NEW YORK (DOJ) – Earlier today, in federal court in Central Islip, a 15-count indictment was unsealed charging David M. Amin (D. Amin) and Bryce K. Amin (B. Amin), who are brothers, with sex trafficking by force, interstate prostitution, and distribution and possession with intent to distribute controlled substances, including fentanyl, heroin, cocaine and cocaine base. As alleged in court filings, D. Amin and B. Amin are both members of the Bloods street gang. D. Amin was arrested this morning and will be arraigned this afternoon. B. Amin is presently incarcerated on state narcotics charges and will be arraigned at a later date.
Breon Peace, United States Attorney for the Eastern District of New York, Ivan J. Arvelo, Special Agent-in-Charge, Homeland Security Investigations, New York (HSI), Rodney K. Harrison, Commissioner, Suffolk County Police Department (SCPD), and Errol D. Toulon, Jr., Suffolk County Sheriff, announced the indictment.
“As alleged, these two brothers used physical and sexual violence as well as the power of drugs to manipulate and coerce vulnerable female victims for their own financial gain,” stated United States Attorney Peace. “The federal charges unsealed today hold the defendants accountable for their despicable acts of sex trafficking and the related distribution of dangerous drugs in our communities on Long Island.”
Mr. Peace expressed his thanks to the Nassau County District Attorney’s Office and the Nassau County Police Department for their assistance with the case.
“The indictments of brothers David and Bryce Amin highlight HSI’s steadfast commitment in the fight against both human trafficking and the distribution of fentanyl in our Long Island communities,” stated HSI Special Agent-in-Charge Arvelo. “Bringing justice to victims of human trafficking and stopping the flow of illicit narcotics is a priority for this office. We will continue to work with our law enforcement partners and exhaust all of our resources to ensure vicious criminals like the Amin brothers who, as alleged, exploit young women and peddle poison in our communities are swiftly brought to justice.”
“The sexually depraved actions taken by the Amin brothers are nothing short of reprehensible,” stated SCPD Commissioner Harrison. “The Suffolk County Police Department is dedicated to working with its law enforcement partners to target perpetrators of human trafficking and it is my hope these arrests bring justice to their victims.”
“Thank you to all the law enforcement agencies that collaborated on this taskforce to take down these alleged gang members and sex traffickers and to get their dangerous drugs off our streets. Criminals have no place in our communities and the Suffolk County Sheriff’s Office is committed to continuing to work with our partners to keep our neighborhoods safe,” stated Suffolk County Sheriff Toulon.
Sex Trafficking
As set forth in the court filings, between January 2020 and March 2023, the defendants allegedly conspired to use violence and threats of violence to compel multiple women to engage in commercial sex acts for the defendants’ financial benefit. D. Amin and B. Amin recruited drug addicted women for their sex trafficking operation on Long Island, taking advantage of their vulnerability to coerce victims into prostitution who were beholden to the defendants’ supply of illegal drugs. These defendants controlled the money derived from that business and manipulated their victims into believing that they were actually in debt to the defendants. Additionally, D. Amin forced victims to have sex with him, which at times came with humiliating and degrading rules. D. Amin choked and struck his victims, left one or more victims stranded in public places without money, telephones or identification, deprived them of drugs to force withdrawal symptoms, and forced at least one victim to drink his blood after claiming that he was HIV positive. Similarly, B. Amin subjected the victims to violence and drug-related manipulation. In a recorded call from jail in January 2021, B. Amin boasted about one of his victims, saying “You can groom a person to do something they’re not used to doing . . . .When I tell her sit, she listens, she does whatever I tell her to do. She’s my little puppet.”
The majority of the sex trafficking activity occurred in Suffolk County in cars, apartments and hotels, including at locations in Bohemia, Islandia, Patchogue and Bayport, as well as at the Sayville Motor Lodge, which has since been closed. Additionally, at least one victim was forced to work in Virginia, in various hotels around the Norfolk area.
If you are a victim or have information about sex trafficking, call HSI at 1-866-347-2423. To get help from the National Human Trafficking Hotline, call 1-888-373-7888 or text HELP or INFO to BeFree (233733). HSI is ready to work with you in your native language, regardless of your immigration status.
Drug Trafficking
Further, the court filings allege that between August 2019 and March 2023, D. Amin conspired to distribute and possess with intent to distribute multiple controlled substances, including heroin, fentanyl, a fentanyl precursor known as “ANPP,” cocaine and cocaine base, including eight sales of narcotics to an undercover SCPD detective (Undercover). Specifically, between November 2022 and February 2023, D. Amin met the Undercover at various locations in Suffolk County, selling him/her a substance that masqueraded as heroin, but which oftentimes was actually a dangerous cocktail of fentanyl, heroin, cocaine and ANPP. Both defendants sold drugs through female trafficking victims to customers who were also paying them for commercial sex acts. These sales were usually advertised online as “party favors.” On December 22, 2021, B. Amin was arrested in Nassau County for distributing and possessing with intent to distribute a controlled substance containing cocaine base. On that occasion, B. Amin was caught while directing a victim to a date with “party favors,” and the purported customer was actually an undercover NCPD detective.
Searches executed today at D. Amin’s homes in Freeport and Wyandanch, as well as two storage units in Suffolk County, revealed numerous electronic devices, large sums of U.S. currency and two luxury vehicles, both registered to D. Amin.
News by Breaking911
