Long Island man gets 22 years for Sayville sex-trafficking ring

A former Sayville motel just off Sunrise Highway became the base for a violent sex-trafficking ring, and Michael Johnson’s 22-year federal sentence marked the latest fallout from a case that turned a local lodging property into a symbol of exploitation.

Johnson, 37, also known as Wise, was sentenced in Central Islip on Wednesday, April 15, 2026, by U.S. District Judge Joanna Seybert to 22 years in federal prison after a two-week jury trial in October 2025. He was convicted of sex trafficking conspiracy, sex trafficking and interstate prostitution.

Federal prosecutors said Johnson and his co-conspirators used force, fraud and coercion to sell women’s bodies for profit out of the Sayville Motor Lodge. The Justice Department said he controlled victims through drugs, physical abuse, social isolation and threats of death. Restitution for the victim will be determined later.

The case has also focused attention on the motel itself and how a property that sat in plain view on a major Suffolk County corridor became tied to trafficking. The November 2022 indictment named Johnson, Timothy Bullen and the motel owners and related defendants, including Narendarakuma Dadarwala, Shardaben Dadarwala, Jigar Dadarwala, Ashokbhai Patel and Himanshu, Inc. d/b/a Sayville Motor Lodge. Federal prosecutors described the site as a drug-involved motel at the center of a sex-trafficking conspiracy, with several defendants also facing drug-premises charges.

The Sayville Motor Lodge was shut down in 2022 and remained vacant. In October 2023, the federal government completed a court-ordered sale of the property for $2 million, with remaining proceeds earmarked for forfeiture so the Justice Department could seek to compensate victims through remission procedures. Federal officials said the property was no longer the blight it had been on the surrounding community.

The sentence also carried emotional weight for the people drawn into the case. In court, one victim’s sister described how Johnson broke her sibling down over time, while Johnson’s uncle said outside court that the punishment was too harsh. Judge Seybert condemned the cruelty she saw before imposing the sentence.

The case arrives as Suffolk County and neighboring Nassau County keep tightening pressure on motel-based trafficking. In December 2025, the Suffolk County Legislature unanimously passed a law restricting hourly motel rates to stays of at least six hours, increasing recordkeeping requirements and requiring trafficking-awareness training for hotel and motel workers. Nassau County lawmakers were weighing similar restrictions in April 2026.

Federal officials credited the FBI, Suffolk County Police Department, Suffolk County District Attorney’s Office, Suffolk County Sheriff’s Office, Nassau County District Attorney’s Office, U.S. Customs and Border Protection and Homeland Security Investigations for helping build the case.