At his trial, numerous victims testified that Pollok acted as Rays top lieutenant, including Drury, who told jurors that the pair tortured her in a hotel room for hours after Ray became enraged at her. According to prosecutors, Polloks phone contained folders for each of Rays victims containing compromising material that could be used against them if they strayed from Ray. Pollok was identified by prosecutors as being present in a Manhattan hotel room when Ray tortured Durey, stripping her and suffocating her with a plastic bag, Law and Crime reported. RAY's co-defendant Isabella Pollok is scheduled to be sentenced on February 22, 2023, at 11:00 a.m. MANHATTAN, NEWYORK CITY: Isabella Pollok, an ex-student of Sarah Lawrence College has admitted to aiding the father of a former classmate in laundering funds earned from extortion and pimping out young women he met after moving into their college dorm. You had a choice here., I badly hurt my friends and I am ashamed and deeply regret it, Pollok said in a brief, tearful statement to the court. Larry Ray accused of leading sex cult at Sarah Lawrence College, Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged in, Please refresh your browser to be logged in, A students father moved into a Sarah Lawrence dorm and started a cult. Titled "The Stolen Kids of Sarah Lawrence," the piece exposed how then-50-year-old Lawrence Ray, the father of a Sarah Lawrence student, moved into his daughter's dorm and slowly isolated four of her friends: Daniel Levin, Santos Rosario, Isabella Pollok, and Claudia Drury. After all, shed not just lived with Larry in several areas around New York, New Jersey, and North Carolina but had also assisted him in his schemes of sexual and psychological abuse. Isabella Pollok, and Claudia Drury. In case youve been out of the loop, Isabella pleaded guilty on Sept. 5, 2022, to one count of conspiracy of laundering money, in connection to Rays crimes of extortion, money laundering, sex trafficking, and more. This wasnt true of Pollok, the prosecutor said. George Santoss Nasty Twitter Battle With Fellow New York Republicans. Over the next two years, Pollok underwent psychological evaluations, changed attorneys, met with therapists, worked a steady job, and found a boyfriend. To date in the saga of convicted sex trafficker Larry Ray, federal prosecutors charged only one person as his co-conspirator and referred to her as his lieutenant: Isabella Pollok, his daughters best friend. On Wednesday in Manhattan, a judge sentenced Isabella Pollok to more than four years in prison, after Pollok pleaded guilty for her role in helping Larry Ray exploit a group of . They had written a letter to the federal judge in the case in the weeks leading up to her sentencing pleading for leniency. February 23, 2023. 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Pollok's lawyers wrote a letter to the case's judge where they said that she was also a victim of Ray's "cult." The same year, Ray moved in with his daughter Talia, and her other roommates including Pollok. She had the opportunity to leave at any time, but chose to live an inflated lifestyle supported by the sex work that she and Larry Ray forced on Claudia Drury.. At least one of Rays victims does. He mentally and physically tortured the group of young people for nearly a decade and extorted huge sums of money from them, prosecutors showed at his Manhattan federal trial. Lawrence Ray, 59, who goes by Larry, is a well-known New York scammer who has strong ties to disgraced former NYPD commissioner Bernie Kerik. We've received your submission. The docuseries 'Stolen Youth: Inside the Cult at Sarah Lawrence' is now available on Hulu. Its imperative to note that the once-aspiring child psychologist actually continued to support Larry even after his arrest, and she has made no statements since regarding wheather or not her opinions of him have changed. The former VP has an extremely narrow path to viability in 2024. Court documents showed that one student, Claudia Drury, was forced by Ray into prostitution to "pay damages to [him] that she did not actually owe." It caused immense harm to its victims, destroying lives in the process.. I do not blame her for any of this, any of what happened, or even the things she said and did to me. In Defense of the Talkative Trump Grand Juror. I deeply regret it. Prosecutors had sought a term of five years in prison, while her attorney David B. Bertan argued she had been brainwashed and should avoid a custodial sentence. A receipt corroborated Drurys testimony, and it was initialed by Ray and Pollok. Alleged @SarahLawrence College sex manipulator, extortionist Larry Ray had a co-conspirator. Larry Ray arrived in a federal courtroom Tuesday wearing the standard khaki shirt and pants issued to inmates awaiting trial. Terms of Service apply. Victim and accomplice. Offers may be subject to change without notice. Isabell Pollok, 31, pleaded guilty in September to a single count of participating in a money laundering scheme by forcing one of his victims into prostitution. Privacy Policy and During this time Ray began a relationship with both Pollok and Felicia Rosariothe sister of two of Ray's victims, Santos and Yalitza Rosario. Claudia Drury described how Larry Ray manipulated and tortured her, and led her to prostitution in the Sarah Lawrence sex-cult case. That sentence must clearly state that crime does not pay, the judge said. [emailprotected], Law&Crime's managing editor Adam Klasfeld has spent more than a decade on the legal beat. Jamie Reeds shocking account of a clinic mistreating children went viral. Larry Ray has been held in a Brooklyn jail since his arrest. The evidence would overlap with what prosecutors used to win a conviction against Ray, who was found guilty in April of 15 counts, including racketeering, sex trafficking and money laundering. It was back in the fall of 2010 when 19-year-old Isabella first came across 50-year-old Larry as her best friend and roommate Talia Rays father, only for their bond to soon evolve into much more. Isabella Pollok and Larry Ray pictured in stills from "Stolen Youth: Inside the Cult at Sarah Lawrence." City to Pay Millions to Protesters Kettled by NYPD in 2020. Isabella Pollok, one of the Sarah Lawrence students who fell under the influence of Mr. Ray, pleaded guilty to conspiring to launder money, after being accused by prosecutors of serving as. Larry Ray's alleged 'lieutenant' Isabella Pollok is awaiting her sentence Documents obtained by Law And Crime claim that Pollock was indicted in Ray's case around January 2021 on. Instead, on September 7, 2022, Isabella changed her plea from not guilty to guilty to a single count of conspiracy to launder money by admitting she took part in transactions involving extorted funds. She fetched a plastic bag for Ray to torture Drury, and a sex toy to aid in the public humiliation of another former roommate. "They were there or a woman Ray had "forced into a life of prostitution," she says. He offered gold-wrapped candy bars in a stunt that showed he isnt a worthy successor to his dad. Pollok, who says that she felt like an outsider even in her own family growing up, struggles to make connections on campus until she meets Ray. 2023 Vox Media, LLC. Here is everything that viewers need to know about Pollok and where she is now. Pollok exercised agency, Keenan argued. I will live with the guilt forever. It appears that Isabella's family, in particular, her mother, is convinced that Isabella was also a victim of Rays. If it were not for Lawrence Rays presence at Sarah Lawrence, Isabella would not be here. On that evening, Pollok had been recording Ray as he stripped Drury naked, tied her to a chair, doused her with water and tried suffocating her with a plastic bag. Have a tip we should know? Claudia Drury, whom Ray coerced into prostitution, a federal judge sentenced Ray to 60 years in prison, the sense of clear moral victory felt after Rays sentence was announced, who read our 2019 cover story, or followed coverage of Rays trial, the new Hulu documentary in which Pollok participated, Felicia and Yalitza Rosario, two of Rays victims, Do Not Sell or Share My Personal Information. Some of Rays stories, like his supposedly crucial role in ending the Kosovo War, were tall tales and exaggerations; others, like his ties to ex-New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani and former Russian President Mikhail Gorbachev, checked out. His reporting on the trial of Ghislaine Maxwell was featured on the Starz and Channel 4 documentary "Who Is Ghislaine Maxwell?" The 30-year-old was indicted by federal. And tell him that no matter what happens or doesnt happen, in no way am I straying from the truth.. Ray later began having "interrogation" sessions with the students, manipulating them into making false confessions such as trying to poison him. Isabella Pollok, one of the Sarah Lawrence students who fell under the influence of Mr. Ray, pleaded guilty to conspiring to launder money, after being accused by . I still love her, I dont care what shes done, Cynthia told the outlet. Its all about not looking soft on crime. According to investigators, Ray had enlisted Pollok to join the criminal scheme and to work on behalf of the [e]nterprise, investigators wrote in court documents. A comprehensive new government study concludes that the illness probably wasnt caused by foreign adversaries. Then, in August of last year, she agreed to a plea deal. Password must be at least 8 characters and contain: As part of your account, youll receive occasional updates and offers from New York, which you can opt out of anytime. In one particularly disturbing encounter, Pollok taunted Drury and watched as Ray tortured her for hours in a Manhattan hotel room because he feared she had grown too close to one of her johns. In the recording, the listener can hear Ray instruct Pollok to hand her that bag. Ray, who was sentenced to 60 years in prisonfor sex trafficking and racketeering in January, manipulated the students into believing he was a guru and convinced them that they had to repay him for committing crimes against him. He counseled her and became her life mentor. She had been estranged from her family and soon became one of the elder Rays most eager acolytes. At the Manhattan federal courthouse on Wednesday, US District Court Judge Lewis Liman said Polloks sophisticated scheme had involvedextreme and sadistic violence. Polloks account mirrors that of Rays victims like Drury, Daniel Levin, Santos Rosario, and his siblings Felicia and Yalitza Rosario. Born Lawrence Grecco, the former US Air Force troop moved into his daughter, Talias, college dorm in 2010. 2023 NYP Holdings, Inc. All Rights Reserved, Sarah Lawrence sex cult leader sentenced to 60 years in prison, Sarah Lawrence sex cult fiend to face sentencing today, Sarah Lawrence sex-cult leaders top lieutenant faces 5 years after admitting guilt, Jury finds Larry Ray guilty on all counts in Sarah Lawrence sex cult trial. Isabella Pollok has been sentenced to 4.5 years in relation to the Sarah Lawrence sex cult case. . She said: "I'm 19, I was having a lot of difficulty making sense of things, I wasn't in a good place. What is happening on TikTok on March 3rd 2023? Lawrences hold over me changed who I was and it continues to be a healing process. Pollok had been best friends with Talia Ray in 2010 when her father Larry Ray moved into a communal student dorm room at Sarah Lawrence College, an elite college for liberal arts in New York. It lasted a long time. The state has a near-total abortion ban, and now activists and GOP officials are fighting an exemption for physician-defined medical emergencies. Oxygen Insider is your all-access pass to never-before-seen content, free digital evidence kits, and much more. It's reported that Larry, Isabella and another woman named Felicia Rosario are. At the request of her defense counsel, Judge Liman recommended that Pollok serve her sentence at a Federal Prison Camp Alderson, a minimum security womens facility in West Virginia. Emailus. Isabella Pollok and Larry Ray (Photos via DOJ) To date in the saga of convicted sex trafficker Larry Ray, federal prosecutors charged only one person as his co-conspirator and referred to her as his " lieutenant ": Isabella Pollok, his daughter's best friend. It was also stated in the documents that Ray had "tied his victim to a chair, placed a plastic bag over her head, and nearly suffocated her.". The San Antonio native actually appeared to lead a good, happy life since she was at the elite liberal arts institute on a full scholarship, yet the truth is she was struggling with her mental health. With the help and love of others I have freed myself from the past. Pollok now faces a maximum five-year sentence and a maximum fine of $250,000, or twice the financial gain of her conspiracy. I know I committed serious crimes and I fully accept responsibility for my actions. There is the awed protg. Even when they, along with some other young adults already on his radar, moved into an Upper East Side apartment the following year, things between the duo purportedly remained smooth. Pollok admitted that she laundered the loot, and a jury heard that she participated in what prosecutors called Drurys long night of torture.. Pollok wept at her reflections of those actions at her sentencing. Larry Rays trusted cult member Isabella Pollok pleaded guilty on Wednesday. Prosecutors identified Pollok as the woman who helped Ray torment Drury during a long night of torture at Manhattans Gregory Hotel in 2018. Attorneys for Pollok urged Liman to impose a non-prison sentence, arguing she was groomed and tortured by Ray during her time under his control. Hulu's 'Stolen Youth' Details a Cult at Sarah Lawrence College Where Is the Man Behind It? The Government does not dispute that the defendant also suffered at Rays hands, federal prosecutors wrote in the submission. Rays manipulation of Isabella was different in kind from the other student-victims because among other things he had made her his lover, Polloks lawyers wrote. There are no winners in this case, her attorneys said after the hearing. After the jury found Murdaugh guilty of murdering his wife and son, he was given two consecutive life sentences. Moreover, according to the last reports (2020), Talia was a paralegal at the Southern Coalition for Social Justice in Durham a post she could still hold today. According to Law And Crime, she pleaded guilty to a single Shed initially pleaded not guilty. This follows Isabella's original charges of racketeering, extortion, and sex trafficking conspiracies. Isabella Pollok, the former best friend of daughter Talia Ray, was a young student when Larry Ray started living in her communal dorm Slonim Woods 9 and sleeping in her room. Will others follow? Walgreens Wont Sell Abortion Pills in Red States Even Where Its Legal. . Pollok told Judge Lewis Liman that as part of the conspiracy, she took part in financial transactions generated by illegal activity in the hopes of hiding the source and ownership of the cash. When I started at Sarah Lawrence College in 2009, I saw it as opportunity to escape all the hardships in my life, Pollok wrote to the three Assistant U.S. During a press conference, the mayor said his words about not believing in the separation of church and state were just his own beliefs. Pollok later confessed to assisting Ray in trafficking her one-time friend and roommate, Claudia Drury, as well as laundering millions of dollars of illegal income. Even the government had once described Pollok as a victim. Cynthia Pollok shared that she tried to take Isabella Pollock away from Lawrence "Larry" Ray. The second-largest retail pharmacy chain wont buck Republican attorneys general. For the next decade, he exploited, terrorized, and tortured Talias friends through psychological abuse and threats, according to US attorney Damian Williams. Kate Bedingfield, Bidens Translator, Leaves the White House. Mike Pences 2024 Strategy Totally Depends on Iowa Evangelicals. It's the place where her step-grandfather Gordon Ray resides and the place she'd first started calling home around 2014 after landing a job at The Country Bookshop in Southern Pines. King Charles Evicts Harry and Meghan From House They Dont Live In. Student Isabella Pollok, who is identified as Talias friend by The Guardian, admitted to a count of conspiring with Ray during his illegal activities. This case is being handled by the Office's Violent and Organized Crime Unit. Ray recorded false confessions from his other victims, which he kept as blackmail material. Just about anyone who read our 2019 cover story, or followed coverage of Rays trial, or watched Stolen Youth, the new Hulu documentary in which Pollok participated, could see that Pollok was utterly brainwashed by Ray. And a chatbot is not a human. Under the terms of her plea agreement, Pollok faces a maximum five-year sentence following her guilty plea to a single count of conspiracy. He is the host of Law&Crime podcast "Objections: with Adam Klasfeld.". Topic (s): Violent Crime Human Trafficking Component (s): She explains the press to the president, preaches Twitter-is-not-real-life, and keeps the West Wing from leaking. Isabella Pollok, a victim of Sarah Lawrence College sex cult leader Larry Ray who later conspired with the fiend as he carried out abuse of a group of young people, will face sentencing in. Both Pollok and her mother maintain the student was one of Rays many victims through manipulation. Its part of campaign to smoke out and then attack unpopular Republican cuts. Rosario testified Monday that near the end of his five years with the group, Ray ordered his alleged "lieutenant," Isabella Pollok, to punish Rosario and his sister Feliciawho had also been lured into the groupto wear diapers around Ray's Upper East Side apartment. Cynthia shared that she showed up at Rays Piscataway, N.J., residence (where the two were living at the time) in 2019 to bring Isabella home. His techniques, well established tools of coercive control, easily bonded Isabella to him. Thats why Larry gradually started referring to Isabella as his wife, which soon made it clear she was not his victim (as initially suspected) but rather his co-conspirator in every sense of the term. By submitting your email, you agree to our Terms and Privacy Policy and to receive email correspondence from us. Earlier in the proceedings, Judge Liman remarked that Pollok didnt acknowledge the pain she caused her friends, and Polloks lawyers said she would do so in her remarks. She did what Ray conditioned her to do, Shellow said. Isabella Pollok, 31, pleaded guilty in Manhattan federal court to a single money laundering conspiracy count, specifically related to proceeds of Rays sick plot to traffic and extort a group of college students and other young people. Ray as a monster, didnt dispute Polloks own victimization in the case, but noted she was also complicit in Rays campus sex ring at the esteemed liberal arts college. Thanks for contacting us. United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, Geoffrey Berman announces the indictment against Lawrence Ray aka "Lawrence Grecco" on February 11, 2020 in New York City. In September 2022, Pollok pleaded guilty to a single charge of conspiracy to launder money. Now former Sarah Lawrence student Isabella Pollok, who according to her family was a victim of Ray's, is charged with one count each of extortion conspiracy, sex trafficking conspiracy . After his arrest, she wavers little if at all. Ray convinced them to share intimate information about themselves and alienated a number of them from their parents, arguing that they were broken and that he could fix them, charging documents revealed. Anthony DEsposito has a bill to keep Santos, a fellow Republican, from profiting off his lies. At the time her seven housemates, including Pollok, didn't see the arrangement as an issuebut things took a dark turn. Social media users have asked themselves just how Ray was able to pull off the unthinkable. Pollok wrote: "I trusted Lawrence more than I trusted myself and in doing so, I betrayed my own sense of right and wrong.". Pollok taunted Drury during the torture session, calling her a faker and telling her the water was room temperature, she testified. It caused immense harm to its victims, destroying lives in the process.. Assistant U.S. She had problems that he could help her talk through. Prosecutors had previously painted Pollok as someone who held a "privileged position within the Ray Family, acting as Ray's lieutenant, with respect to his extortionate demands for financial payments, physical labor, and prostitution, and in laundering the criminal proceeds of extortion and sex trafficking through bank accounts and GoDaddy," per. 2023 NYP Holdings, Inc. All Rights Reserved, who fell under the control of convicted predator Larry Ray, Sarah Lawrence sex cult leader Larry Rays top lieutenant sentenced to 54 months, Sarah Lawrence sex cult leader sentenced to 60 years in prison, Sarah Lawrence sex cult fiend to face sentencing today, Jury finds Larry Ray guilty on all counts in Sarah Lawrence sex cult trial. Isabella did whatever Ray directed, they added. In April 2022 he was found guilty on all counts, and on January 20, 2023 he was sentenced to 60 years in prison for racketeering conspiracy, violent crime in aid of racketeering, extortion, sex trafficking, forced labor, tax evasion and money laundering offenses. The prediction came to pass. She did not comment as she left court Wednesday. When Larry Ray first came into the lives of his daughter Talia's college friends in 2010 he presented himself as a confidant, someone who could be trusted . Donald Trump Jr. I am truly sorry.. And now there is the Isabella who is before Your Honor prepared to be sentenced. The city threw out a Democratic mayor for the first time in decades. This story has been shared 104,452 times. Ultimately, Liman made clear that part of his mandate was to send a message of deterrence, no matter how unlikely it is that anyone will ever repeat Rays criminal enterprise. I know this request comes late. Ray faces a maximum of life in prison at his sentencing on Dec. 1. Thats very different from saying, I will.'. She had faced a possible maximum of five years in prison, according to a plea agreement. There were moments over the years when you could have walked away or at least shown some mercy, Liman said to Pollok. The role of Isabella Pollok who was indicted alongside Lawrence Ray in 2021 for serving as his "trusted lieutenant" in the creepy cult was thrown into sharp relief in a Manhattan . But I still say all of this is Larry Rays fault. Larry Ray has been sentenced to 60 years in prison for using manipulation to extort millions from his victims. Emailus. At that point in time, he did save my life. How Pollok describes her childhood difficulties remains hidden under redactions, but her attorneys describe it as one of abuse and neglect.. It sparked a war of words that quickly got personal. Shortly after his arrest in February 2020, Pollok met with the U.S. Attorneys office, who asked if she would voluntarily participate in their investigation, while also telling her they had enough evidence to charge her. "While collecting money from her abused and trafficked college friends, the defendant was spending luxurious nights at the Pierre Hotel on the Upper East Side and buying expensive clothing, beauty products and high-end lingerie," prosecutors also wrote. Join half a million readers enjoying Newsweek's free newsletters. I am still a work in progress but know to the extent that I can make amends for the harm I have caused I am willing. According to reports, Isabella once forced a brother-sister duo to wear, around her partners Manhattan apartment, and she further had a hand in inflicting other forms of torture on different victims. Pollok, 31, who graduated from the Westchester County school where Ray met most of his victims, faced up to five years in prison. Pollok is currently being investigated as Ray's co-defendant, and prosecutors previously described her as Ray's "trusted lieutenant," per the New York Times. And a linguist named Emily M. Bender is very worried what will happen when we forget this. Have something to tell us about this article? She was also Rays servant and sex partner, and, as prosecutors said in court in Lower Manhattan on Wednesday, his right hand in a decade-long criminal enterprise. The sport desperately needs to change, no matter how loudly purists complain.
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