Bail for Alleged Gang Member Charged With Home Invasion, Sexual Assault Set at $2M Cash, $4M Bond

SOUTHAMPTON, NY — Wearing a white jumpsuit, his hands cuffed behind his back, the man accused of sexually assaulting a woman during a Southampton home invasion Friday told the judge that he could not afford his bail, set at $2 million cash and $4 million bond.

Standing before Southampton Town Justice Barbara Wilson in Southampton Village Justice Court Saturday, Marvin Saul Siciliano-Nunez, 20, who was charged in a near-fatal stabbing in Hampton Bays three months ago, speaking with the help of interpreter, said, "I don't have anywhere near that. I would rather go to jail."

Siciliano-Nunez, 20, of Hampton Bays, was arrested and charged Friday with first degree burglary, second degree burglary, first degree sexual abuse, first degree criminal sex act, all felonies, and criminal obstruction of breathing or blood circulation, a misdemeanor, police said.

Police said he is believed to have ties to the MS-13 gang.

At his arraignment Saturday, Assistant District Attorney Rob Archer said Siciliano-Nunez committed the home invasion and sexual assault on Friday. He broke into the pool house and then into the main residence of the Little Plains Road home, where he entered the bedroom where the woman was sleeping and "forced a resident into unwanted sexual contact", Archer said.

A complaint stated that Siciliano-Nunez threatened to "strike the victim with what appeared to be a wooden baseball bat if she did not perform oral sex with him."

Archer said charges are still pending against Siciliano-Nunez for a "violent felony" attack that occurred in May at a Hampton Bays bar.

Siciliano-Nunez, he said, is from El Salvador and has "limited ties to the community"; he is not a citizen. He requested $500,000 cash bail and $1 million bond.

He also requested a bail source hearing.

Siciliano-Nunez had an issue with immigration when he applied for citizenship but a prior DWI conviction led to complications, said East Hampton attorney Carl Irace, who represented Siciliano-Nunez at the arraignment; his case will subsequently be sent to the legal aid department for representation.

Siciliano-Nunez's immigration status could not immediately be determined, Archer said.

Irace said Siciliano-Nunez has lived in Hampton Bays for two years, where he attended Hampton Bays High School and has family, including two sisters, two cousins, three aunts and his mother. None were in the courtroom, but Siciliano-Nunez said he did not know that he could contact them. Wilson said he will be able to contact a relative to give him a chance to make bail.

Irace added that Siciliano-Nunez has worked for eight months for a local Hampton Bays painting company; his only criminal record, he said, consists of a "non-violent misdemeanor." And, of the charges pending regarding the Hampton Bays assault, Irace said Siciliano-Nunez was released on his own recognizance, which "speaks to the merit and gravity of that case," a case he believes is "unlikely to result in incarceration."

Siciliano-Nunez has no warrants or failures to appear in court in regard to that case; Wilson said it's a relatively new case.

When the assistant DA mentioned the alleged gang ties, Wilson asked if he was a known gang member.

Irace said he had no tattoos, no gang colors, no scars to indicate initiation, and said he was "a little too old to be getting initiated." He said the reason why Siciliano-Nunez is suspected to have gang ties might be his El Salvadoran heritage or the fact that other suspects involved in the May attack are believed to be alleged gang members.

Archer requested and received a stay away order of protection for the victim.

Irace said based on Siciliano-Nunez's salary, the bails seemed a "little excessive" and asked for a lesser amount.

Wilson said since Siciliano-Nunez has lived in Hampton Bays for only two years, owns no property, and limited ties to the community, she set the bail at $2 million cash/$4 million bond, or $500,000 for each of the four felony counts.

Siciliano-Nunez had been hospitalized for intoxication the night before, police said.

According to Southampton Village Det. Sgt. Herm Lamison, Siciliano-Nunez, 20, who was charged after the sexual assault, had been brought by ambulance to Southampton Hospital the previous night for intoxication after a local carnival and had been released at approximately 7 a.m., before the home invasion.

The victim, Lamison said, was home alone at the time of the attack, and ran naked from the residence as Siciliano-Nunez chased her with a baseball bat.

According to Southampton Village Police, a 911 call came in on Friday at 8:05 a.m. about a possible sexual assault at a home on Little Plains Road.

Officers were quickly dispatched to the immediate area, where a perimeter was set up around the home, police said.

Soon after, a patrol officer spotted a man walking east on Meeting House Lane, approximately one tenth of a mile from the location of the attack, police said.

As the officer approached the man, he "took off running," leading the officer on a foot pursuit, police said.
A second officer joined in on the foot pursuit and moments later, the man was apprehended and taken into custody, police said.

Siciliano-Nunez is alleged to have entered multiple residences on a property on Little Plains Road, stealing bracelets, earrings, a Blackberry cell phone and a sector skateboard from a pool house, police said.

The victim was taken to Peconic Bay Medical Center in Riverhead where she received medical treatment, police said.

Southampton Village Police were assisted in the investigation by the New York State Police crime scene team and Southampton Town Police.

Sicliano-Nunez was among four people charged with the felony gang assault in May after a double stabbing outside a Hampton Bays bar, police said. That case is still pending.

The attack stunned the affluent Southampton community, where such crimes, "are rare," Lamison said. The quiet nature of the community is why people choose to live in Southampton, he said.

On Saturday, families and children walked and biked down Little Plains Road, where a canopy of trees frames multi-million dollar, gated mansions with privet hedges and American flags waving outside. When told of the crime, a number of residents who asked to remain nameless expressed shock.