into his daughter’s dorm room at Sarah Lawrence College to sexual and psychological manipulation and physical abuse. RAY’s tactics included sleep deprivation, psychological and sexual humiliation, verbal abuse, threats of physical violence, physical violence, threats of criminal legal action, alienating the victims from their families, and exploiting the victims’ mental health vulnerabilities. Through this manipulation and abuse, RAY extracted false confessions from the victims to causing purported damages to RAY and his family and associates and then extorted payment for those purported damages through several means. The victims made payments to RAY by draining their parents’ savings, opening credit lines, soliciting contributions from acquaintances, selling real estate ownership, and at RAY’s direction, performing unpaid labor for RAY and earning money through prostitution. Through fear, violence, and coercion, RAY forced one female victim to engage in commercial sex acts to pay damages to RAY that she did not actually owe. Beginning when she was just a college student, RAY sexually groomed this victim and collected sexually explicit photographs and other personal information, which he then used to coerce her into continued commercial sex acts. RAY also used physical violence. On one occasion, RAY tied his victim to a chair, placed a plastic bag over her head, and nearly suffocated her. RAY collected millions of dollars in forced prostitution proceeds from this victim. In addition, RAY forced three female victims to perform unpaid labor on a family member’s property in North Carolina. Through a course of psychological and physical abuse, RAY forced these three victims to do extensive physical labor, sometimes in the middle of the night, for no pay. Associates of RAY helped RAY collect and transfer the criminal proceeds, which RAY shared with at least two associates. RAY then laundered his criminal proceeds through an internet domain business and evaded paying taxes on his proceeds. At the sentencing today, Judge Liman underscored “the resiliency of the human spirit and the courage of the victims.” * * * In addition to the prison term, RAY, 63, of Piscataway, New Jersey, was sentenced to a lifetime of supervised release. He was also ordered to forfeit $2,444,349, the proceeds from the sale of his GoDaddy portfolio, and the Pinehurst, North Carolina, residence where the forced labor took place. Restitution will be decided by the Court within 90 days of today’s sentencing. Mr. Williams praised the efforts of the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the New York City Police Department. RAY's co-defendant Isabella Pollok is scheduled to be sentenced on February 22, 2023, at 11:00 a.m. This case is being handled by the Office’s Violent and Organized Crime Unit. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Danielle Sassoon, Mollie Bracewell, and Lindsey Keenan are in charge of the prosecution. Contact Nicholas Biase (212) 637-2600 Updated January 20, 2023 Topics Violent Crime Human Trafficking Component USAO - New York, Southern Press Release Number: 23-018
OCR text (5,265c · html-text · 99% conf)
Press Release Lawrence Ray Sentenced For Years-Long Predatory Crimes Against Students At Sarah Lawrence College And Others Friday, January 20, 2023 Share FacebookLinks to other government and non-government sites will typically appear with the “external link” icon to indicate that you are leaving the Department of Justice website when you click the link. XLinks to other government and non-government sites will typically appear with the “external link” icon to indicate that you are leaving the Department of Justice website when you click the link. LinkedInLinks to other government and non-government sites will typically appear with the “external link” icon to indicate that you are leaving the Department of Justice website when you click the link. Email For Immediate Release U.S. Attorney's Office, Southern District of New York Damian Williams, the United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, announced today that LAWRENCE RAY, a/k/a “Lawrence Grecco,” received a sentence of 60 years in prison for racketeering conspiracy, violent crime in aid of racketeering, extortion, sex trafficking, forced labor, tax evasion, and money laundering offenses. RAY was sentenced today by United States District Judge Lewis J. Liman after being convicted at trial in April 2022. U.S. Attorney Damian Williams said: “Larry Ray is a monster. For years, he inflicted brutal and lifelong harm on innocent victims. Students who had their lives ahead of them. He groomed them and abused them into submission for his own gain. Through physical and psychological abuse, he took control over his victims’ minds and bodies and then extracted millions of dollars from them. The sentence imposed today will ensure that Ray will never harm victims again. I commend the brave victims who testified in Court in the face of incredible trauma. I also thank the career prosecutors in this Office and our law enforcement partners who made the just conviction and sentence in this case possible.” According to the Indictment and the evidence at trial: From in or about 2010 through the present, LAWRENCE RAY subjected a group of college students and other victims he met after moving into his daughter’s dorm room at Sarah Lawrence College to sexual and psychological manipulation and physical abuse. RAY’s tactics included sleep deprivation, psychological and sexual humiliation, verbal abuse, threats of physical violence, physical violence, threats of criminal legal action, alienating the victims from their families, and exploiting the victims’ mental health vulnerabilities. Through this manipulation and abuse, RAY extracted false confessions from the victims to causing purported damages to RAY and his family and associates and then extorted payment for those purported damages through several means. The victims made payments to RAY by draining their parents’ savings, opening credit lines, soliciting contributions from acquaintances, selling real estate ownership, and at RAY’s direction, performing unpaid labor for RAY and earning money through prostitution. Through fear, violence, and coercion, RAY forced one female victim to engage in commercial sex acts to pay damages to RAY that she did not actually owe. Beginning when she was just a college student, RAY sexually groomed this victim and collected sexually explicit photographs and other personal information, which he then used to coerce her into continued commercial sex acts. RAY also used physical violence. On one occasion, RAY tied his victim to a chair, placed a plastic bag over her head, and nearly suffocated her. RAY collected millions of dollars in forced prostitution proceeds from this victim. In addition, RAY forced three female victims to perform unpaid labor on a family member’s property in North Carolina. Through a course of psychological and physical abuse, RAY forced these three victims to do extensive physical labor, sometimes in the middle of the night, for no pay. Associates of RAY helped RAY collect and transfer the criminal proceeds, which RAY shared with at least two associates. RAY then laundered his criminal proceeds through an internet domain business and evaded paying taxes on his proceeds. At the sentencing today, Judge Liman underscored “the resiliency of the human spirit and the courage of the victims.” * * * In addition to the prison term, RAY, 63, of Piscataway, New Jersey, was sentenced to a lifetime of supervised release. He was also ordered to forfeit $2,444,349, the proceeds from the sale of his GoDaddy portfolio, and the Pinehurst, North Carolina, residence where the forced labor took place. Restitution will be decided by the Court within 90 days of today’s sentencing. Mr. Williams praised the efforts of the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the New York City Police Department. RAY's co-defendant Isabella Pollok is scheduled to be sentenced on February 22, 2023, at 11:00 a.m. This case is being handled by the Office’s Violent and Organized Crime Unit. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Danielle Sassoon, Mollie Bracewell, and Lindsey Keenan are in charge of the prosecution. Contact Nicholas Biase (212) 637-2600 Updated January 20, 2023 Topics Violent Crime Human Trafficking Component USAO - New York, Southern Press Release Number: 23-018