NEW JERSEY — A former New Jersey strip club manager became a fugitive after a jury found him guilty of drugs and repeatedly raping a dancer, prosecutors said.
Luis Guzman, 43, of Clifton, was found guilty of conspiracy to commit aggravated sexual assault, conspiracy to commit aggravated criminal sexual interference and invasion of privacy, along with other charges related, for the November 5, 2012 assault of a dancer at MB’s Gentlemen’s Club, Passaic County District Attorney Camelia M. Valdes said.
Guzman testified during the four-week trial in Passaic County, although he did not appear in court for the summonses and jury deliberations. Following the jury’s guilty verdict, his bail was revoked and a warrant was issued for his arrest, Valdes said.
Sentencing will be scheduled after his arrest, Valdes added.
The victim of the assault, a former dancer at Mr. B’s, testified that she had been drugged by a club manager, leaving her “mentally incompetent and physically impotent” after the club closed. She was then repeatedly sexually assaulted by six other people inside the club while Guzman encouraged the assaults and recorded an hour and ten minutes of the incident, according to Valdes. Read more: Two convicted of drugs and rape of a Passaic Strip Club dancer
Other defendants Michael Ramirez and Trystal Lozada were previously convicted after a jury trial and sentenced to 30 and 20 years in state prison, respectively.
Defendant Miguel Delacruz previously pleaded guilty to aggravated sexual assault and was sentenced in February 2018 to 12 years in state prison.
Another person, Ashley Maldonado, pleaded guilty to aggravated sexual assault and is expected to be sentenced on October 21, 2022.
Defendants Brian Guzman and Fernando Vaquero fled in 2016 before their trials and remain at large, Valdes said.
