Ex-NJ Strip Club Manager Turns Fugitive After Rape Conviction

NEW JERSEY - A former manager of a New Jersey strip club has become a fugitive after a jury convicted him in the drugging and repeated rape of 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 contact and invasion of privacy, as well as other related charges, for the assault of a dancer at Mr. B’s Gentlemen’s Club on Nov. 5, 2012, Passaic County Prosecutor Camelia M. Valdes said.

Guzman provided testimony over the course of the four-week trial in Passaic County, though he didn’t appear in court for summations and jury deliberations. Following the jury’s guilty verdict, his bail was revoked, and a bench warrant was issued for his arrest, Valdes said.
Sentencing will be scheduled following his arrest, Valdes added.

The victim of the assault, a former dancer at Mr. B’s, testified that she was drugged by a club manager, leaving her “mentally incapacitated and physically helpless” after the club had closed. She was then repeatedly sexually assaulted by six others 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 Drugging, Raping Of Passaic Strip Club Dancer

Additional defendants Michael Ramirez and Trystal Lozada were previously found guilty following a jury trial and sentenced to 30 years and 20 years in state prison, respectively.

Defendant Miguel Delacruz previously pled guilty to aggravated sexual assault and was sentenced in February 2018 to 12 years in state prison.

Another individual, Ashley Maldonado, pled guilty to aggravated sexual assault and is scheduled to be sentenced on Oct. 21, 2022.

Defendants Brian Guzman and Fernando Vaquero fled in 2016 prior to their trials and remain at-large, Valdes said.