Racetrack owner guilty in Connecticut human-trafficking case
04/10/2019 4:44 pm PDT
By Doug Stewart, WTIC
DANBURY, Conn. (WTIC) -- A six-member jury has found a Connecticut businessman guilty on charges he ran a human trafficking ring that preyed on mentally ill and intellectually disabled boys and young men.
Bruce Bemer, 65, of Glastonbury, was found guilty five counts related to human trafficking. He was immediately taken into custody to await sentencing.
Prosecutor Sharmese Hodge told the jury that co-defendant Robert King found the victims at drug rehabs, group homes and other places and brought them to Bemer for sex acts. King has pleaded guilty and awaits sentencing.
Bemer, the owner of the New London-Waterford Speedbowl racetrack, has admitted he patronized prostitutes. But his lawyer, Anthony Spinella, denied there was any human trafficking.
