5 Individuals Plus Police Officer Exchanging Sex For Protection, Charged With Sex Trafficking & Bribery

Village of Brewster Police Officer Allegedly Accepted Free Sexual Services in Exchange for Protecting Members of Sex Trafficking Organization from Arrest by Law Enforcement.

According to the indictment, the defendants conspired to lure young women and minor girls to travel to the United States based on false promises of a better life and forced them into prostitution once they arrived.

A 14-count indictment was unsealed today in federal court in Brooklyn charging Luz Elvira Cardona, Roberto Cesar Cid Dominguez, Cristian Noe Godinez, Blanca Hernandez Morales, Jose Facundo Zarate Morales and Wayne Peiffer, a Village of Brewster police officer, with conspiracy to transport minors and the transportation of minors, sex trafficking, conspiracy to commit Hobbs Act extortion, promotion of prostitution, use of interstate facilities to commit bribery and related conspiracy counts.

The arrests and charges were announced by several government agencies such as the FBI, NYPD, HSI etc.

The defendants allegedly received assistance in carrying out this conspiracy from a corrupt police officer, Wayne Peiffer, whom traded the honor of his badge and sworn oath for free sexual services,” stated United States Attorney Peace.

“Our arrest of a police officer isn’t the most egregious facet of this investigation. We allege Mr. Peiffer had sex with the girls being trafficked as payment for his protection of the traffickers.

Court documents say evidence against Peiffer includes hundreds of text messages exchanged with one of the accused sex traffickers.

In one, Peiffer asks about the physical characteristics of a young woman, adding, “Are you stopping at the station?”

The individuals named in the indictment were part of an elaborate network of conspirators that used deception and coercion to sell dreams of a better life in the United States to young and impressionable women, who arrived only to be forced into a miserable life of torment, sexual abuse and prostitution at the hands of their captors,” stated HSI Acting Special Agent-in-Charge Patel.

This case involved true collaboration between federal, state and local law enforcement partners to bring the hierarchy of this trafficking organization to justice,” he continued.

The FBI New York Child Exploitation and Human Trafficking Task Force and our law enforcement partners have done outstanding work searching out the leaders of these criminal organizations and holding them accountable, stated FBI Assistant Director-in-Charge Driscoll.

As of today, Cardona, Cid Dominguez, Hernandez Morales and Zarate Morales were arrested earlier today in Queens, New York.

Peiffer was arrested earlier today in Highland, New York. He was released on $300,000 bond.

Godinez is currently a fugitive.

The defendants are scheduled to be arraigned this afternoon before United States Magistrate Judge James R. Cho.

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