Law & Order Special Victims Unit s22e16 Episode Script
Wolves in Sheep's Clothing
In the criminal justice system,
sexually based offenses
are considered especially heinous.
In New York City, the dedicated detectives who investigate these vicious felonies are members of an elite squad known as the Special Victims Unit.
These are their stories.
We're gonna get it out of the way.
Memorial Day weekend, Friday.
Congrats.
That's not a lot of time to plan a wedding.
I'm assuming I'm invited.
No, I guess we'll have a few people, but we're keeping it small.
Fin, give my love to Phoebe.
Franny, how about that? Fin's getting hitched? Yes.
Hey, buddy, aww.
Looking good.
Got diamonds on your collar and everything.
What's your name, buddy? Champ, like "champion.
" You're going on vacation? - Moving? - We're going to a shelter.
We're orphans now, right, Mama? Come on, Felipe, we gotta go.
If I had a dog, I would name him Chomp, not Champ.
Can I get one? There's no place to keep a dog, mijo.
This looks like a jail.
No, baby, it's a shelter.
How will my friends find me? How will I get to my school? It's just for a little while.
Unpack your bags; put on your pajamas.
Make sure you stay on top of that homework, champ.
That's a dog's name.
There's no Wi-Fi inside so we had to come out here.
Are you guys are on the waiting list for housing? Not yet.
I know I have to go online and there's a lot of paperwork.
Yeah, well, the city's got apartments.
Do you at least have a social worker? No.
Well, now you do.
Give him a call.
- Thank you.
- You're welcome.
- Mama! - Whoa.
Slow down, mijo.
There's a TV.
And there's a table! The building has Wi-Fi, laundry in the basement.
Mama, the oven has a little light.
Check out your bedroom, Felipe, back down the hall.
It's beautiful.
My room has a door! God bless you, Mr.
Banducci.
It's Paulie.
Glad to help.
It's hard raising a kid on your own.
Thank you, Jesus.
Thank you.
A lot of post-pandemic weddings it's gonna be hard to find you a venue.
We don't need a venue.
And you're gonna need somebody to marry you.
Hey, Fin.
Look, Carisi, you still have your minister's license, right? When you officiated your cousin's wedding? They don't expire, but, Fin, - you don't need me to - Yeah, he does.
Fin? 6:00 p.
m.
Friday the 28th.
I don't know where, but be there.
That's what I'm talking about.
Happy to clean your pipes any time.
Go.
I don't want Felipe to wake up.
Whatever it is you think you're doing, this isn't that kind of building.
Shh, my son is sleeping.
- Please, please, go.
- You Mama Go back to bed.
It's all okay.
I love it here.
Can we stay forever? Mrs.
Swanson, who told you to come to SVU? The local precinct sent me to Vice who did less than your average vice-president.
I know what I know.
'cause we don't handle alleged prostitution.
There's a little boy living there who can't be more than nine years old.
Watching his mother turn tricks.
You can call Child Protective Services.
I wanna talk to someone in charge.
How about I let our captain know? Ms Swanson, I'm Captain Benson.
My sergeant told me you're head of the Subsidized Tenants' Council at Holt Tower.
Did he also tell you, there's sex for sale at apartment 3D? Why don't you explain that to our captain? Look I have nothing against Mexicans, but this new tenant in 3D, Rosa Estrada, she's only been here two weeks, but there's all these men.
I mean, suits, blue-collar, every color, going in and out all night.
Okay, so you're thinking that Ms.
Estrada is a prostitute.
It's something illegal.
I thought maybe drugs, but it's all men, slithering through the poor door.
So the building has separate entrances? Developers can add extra floors if they provide some subsidized housing, but they don't want them mixing with the other tenants.
So have you spoken to Rosa directly? She told me to mind my business, but, then there's the matter of the child.
Rosa has a nine-year-old son.
I don't want him going back into a shelter.
The lady who lived there before had a parade of horn dogs too.
I complained to the building.
She and her poor child just left in the middle of the night.
So how about if we do a little bit of investigating before you make another complaint? See it right around the corner.
Thank you.
Doorman says the other entrance is around the corner.
Rosa Estrada, single mom, moves in the building two weeks ago, no record.
My guess, Mrs.
Swanson's a busybody.
Maybe but we still gotta follow up.
This must be the poor door.
Ms.
Estrada, I'm Detective Tamin.
This is Sergeant Tutuola.
We're just following up on a report, ma'am.
Can we come in? Thanks.
I didn't do anything wrong.
No one's here illegally.
No drugs.
We don't have any pets or make any noise.
That's good, but we have to ask you Do you ever have company over? Wait, the old lady down the hall, Betty, did she call you? Betty Swanson has the wrong idea.
The maintenance guys do repairs.
I get UPS deliveries, takeout.
Okay.
We just wanna make sure that you and your son are safe.
Oh, we're fine.
Felipe's fine.
And we're sure he is.
We'd like to talk to him.
He's home, right? I love living here.
I thank God and Mama every night.
I was scared in the shelter.
You're not scared here? No, people are always coming to help us.
I'm still looking for work.
Now that Felipe's back in school, I go out every day and I put in applications.
That must be tough, money-wise, being a single mom.
Boys have big appetites.
We have SNAP benefits, and the rich people in this building, you wouldn't believe what they throw out.
Furniture, dishes, clothing.
The maintenance guys save it all for me.
People what kind of people? Men come to help.
You know, fix stuff.
When the men come here, you ever talk to them? Just you.
Me? What are you talking about, Felipe? If you were to go in my mom's bedroom, I would just throw on my headphones.
That's what you do when men go in your mother's bedroom? Yeah.
She says I can't hear anything.
Just be good and quiet.
No trouble.
Trouble means back to the shelter.
No sign of drug use.
Rosa wasn't high, no bruises, no track marks, apartment was clean.
Any evidence of extra income? No, she is living close to the bone.
She's not turning tricks.
Betty's not wrong.
Rosa's son told me there are men coming to that apartment.
Okay, so what the hell is going on here? She's not a sex worker, but she may not have qualified for that apartment through the lottery.
My guess She's being trafficked.
Be good, okay? I love you.
Mm Rosa.
Now you're coming to my son's school? Please, I did nothing wrong.
We believe you, Rosa.
That is not why we're here.
Rosa, I'm Captain Benson.
Detective Tamin and I, we just wanna make sure that you're not in any trouble.
No.
No trouble, like I said.
How about you tell us what's going on at home? Nothing.
I can't go back to the shelter.
And that will happen, if you don't have sex with these men who are coming into your apartment? Is somebody threatening to evict you if you refuse? No, nothing like that.
I can't go back to the shelter.
I cannot do that to Felipe.
You won't have to.
I promise you, but you need to tell us who these men are.
Who's forcing you to do this? We know that you're in a difficult position but we can help you.
You wanna help me? Then leave me alone.
Please, my son is happy.
We have a nice home.
I am close to finding a new job.
This is the last thing that we need.
Two tracks: find out how Rosa got into Holt Tower and ID the men that are coming in and out of her apartment.
We went through the past month of side door elevator footage, men getting off on the third floor, making the left towards Rosa's apartment.
Eliminating residents, deliveries, ex-husbands, boyfriends.
We narrowed down the most consistent regulars to these five.
Okay, this guy in the gray shirt.
He works in the building? This is head of maintenance, Paulie Banducci, and according to Betty Swanson, he helped Rosa move in.
What about the other four guys? Betty didn't know who they were.
And doorman don't have a record and they don't show up on lobby security.
Yeah, that's 'cause they go through the poor door.
Betty Swanson said that there was a prior resident in 3D.
See if we can track her down.
I moved out of Holt Tower and Betty Swanson still found a way to harass me? Tell her to get a life.
Well, this isn't about Betty.
We need your help in IDing some men we suspect of criminal activity in the building.
That building's fancy.
No criminals there.
Okay Then maybe you can tell us why these guys came by so often.
No idea.
Nope.
Look, I don't know any of these guys.
All right.
How about this guy? - Nope.
- Denise He works in the building.
Right, that's Paulie, but he doesn't do anything.
Then why'd he come by your apartment two times a week? Look, nothing was going on between me and any of these guys.
You're not in any trouble here.
If you are being forced to have sex, in order to not get evicted - It wasn't like that.
- Then why'd you leave? I started seeing someone.
Said he'd take care of me and my daughter, moved us up in here.
Who? Anton.
He works for Paulie.
Well, he doesn't even need to know why we're here.
Yeah, and I don't need to revisit the past.
Because, Denise, there's a new woman, living in your old apartment.
Whatever was happening to you is happening to her right now.
She's got a kid younger than yours.
Yeah, well, if she's like me, I'm sure she's doing what she has to.
So single mothers in subsidized housing are being trafficked in exchange for apartments.
So two women, Rosa Estrada and Denise Campbell, both somehow jumped the line into Holt Tower.
The neighbor and Rosa's son confirmed men coming by for short visits.
But neither woman is willing to cooperate? No, one doesn't want her boyfriend to find out and the other one, is afraid of going back to shelters.
Winning a subsidized apartment in Holt Tower is tougher than getting your kid into Harvard.
And we don't know how either one of these women managed it.
I mean, neither one of them had an account on the lottery website.
- Any way to ID the men? - Paulie Banducci.
He was hired by an outside janitorial company, under the umbrella of a different nonprofit.
You need to talk to someone who knows this world.
You've heard of a Dr.
Catalina Machado? Yeah, the-the founder of Proud Life.
I just read her profile in "The Times.
" She went from homeless to a doctorate in social justice.
Yeah, she'll be able to impact the alphabet soup of agencies.
She's hands-on with tenants, especially women and children.
If there's any kind of corruption in this, she'll know the weak links.
Chief.
If you're walking to deposition, you need to give yourself a half hour.
No time to go back to the office.
Thank you, Celia.
Deposition? - Jayvon Brown case? - My third one.
I'm just trying to do what's right here, but there's gotta be a price.
We all deserve a place where we can thrive, and homeless kids especially I was one so I know Need safe spaces, to learn, to grow, to flourish.
So today we celebrate.
Proud Life breaking ground on our seventh daycare center.
Just another place where we can all be Proud! - Pleasure to meet you.
- Dr.
Machado.
Hi, Captain Benson.
- This is Detective Rollins.
- Oh yes.
Christian Garland told me you needed to speak.
Perhaps in private might be better.
Yeah.
Can you give us a moment? So you have reason to believe that women at Holt Tower - are being sexually exploited? - We do, and the women are unwilling to talk to us Who these men are, who's forcing them to do this.
Do they have children? They're afraid of being evicted.
My God.
Whatever I can do to help.
What agency, facilitated these women getting into the apartments? The women won't tell us and the management company says that they don't choose the tenants.
They house them.
Well, technically correct.
You can only get in through the lottery.
- 650 applicants per spot.
- Yeah.
So who runs the lottery? I can make some calls, find that out.
- I'll get back to you right away.
- Yeah, we'd appreciate that.
Catalina! Oh, excuse me.
That's Congressman Howard's chief of staff.
I'll be in touch as soon as I learn more.
Thank you, for bringing this to my attention.
Look at this.
You thinking what I'm thinking? Why is the Congressmen's chief of staff Going in through the poor door? Nicole Can we talk about this later? I gotta go.
Everything okay? Nicole's in lawyer mode.
We both are, negotiating Fin's wedding.
Look, I know that Fin and Phoebe are trying to keep the guest list tight, but, you're the minister.
You can bring a plus one.
Oh, that's not the problem.
Nicole thinks weddings are a patriarchal institution, designed to transfer ownership of the woman from the father to the husband.
I can see her saying that.
Well, she did say that.
Right after I told her that I always thought that, at my age, I'd be married.
I'd have kids.
It all went downhill from there.
What the hell is wrong with you, huh? You all woke now? Hey, everything okay? Chief McGrath.
It might be a few minutes.
Please, have a seat.
Okay.
We are under siege.
They are at the gates howling for our blood, and you go on record, apologizing, for systemic racism? Saying we need bias training? What, put an end, to qualified immunity? You just threw every cop in this department under the bus.
Chief, I was under oath.
What, you forgot how to say, "Oh, it's above my pay grade, counselor?" We all know that you think you're better than the rest of us.
Loyalty's a two-way street.
Chief McGrath.
Did you hear any of that? No, we just got here.
Yeah, my deposition in the Jayvon case is making the rounds of 1PP.
Yeah, I'm sorry.
Jayvon and his lawyers aren't interested in being conciliatory with MIP dates.
It's gonna get more turbulent way.
You have a good lawyer, chief? I certainly hope so, but let's not waste your time.
Was Catalina Machado helpful? She called me, said she was very disturbed about the allegation.
She was and she said that she'd look into it, but unfortunately, we might have a bigger issue.
Ruben Ortiz, Congressman Howard's chief of staff was there.
A photo op's a photo op.
How about this? Ortiz paid a visit to the third floor of Holt Tower.
It doesn't matter if they're wearing suits or boots.
Abuse of women, the great equalizer.
Congressman Howard's office has been a long-time supporter of Proud Life.
Any chance Ortiz was there on legitimate business? Four times in one month, to the same floor, where two women are being trafficked? - Come on.
- Chief.
I know that you're in the hot seat, but I'd like to bring them in for questioning.
Ortiz is not a broom pusher.
We need a lot more than suspicions, - before I take it upstairs.
- If we have cops, questioning the tenants, then we risk driving away the players.
Now, I can subpoena lottery application lists, tenant income statements, but that is gonna set off alarm bells too.
I agree.
Hold on.
All of these women are mothers, and moms talk to other moms.
There might be a shortcut to this.
- You mind if I use this? - Yeah.
Okay, the machine in my apartment broke down.
I knew you were from the other side.
Over here we don't get machines in our apartments and I have three kids.
I can barely manage two.
Do you need a hand with that? Yeah, sure.
Thanks.
How big of a place do you have? - Just a one-bedroom.
- With three kids? And a husband on the foldout.
- Oh, my God.
- We're on the waiting list, but not like that matters.
What, five people in a one-bedroom? Surely, you'll get the next one that opens up.
You really don't know how this works, do you? They do have apartments available.
They just don't give them to married women.
There's this crack whore on my floor.
Got a two-bedroom all to herself.
Her daughter is still in foster care.
- Really? - Yeah.
And she thinks she famous.
Lulu Davis.
You remember that vet in a wheelchair, who shot a guy outside the courthouse? That's her ex-husband.
Lulu knows we're coming? She thinks we're here to talk about Mickey and help her get custody of her daughter.
Sergeant Tutuola, Mickey told me you've been to visit him in prison.
A few times.
He's doing good.
I know you two had that Army Ranger thing, but what he did for Nydia, that was him finally being a father.
Mickey usually watches out for Mickey.
Hmm, looks like you've been looking out for yourself too.
Good for you.
It's a jungle out there.
Sitting pretty, right? All of these windows.
I can breathe up here.
Away from the hustle and grind.
I'm clean now, living in this castle, but they still won't give me my daughter.
Mickey said you could help? Lulu, you know how this works.
You got to help us too.
Like I'm surprised.
- What? - You recognize this man? Paulie Banducci.
He works in the building.
What he do? We're hoping you can tell us.
He's a good maintenance man.
I don't know what else you mean.
Okay.
You recognize any of these other men? Nope, sorry.
All right, how about this guy? Anything you can tell us.
Let me give you a hint.
This is Ruben Ortiz, chief of staff for Congressman Howard.
Here he is coming off the elevator on your floor.
Here he is again, and again and again.
Six times in two months.
You moved into this apartment about two months ago.
Right, Lulu? So what? I won the lottery.
Problem is we don't have a record of your application.
Screw you.
I know Dr Machado.
- I can call her.
- Catalina Machado.
Where'd you meet her? I was at intake, getting on the waitlist for a shelter.
What intake? Camino Family Center, out by Yankee Stadium.
Dr Machado got me a social worker.
I got this apartment legit.
Okay, how are you keeping it? Lulu Who's telling you that you have to do guys like Paulie Banducci and Ruben Ortiz? Look, we wanna help you get Nydia back, but you gotta start telling us the truth.
Okay.
Ruben's my boyfriend.
He said I make him feel alive, that his wife doesn't understand him.
He's gonna help me get Nydia back.
And you get to keep staying here? You know what? I'm not even allowed to talk to you.
I couldn't rat anybody out even if I wanted to.
I signed an NDA.
For who? Get out.
This is my apartment.
I can stay for the rest of my life.
That's part of the NDA too.
What now? Well, she admitted to having sex with Ruben Ortiz.
That's enough to bring him.
My guess, he'll sing to save his ass.
Can we talk about this later? Okay.
Bye.
You want a donut or something? - Nah.
- Thank you.
What's wrong? Me and Phoebe, we've been going at it.
She keeps inviting people.
Her sister wants a caterer.
Now a photographer.
I'm trying to tell them COVID's not over.
Yeah, well, like, my dad always says, the last 48 hours before a wedding are the toughest.
That's why we go on honeymoons: to recover from the wedding.
You're giving Ortiz Queen for a Day.
You think he'd be on time.
They'll be here.
Let me ask you something.
What's better? The The enduring bond of love or the enduring power of love? What about just love? - Make it shorter? - It's always better.
Mr.
Carisi.
Captain Benson.
Good to see you again.
My client is ready to tell you everything he knows about the subsidized apartments in Holt Tower.
And he understands that if he lies, or he holds back in any way, the deal is off the table? He gets charged with trafficking.
- He does.
- Great.
Let's start with Lulu Davis.
My client was in a consensual relationship with Ms.
Davis.
- Okay.
- There was no quid pro quo.
Okay, what about Rosa Estrada? I was told that she was aware of the arrangement, that she was a willing participant.
I would never assault anyone.
Told by who? You're getting off to a rough start here, Mr.
Ortiz.
You do know how Queen for a Day works, right? Look, we have you on surveillance footage, texts, financials, and your lawyer made a proffer that you would give names, dates, and details.
And he's prepared to do that.
My client has knowledge of other men who regularly visited Holt Tower, and knowledge of complicit individuals at nonprofits and government agencies.
Transactional favors, sexual and financial, in exchange for apartments, contracts, and grants.
Then let's stop wasting our time.
Ortiz gave up his boss, Congressman Howard.
He wasn't on the elevator security footage.
Howard actually went through the main lobby, walked up the stairs.
And heads-up: his mother lives in the building.
He might be able to use that to explain his frequent visits.
And these other men? We knew about Paulie Banducci.
Ortiz gave up Banducci's boss.
Paulie was getting bribed to stay quiet and facilitate the transactions.
Along with getting a taste for himself.
Ortiz also gave up the homeless services budget director, a deputy commissioner at HPD, and a city councilman.
That's a lot of bad actors taking advantage of women to keep the housing money flowing.
This is a big operation.
Who's running it? Every single man that Ortiz named, was either a governmental, or nonprofit middleman who had a direct connection to Proud Life.
We tracked grants, donations, contracts.
They are all funneled through the Proud Life empire.
So there's a bad actor somewhere in Catalina Machado's inner circle who's using their power to run a massive grift.
Chief, there's another possibility.
I mean, this vast a conspiracy? Either she's willfully ignorant or She's involved.
There's no way she's in on it.
She's provided tens of thousands of apartments to the board.
If she has a fault, it's that she's so dedicated, she only sees the good in others.
Well, we would like to send in a CI, and if it's true that she had no knowledge of this, then that'll become clear.
Hang in there, everybody.
It will get better.
I promise.
We're gonna get you all settled.
You and your kids.
Excuse me.
Hey, Lulu, good to see you.
What are you doing here? I just need to talk to you, Dr.
Machado.
Of course.
Of course.
Just give me a sec.
Is everything all right? - How's the apartment? - That's all good.
How did Carisi get Lulu to cooperate? Told her the D.
A.
's office swings a heavy bat at family court.
He promised her she'd get Nydia back? He's a D.
A.
now.
He'll do anything for a win.
Well, I'm always here for you.
So how can I help you? - It's my daughter.
- Nydia? Is she in trouble? I still haven't gotten custody.
I see.
I'm sorry, but we've talked about that.
These things take time.
You're still with the family court lawyer I sent you, right? Yeah, and I did everything the lawyer in the court asked.
Rehab, pee tests, no arrest, apartment.
Still no.
You don't give up And I'll take care of this, okay? I'll look into this for you.
The thing is I need a better lawyer.
Uh, I see.
I hate to be like this after all you've done for me, but the cops, they came to my apartment asking about Ruben Ortiz coming over.
Asking about other girls in the poor floors.
What did you say? That Ruben's my boyfriend, but they didn't believe that.
I think if I tell them what they want, they'll help me get Nydia back.
Lulu, they're just using you.
You don't need to speak to them.
- I will take care of this.
- How? You said that before.
After all you've made me do with all those guys I know.
I owe you.
How about we start with that better lawyer? And a job at one of the maintenance companies.
I won't have time if I get Nydia back.
Not that kind of job.
You sign a time card once a week.
You get a paycheck direct deposit.
Mm? Lulu just screw-nailed her.
All right, move in for the arrest? Benson has to clear it with Garland.
In the meantime, just let them keep talking.
Catalina knew.
Our gut? She orchestrated the whole thing.
I'm sorry, Chief.
So why? Force the women to trade sex for apartments? - Throw away the key.
- We will.
And this is just the tip of the iceberg.
As soon as we start digging into her financials, we're gonna find out that there were kickbacks.
I'm sure you will.
I can hear myself thinking it's not possible, but Hey, Chief You okay? I didn't sleep well last night.
Got COMPSTAT tomorrow.
I'm told they're scouring every open SVU case to try to find something to throw at me.
Not your problem.
I better get back to the office.
Keep prepping.
I've seen that look on a man's face before.
Next thing I know, I'm at their farewell party or their funeral.
Oh, what the hell? Tribe is shunning him.
Internal exile.
What is this? Chief Garland, these These, these numbers.
Rapes up, 97 to 113 in the last 28-day period.
That's 325 to 381 so far this year.
Chief, that's a good thing.
It means more victims are coming forward.
Only about ten percent of rapes are reported, so We'd actually like that number to continue rising.
Chief Christian Garland wants rape numbers to go up.
God, where is the press when you need them? Chief Chief, if you look at our closure rate I'd rather look at your substandard investigative outcomes.
Just so many.
The SVU sergeant in the Bronx, who is a serial rapist, and Jayvon Brown, wrongfully arrested under your watch.
But you've talked enough about Mr.
Brown, haven't you? If this is about my deposition No, this is about your overinflated sense of self-worth.
What I see? Lack of discipline, lack of investigative competence, lack of leadership.
In a word, failure.
I see failure, Failure written all over you.
No, no, it's fine.
Yeah, no, I'm sure I'll officiate another wedding.
But, Nicole, you gotta do what you got to do.
All right.
Bye.
Hold on.
Nicole can't come? Something came up.
Oh, counselor.
I'm glad we caught you before the arraignment.
- We should talk.
- Nah, there's nothing to talk about But I'll tell you how this is gonna go.
The judge is gonna ask your client how she pleads to the charges of sex trafficking, racketeering, extortion, and fraud.
She'll plead not guilty, then she'll be remanded.
- That's it.
- I think I'd get her bail.
But what's the rush here? We haven't even talked.
What? Your client's looking for a deal now? She's a little late.
You're the last one in.
And she's the ringleader.
You mean the one who gets things done.
Gets women and children off the streets, out of poverty.
I know the reality of homelessness.
I lived it as a child.
Me and my mother, discarded, sleeping on the trains, watching your back every second.
I'm the only one - looking out for these women.
- Yeah.
By sex trafficking them.
I got them out of danger.
I gave them the opportunity to have a home, to be safe.
Before I helped them, some of these mothers were willing to freeze on the streets rather than go back to the shelter.
- How much worse is that? - I cannot listen to this.
Catalina, if I may.
Why don't we tell them what we've discussed? - What you know.
- Oh, we're already dismantling her organization.
But I'm listening.
What else does she have to offer? Well, how would you feel about a deputy mayor, a former HUD secretary, three congressmen, two senators For starters? Let me make some calls.
This might be above my pay grade.
So what are you saying? I'm saying that it's over, Rosa.
- We're gonna lose the apartment? - No, no, no.
No, you can keep the apartment, but you won't have to do what What they made you do to stay here.
Paulie Banducci is being arraigned tomorrow.
And Ruben Ortiz? You will never have to see him, or any of these men ever again.
That's right.
It's over.
Okay, yeah, got it, Mr.
D.
- Catalina's getting a deal? - She's a survivor.
She's been singing all afternoon to attorneys from our office, but now the feds are coming.
I got us a couple hours, but they want us both back tonight.
Woman running a $100 million nonprofit for decades.
She knows where a lot of bodies are buried.
After what she put those women through, I hope they don't give her too sweet of a deal.
Once the ceremony is over, I'm gonna go back in there, but I'm gonna - I'm gonna rehearse one more time.
- Go, go, go, go.
Did I miss it? Nope, they're not even here yet.
- That's not good.
- That's what I thought.
- Hey! - Showtime.
Hey, you guys are cutting it kind of close.
- More like cutting it off.
- What? First off, Phoebe and I wanna thank everybody for coming out, but I'm just going to cut to the chase.
We're not getting married today.
What? No, but don't worry.
We're not breaking up.
No, we We just realized, you know, we have a good thing going so Why let the government spoil it? Exactly.
So consider this our not getting married ceremony, but we still wanna have a great evening with our friends and our family, and why let a free bar go to waste? So drink up, eat up.
L'chaim! Okay.
Oh, I'm sorry we didn't tell anyone in advance.
It was late-breaking news.
- Gene was the most upset.
- Aw Because he wanted to be the ring bearer.
Look, the most important thing is that you guys are happy.
We're okay.
- We're really okay.
- Good.
Excuse me.
Ah, excuse me.
Will you excuse me for a second? Chief.
Hey.
Sorry, I missed the festivities.
Oh, you actually didn't miss anything.
It's a long story.
How did COMPSTAT go? I've had better days.
But, hey, look I wanted you to hear this from me.
I'm gonna take a few days off.
Are you all right? Doc wants to run a few tests.
I told him it's just stress.
Well, you got through COMPSTAT, so, the worst is behind you.
I'm not so sure.
I got a call from my father.
He's retired but he's still got a few friends on the job.
They wanted him to let me know the old guard may be coming for me.
What does that even mean? They wanna dirty me up before they force me out.
Look, whatever they try, I'm not gonna go quietly.
Chief, I'm sorry.
Hey, you're a little late.
I was looking at apartments.
In the city? Yeah, it's, it's time.
So did I miss the whole thing? Actually, uh They're celebrating their last-minute decision not to get married.
Good for them.
Well, you lucked out.
You were so worried about the ceremony, but you didn't even have to do it.
I spent all night rewriting it.
You know, I was kind of looking forward to it.
I got the whole thing down to two minutes.
- I'd like to hear it.
- Ah, come on, you don't Really? As long as it's under two minutes.
Okay.
Dearly beloved We are gathered here to witness, and celebrate the union, of Phoebe Baker and Fin Tutuola.
Fin and Phoebe were each other's first partners over 20 years ago, and a partnership is a lot like a marriage.
You fight And you make up But at the end of the day, you always have each other's backs, and if you had to, you'd take a bullet for each other.
And a bond like that That never goes away.
Mm.
Wait.
- Wait a second, are you crying? - No I don't cry at weddings.
If I, if I was, it's just because I know how they end up.
Uh-huh.
You never cry, huh? - That's better.
- Mm-hmm.
I'll spare you the rest.
It's It's kinda hokey anyway.
- It's, uh - Carisi.
What? Here you go.
Thank you.
And I got this for you.
Thank you.
They're a good-looking couple.
How'd they meet? She's a cop.
His first partner.
To partners.
In New York City, the dedicated detectives who investigate these vicious felonies are members of an elite squad known as the Special Victims Unit.
These are their stories.
We're gonna get it out of the way.
Memorial Day weekend, Friday.
Congrats.
That's not a lot of time to plan a wedding.
I'm assuming I'm invited.
No, I guess we'll have a few people, but we're keeping it small.
Fin, give my love to Phoebe.
Franny, how about that? Fin's getting hitched? Yes.
Hey, buddy, aww.
Looking good.
Got diamonds on your collar and everything.
What's your name, buddy? Champ, like "champion.
" You're going on vacation? - Moving? - We're going to a shelter.
We're orphans now, right, Mama? Come on, Felipe, we gotta go.
If I had a dog, I would name him Chomp, not Champ.
Can I get one? There's no place to keep a dog, mijo.
This looks like a jail.
No, baby, it's a shelter.
How will my friends find me? How will I get to my school? It's just for a little while.
Unpack your bags; put on your pajamas.
Make sure you stay on top of that homework, champ.
That's a dog's name.
There's no Wi-Fi inside so we had to come out here.
Are you guys are on the waiting list for housing? Not yet.
I know I have to go online and there's a lot of paperwork.
Yeah, well, the city's got apartments.
Do you at least have a social worker? No.
Well, now you do.
Give him a call.
- Thank you.
- You're welcome.
- Mama! - Whoa.
Slow down, mijo.
There's a TV.
And there's a table! The building has Wi-Fi, laundry in the basement.
Mama, the oven has a little light.
Check out your bedroom, Felipe, back down the hall.
It's beautiful.
My room has a door! God bless you, Mr.
Banducci.
It's Paulie.
Glad to help.
It's hard raising a kid on your own.
Thank you, Jesus.
Thank you.
A lot of post-pandemic weddings it's gonna be hard to find you a venue.
We don't need a venue.
And you're gonna need somebody to marry you.
Hey, Fin.
Look, Carisi, you still have your minister's license, right? When you officiated your cousin's wedding? They don't expire, but, Fin, - you don't need me to - Yeah, he does.
Fin? 6:00 p.
m.
Friday the 28th.
I don't know where, but be there.
That's what I'm talking about.
Happy to clean your pipes any time.
Go.
I don't want Felipe to wake up.
Whatever it is you think you're doing, this isn't that kind of building.
Shh, my son is sleeping.
- Please, please, go.
- You Mama Go back to bed.
It's all okay.
I love it here.
Can we stay forever? Mrs.
Swanson, who told you to come to SVU? The local precinct sent me to Vice who did less than your average vice-president.
I know what I know.
'cause we don't handle alleged prostitution.
There's a little boy living there who can't be more than nine years old.
Watching his mother turn tricks.
You can call Child Protective Services.
I wanna talk to someone in charge.
How about I let our captain know? Ms Swanson, I'm Captain Benson.
My sergeant told me you're head of the Subsidized Tenants' Council at Holt Tower.
Did he also tell you, there's sex for sale at apartment 3D? Why don't you explain that to our captain? Look I have nothing against Mexicans, but this new tenant in 3D, Rosa Estrada, she's only been here two weeks, but there's all these men.
I mean, suits, blue-collar, every color, going in and out all night.
Okay, so you're thinking that Ms.
Estrada is a prostitute.
It's something illegal.
I thought maybe drugs, but it's all men, slithering through the poor door.
So the building has separate entrances? Developers can add extra floors if they provide some subsidized housing, but they don't want them mixing with the other tenants.
So have you spoken to Rosa directly? She told me to mind my business, but, then there's the matter of the child.
Rosa has a nine-year-old son.
I don't want him going back into a shelter.
The lady who lived there before had a parade of horn dogs too.
I complained to the building.
She and her poor child just left in the middle of the night.
So how about if we do a little bit of investigating before you make another complaint? See it right around the corner.
Thank you.
Doorman says the other entrance is around the corner.
Rosa Estrada, single mom, moves in the building two weeks ago, no record.
My guess, Mrs.
Swanson's a busybody.
Maybe but we still gotta follow up.
This must be the poor door.
Ms.
Estrada, I'm Detective Tamin.
This is Sergeant Tutuola.
We're just following up on a report, ma'am.
Can we come in? Thanks.
I didn't do anything wrong.
No one's here illegally.
No drugs.
We don't have any pets or make any noise.
That's good, but we have to ask you Do you ever have company over? Wait, the old lady down the hall, Betty, did she call you? Betty Swanson has the wrong idea.
The maintenance guys do repairs.
I get UPS deliveries, takeout.
Okay.
We just wanna make sure that you and your son are safe.
Oh, we're fine.
Felipe's fine.
And we're sure he is.
We'd like to talk to him.
He's home, right? I love living here.
I thank God and Mama every night.
I was scared in the shelter.
You're not scared here? No, people are always coming to help us.
I'm still looking for work.
Now that Felipe's back in school, I go out every day and I put in applications.
That must be tough, money-wise, being a single mom.
Boys have big appetites.
We have SNAP benefits, and the rich people in this building, you wouldn't believe what they throw out.
Furniture, dishes, clothing.
The maintenance guys save it all for me.
People what kind of people? Men come to help.
You know, fix stuff.
When the men come here, you ever talk to them? Just you.
Me? What are you talking about, Felipe? If you were to go in my mom's bedroom, I would just throw on my headphones.
That's what you do when men go in your mother's bedroom? Yeah.
She says I can't hear anything.
Just be good and quiet.
No trouble.
Trouble means back to the shelter.
No sign of drug use.
Rosa wasn't high, no bruises, no track marks, apartment was clean.
Any evidence of extra income? No, she is living close to the bone.
She's not turning tricks.
Betty's not wrong.
Rosa's son told me there are men coming to that apartment.
Okay, so what the hell is going on here? She's not a sex worker, but she may not have qualified for that apartment through the lottery.
My guess She's being trafficked.
Be good, okay? I love you.
Mm Rosa.
Now you're coming to my son's school? Please, I did nothing wrong.
We believe you, Rosa.
That is not why we're here.
Rosa, I'm Captain Benson.
Detective Tamin and I, we just wanna make sure that you're not in any trouble.
No.
No trouble, like I said.
How about you tell us what's going on at home? Nothing.
I can't go back to the shelter.
And that will happen, if you don't have sex with these men who are coming into your apartment? Is somebody threatening to evict you if you refuse? No, nothing like that.
I can't go back to the shelter.
I cannot do that to Felipe.
You won't have to.
I promise you, but you need to tell us who these men are.
Who's forcing you to do this? We know that you're in a difficult position but we can help you.
You wanna help me? Then leave me alone.
Please, my son is happy.
We have a nice home.
I am close to finding a new job.
This is the last thing that we need.
Two tracks: find out how Rosa got into Holt Tower and ID the men that are coming in and out of her apartment.
We went through the past month of side door elevator footage, men getting off on the third floor, making the left towards Rosa's apartment.
Eliminating residents, deliveries, ex-husbands, boyfriends.
We narrowed down the most consistent regulars to these five.
Okay, this guy in the gray shirt.
He works in the building? This is head of maintenance, Paulie Banducci, and according to Betty Swanson, he helped Rosa move in.
What about the other four guys? Betty didn't know who they were.
And doorman don't have a record and they don't show up on lobby security.
Yeah, that's 'cause they go through the poor door.
Betty Swanson said that there was a prior resident in 3D.
See if we can track her down.
I moved out of Holt Tower and Betty Swanson still found a way to harass me? Tell her to get a life.
Well, this isn't about Betty.
We need your help in IDing some men we suspect of criminal activity in the building.
That building's fancy.
No criminals there.
Okay Then maybe you can tell us why these guys came by so often.
No idea.
Nope.
Look, I don't know any of these guys.
All right.
How about this guy? - Nope.
- Denise He works in the building.
Right, that's Paulie, but he doesn't do anything.
Then why'd he come by your apartment two times a week? Look, nothing was going on between me and any of these guys.
You're not in any trouble here.
If you are being forced to have sex, in order to not get evicted - It wasn't like that.
- Then why'd you leave? I started seeing someone.
Said he'd take care of me and my daughter, moved us up in here.
Who? Anton.
He works for Paulie.
Well, he doesn't even need to know why we're here.
Yeah, and I don't need to revisit the past.
Because, Denise, there's a new woman, living in your old apartment.
Whatever was happening to you is happening to her right now.
She's got a kid younger than yours.
Yeah, well, if she's like me, I'm sure she's doing what she has to.
So single mothers in subsidized housing are being trafficked in exchange for apartments.
So two women, Rosa Estrada and Denise Campbell, both somehow jumped the line into Holt Tower.
The neighbor and Rosa's son confirmed men coming by for short visits.
But neither woman is willing to cooperate? No, one doesn't want her boyfriend to find out and the other one, is afraid of going back to shelters.
Winning a subsidized apartment in Holt Tower is tougher than getting your kid into Harvard.
And we don't know how either one of these women managed it.
I mean, neither one of them had an account on the lottery website.
- Any way to ID the men? - Paulie Banducci.
He was hired by an outside janitorial company, under the umbrella of a different nonprofit.
You need to talk to someone who knows this world.
You've heard of a Dr.
Catalina Machado? Yeah, the-the founder of Proud Life.
I just read her profile in "The Times.
" She went from homeless to a doctorate in social justice.
Yeah, she'll be able to impact the alphabet soup of agencies.
She's hands-on with tenants, especially women and children.
If there's any kind of corruption in this, she'll know the weak links.
Chief.
If you're walking to deposition, you need to give yourself a half hour.
No time to go back to the office.
Thank you, Celia.
Deposition? - Jayvon Brown case? - My third one.
I'm just trying to do what's right here, but there's gotta be a price.
We all deserve a place where we can thrive, and homeless kids especially I was one so I know Need safe spaces, to learn, to grow, to flourish.
So today we celebrate.
Proud Life breaking ground on our seventh daycare center.
Just another place where we can all be Proud! - Pleasure to meet you.
- Dr.
Machado.
Hi, Captain Benson.
- This is Detective Rollins.
- Oh yes.
Christian Garland told me you needed to speak.
Perhaps in private might be better.
Yeah.
Can you give us a moment? So you have reason to believe that women at Holt Tower - are being sexually exploited? - We do, and the women are unwilling to talk to us Who these men are, who's forcing them to do this.
Do they have children? They're afraid of being evicted.
My God.
Whatever I can do to help.
What agency, facilitated these women getting into the apartments? The women won't tell us and the management company says that they don't choose the tenants.
They house them.
Well, technically correct.
You can only get in through the lottery.
- 650 applicants per spot.
- Yeah.
So who runs the lottery? I can make some calls, find that out.
- I'll get back to you right away.
- Yeah, we'd appreciate that.
Catalina! Oh, excuse me.
That's Congressman Howard's chief of staff.
I'll be in touch as soon as I learn more.
Thank you, for bringing this to my attention.
Look at this.
You thinking what I'm thinking? Why is the Congressmen's chief of staff Going in through the poor door? Nicole Can we talk about this later? I gotta go.
Everything okay? Nicole's in lawyer mode.
We both are, negotiating Fin's wedding.
Look, I know that Fin and Phoebe are trying to keep the guest list tight, but, you're the minister.
You can bring a plus one.
Oh, that's not the problem.
Nicole thinks weddings are a patriarchal institution, designed to transfer ownership of the woman from the father to the husband.
I can see her saying that.
Well, she did say that.
Right after I told her that I always thought that, at my age, I'd be married.
I'd have kids.
It all went downhill from there.
What the hell is wrong with you, huh? You all woke now? Hey, everything okay? Chief McGrath.
It might be a few minutes.
Please, have a seat.
Okay.
We are under siege.
They are at the gates howling for our blood, and you go on record, apologizing, for systemic racism? Saying we need bias training? What, put an end, to qualified immunity? You just threw every cop in this department under the bus.
Chief, I was under oath.
What, you forgot how to say, "Oh, it's above my pay grade, counselor?" We all know that you think you're better than the rest of us.
Loyalty's a two-way street.
Chief McGrath.
Did you hear any of that? No, we just got here.
Yeah, my deposition in the Jayvon case is making the rounds of 1PP.
Yeah, I'm sorry.
Jayvon and his lawyers aren't interested in being conciliatory with MIP dates.
It's gonna get more turbulent way.
You have a good lawyer, chief? I certainly hope so, but let's not waste your time.
Was Catalina Machado helpful? She called me, said she was very disturbed about the allegation.
She was and she said that she'd look into it, but unfortunately, we might have a bigger issue.
Ruben Ortiz, Congressman Howard's chief of staff was there.
A photo op's a photo op.
How about this? Ortiz paid a visit to the third floor of Holt Tower.
It doesn't matter if they're wearing suits or boots.
Abuse of women, the great equalizer.
Congressman Howard's office has been a long-time supporter of Proud Life.
Any chance Ortiz was there on legitimate business? Four times in one month, to the same floor, where two women are being trafficked? - Come on.
- Chief.
I know that you're in the hot seat, but I'd like to bring them in for questioning.
Ortiz is not a broom pusher.
We need a lot more than suspicions, - before I take it upstairs.
- If we have cops, questioning the tenants, then we risk driving away the players.
Now, I can subpoena lottery application lists, tenant income statements, but that is gonna set off alarm bells too.
I agree.
Hold on.
All of these women are mothers, and moms talk to other moms.
There might be a shortcut to this.
- You mind if I use this? - Yeah.
Okay, the machine in my apartment broke down.
I knew you were from the other side.
Over here we don't get machines in our apartments and I have three kids.
I can barely manage two.
Do you need a hand with that? Yeah, sure.
Thanks.
How big of a place do you have? - Just a one-bedroom.
- With three kids? And a husband on the foldout.
- Oh, my God.
- We're on the waiting list, but not like that matters.
What, five people in a one-bedroom? Surely, you'll get the next one that opens up.
You really don't know how this works, do you? They do have apartments available.
They just don't give them to married women.
There's this crack whore on my floor.
Got a two-bedroom all to herself.
Her daughter is still in foster care.
- Really? - Yeah.
And she thinks she famous.
Lulu Davis.
You remember that vet in a wheelchair, who shot a guy outside the courthouse? That's her ex-husband.
Lulu knows we're coming? She thinks we're here to talk about Mickey and help her get custody of her daughter.
Sergeant Tutuola, Mickey told me you've been to visit him in prison.
A few times.
He's doing good.
I know you two had that Army Ranger thing, but what he did for Nydia, that was him finally being a father.
Mickey usually watches out for Mickey.
Hmm, looks like you've been looking out for yourself too.
Good for you.
It's a jungle out there.
Sitting pretty, right? All of these windows.
I can breathe up here.
Away from the hustle and grind.
I'm clean now, living in this castle, but they still won't give me my daughter.
Mickey said you could help? Lulu, you know how this works.
You got to help us too.
Like I'm surprised.
- What? - You recognize this man? Paulie Banducci.
He works in the building.
What he do? We're hoping you can tell us.
He's a good maintenance man.
I don't know what else you mean.
Okay.
You recognize any of these other men? Nope, sorry.
All right, how about this guy? Anything you can tell us.
Let me give you a hint.
This is Ruben Ortiz, chief of staff for Congressman Howard.
Here he is coming off the elevator on your floor.
Here he is again, and again and again.
Six times in two months.
You moved into this apartment about two months ago.
Right, Lulu? So what? I won the lottery.
Problem is we don't have a record of your application.
Screw you.
I know Dr Machado.
- I can call her.
- Catalina Machado.
Where'd you meet her? I was at intake, getting on the waitlist for a shelter.
What intake? Camino Family Center, out by Yankee Stadium.
Dr Machado got me a social worker.
I got this apartment legit.
Okay, how are you keeping it? Lulu Who's telling you that you have to do guys like Paulie Banducci and Ruben Ortiz? Look, we wanna help you get Nydia back, but you gotta start telling us the truth.
Okay.
Ruben's my boyfriend.
He said I make him feel alive, that his wife doesn't understand him.
He's gonna help me get Nydia back.
And you get to keep staying here? You know what? I'm not even allowed to talk to you.
I couldn't rat anybody out even if I wanted to.
I signed an NDA.
For who? Get out.
This is my apartment.
I can stay for the rest of my life.
That's part of the NDA too.
What now? Well, she admitted to having sex with Ruben Ortiz.
That's enough to bring him.
My guess, he'll sing to save his ass.
Can we talk about this later? Okay.
Bye.
You want a donut or something? - Nah.
- Thank you.
What's wrong? Me and Phoebe, we've been going at it.
She keeps inviting people.
Her sister wants a caterer.
Now a photographer.
I'm trying to tell them COVID's not over.
Yeah, well, like, my dad always says, the last 48 hours before a wedding are the toughest.
That's why we go on honeymoons: to recover from the wedding.
You're giving Ortiz Queen for a Day.
You think he'd be on time.
They'll be here.
Let me ask you something.
What's better? The The enduring bond of love or the enduring power of love? What about just love? - Make it shorter? - It's always better.
Mr.
Carisi.
Captain Benson.
Good to see you again.
My client is ready to tell you everything he knows about the subsidized apartments in Holt Tower.
And he understands that if he lies, or he holds back in any way, the deal is off the table? He gets charged with trafficking.
- He does.
- Great.
Let's start with Lulu Davis.
My client was in a consensual relationship with Ms.
Davis.
- Okay.
- There was no quid pro quo.
Okay, what about Rosa Estrada? I was told that she was aware of the arrangement, that she was a willing participant.
I would never assault anyone.
Told by who? You're getting off to a rough start here, Mr.
Ortiz.
You do know how Queen for a Day works, right? Look, we have you on surveillance footage, texts, financials, and your lawyer made a proffer that you would give names, dates, and details.
And he's prepared to do that.
My client has knowledge of other men who regularly visited Holt Tower, and knowledge of complicit individuals at nonprofits and government agencies.
Transactional favors, sexual and financial, in exchange for apartments, contracts, and grants.
Then let's stop wasting our time.
Ortiz gave up his boss, Congressman Howard.
He wasn't on the elevator security footage.
Howard actually went through the main lobby, walked up the stairs.
And heads-up: his mother lives in the building.
He might be able to use that to explain his frequent visits.
And these other men? We knew about Paulie Banducci.
Ortiz gave up Banducci's boss.
Paulie was getting bribed to stay quiet and facilitate the transactions.
Along with getting a taste for himself.
Ortiz also gave up the homeless services budget director, a deputy commissioner at HPD, and a city councilman.
That's a lot of bad actors taking advantage of women to keep the housing money flowing.
This is a big operation.
Who's running it? Every single man that Ortiz named, was either a governmental, or nonprofit middleman who had a direct connection to Proud Life.
We tracked grants, donations, contracts.
They are all funneled through the Proud Life empire.
So there's a bad actor somewhere in Catalina Machado's inner circle who's using their power to run a massive grift.
Chief, there's another possibility.
I mean, this vast a conspiracy? Either she's willfully ignorant or She's involved.
There's no way she's in on it.
She's provided tens of thousands of apartments to the board.
If she has a fault, it's that she's so dedicated, she only sees the good in others.
Well, we would like to send in a CI, and if it's true that she had no knowledge of this, then that'll become clear.
Hang in there, everybody.
It will get better.
I promise.
We're gonna get you all settled.
You and your kids.
Excuse me.
Hey, Lulu, good to see you.
What are you doing here? I just need to talk to you, Dr.
Machado.
Of course.
Of course.
Just give me a sec.
Is everything all right? - How's the apartment? - That's all good.
How did Carisi get Lulu to cooperate? Told her the D.
A.
's office swings a heavy bat at family court.
He promised her she'd get Nydia back? He's a D.
A.
now.
He'll do anything for a win.
Well, I'm always here for you.
So how can I help you? - It's my daughter.
- Nydia? Is she in trouble? I still haven't gotten custody.
I see.
I'm sorry, but we've talked about that.
These things take time.
You're still with the family court lawyer I sent you, right? Yeah, and I did everything the lawyer in the court asked.
Rehab, pee tests, no arrest, apartment.
Still no.
You don't give up And I'll take care of this, okay? I'll look into this for you.
The thing is I need a better lawyer.
Uh, I see.
I hate to be like this after all you've done for me, but the cops, they came to my apartment asking about Ruben Ortiz coming over.
Asking about other girls in the poor floors.
What did you say? That Ruben's my boyfriend, but they didn't believe that.
I think if I tell them what they want, they'll help me get Nydia back.
Lulu, they're just using you.
You don't need to speak to them.
- I will take care of this.
- How? You said that before.
After all you've made me do with all those guys I know.
I owe you.
How about we start with that better lawyer? And a job at one of the maintenance companies.
I won't have time if I get Nydia back.
Not that kind of job.
You sign a time card once a week.
You get a paycheck direct deposit.
Mm? Lulu just screw-nailed her.
All right, move in for the arrest? Benson has to clear it with Garland.
In the meantime, just let them keep talking.
Catalina knew.
Our gut? She orchestrated the whole thing.
I'm sorry, Chief.
So why? Force the women to trade sex for apartments? - Throw away the key.
- We will.
And this is just the tip of the iceberg.
As soon as we start digging into her financials, we're gonna find out that there were kickbacks.
I'm sure you will.
I can hear myself thinking it's not possible, but Hey, Chief You okay? I didn't sleep well last night.
Got COMPSTAT tomorrow.
I'm told they're scouring every open SVU case to try to find something to throw at me.
Not your problem.
I better get back to the office.
Keep prepping.
I've seen that look on a man's face before.
Next thing I know, I'm at their farewell party or their funeral.
Oh, what the hell? Tribe is shunning him.
Internal exile.
What is this? Chief Garland, these These, these numbers.
Rapes up, 97 to 113 in the last 28-day period.
That's 325 to 381 so far this year.
Chief, that's a good thing.
It means more victims are coming forward.
Only about ten percent of rapes are reported, so We'd actually like that number to continue rising.
Chief Christian Garland wants rape numbers to go up.
God, where is the press when you need them? Chief Chief, if you look at our closure rate I'd rather look at your substandard investigative outcomes.
Just so many.
The SVU sergeant in the Bronx, who is a serial rapist, and Jayvon Brown, wrongfully arrested under your watch.
But you've talked enough about Mr.
Brown, haven't you? If this is about my deposition No, this is about your overinflated sense of self-worth.
What I see? Lack of discipline, lack of investigative competence, lack of leadership.
In a word, failure.
I see failure, Failure written all over you.
No, no, it's fine.
Yeah, no, I'm sure I'll officiate another wedding.
But, Nicole, you gotta do what you got to do.
All right.
Bye.
Hold on.
Nicole can't come? Something came up.
Oh, counselor.
I'm glad we caught you before the arraignment.
- We should talk.
- Nah, there's nothing to talk about But I'll tell you how this is gonna go.
The judge is gonna ask your client how she pleads to the charges of sex trafficking, racketeering, extortion, and fraud.
She'll plead not guilty, then she'll be remanded.
- That's it.
- I think I'd get her bail.
But what's the rush here? We haven't even talked.
What? Your client's looking for a deal now? She's a little late.
You're the last one in.
And she's the ringleader.
You mean the one who gets things done.
Gets women and children off the streets, out of poverty.
I know the reality of homelessness.
I lived it as a child.
Me and my mother, discarded, sleeping on the trains, watching your back every second.
I'm the only one - looking out for these women.
- Yeah.
By sex trafficking them.
I got them out of danger.
I gave them the opportunity to have a home, to be safe.
Before I helped them, some of these mothers were willing to freeze on the streets rather than go back to the shelter.
- How much worse is that? - I cannot listen to this.
Catalina, if I may.
Why don't we tell them what we've discussed? - What you know.
- Oh, we're already dismantling her organization.
But I'm listening.
What else does she have to offer? Well, how would you feel about a deputy mayor, a former HUD secretary, three congressmen, two senators For starters? Let me make some calls.
This might be above my pay grade.
So what are you saying? I'm saying that it's over, Rosa.
- We're gonna lose the apartment? - No, no, no.
No, you can keep the apartment, but you won't have to do what What they made you do to stay here.
Paulie Banducci is being arraigned tomorrow.
And Ruben Ortiz? You will never have to see him, or any of these men ever again.
That's right.
It's over.
Okay, yeah, got it, Mr.
D.
- Catalina's getting a deal? - She's a survivor.
She's been singing all afternoon to attorneys from our office, but now the feds are coming.
I got us a couple hours, but they want us both back tonight.
Woman running a $100 million nonprofit for decades.
She knows where a lot of bodies are buried.
After what she put those women through, I hope they don't give her too sweet of a deal.
Once the ceremony is over, I'm gonna go back in there, but I'm gonna - I'm gonna rehearse one more time.
- Go, go, go, go.
Did I miss it? Nope, they're not even here yet.
- That's not good.
- That's what I thought.
- Hey! - Showtime.
Hey, you guys are cutting it kind of close.
- More like cutting it off.
- What? First off, Phoebe and I wanna thank everybody for coming out, but I'm just going to cut to the chase.
We're not getting married today.
What? No, but don't worry.
We're not breaking up.
No, we We just realized, you know, we have a good thing going so Why let the government spoil it? Exactly.
So consider this our not getting married ceremony, but we still wanna have a great evening with our friends and our family, and why let a free bar go to waste? So drink up, eat up.
L'chaim! Okay.
Oh, I'm sorry we didn't tell anyone in advance.
It was late-breaking news.
- Gene was the most upset.
- Aw Because he wanted to be the ring bearer.
Look, the most important thing is that you guys are happy.
We're okay.
- We're really okay.
- Good.
Excuse me.
Ah, excuse me.
Will you excuse me for a second? Chief.
Hey.
Sorry, I missed the festivities.
Oh, you actually didn't miss anything.
It's a long story.
How did COMPSTAT go? I've had better days.
But, hey, look I wanted you to hear this from me.
I'm gonna take a few days off.
Are you all right? Doc wants to run a few tests.
I told him it's just stress.
Well, you got through COMPSTAT, so, the worst is behind you.
I'm not so sure.
I got a call from my father.
He's retired but he's still got a few friends on the job.
They wanted him to let me know the old guard may be coming for me.
What does that even mean? They wanna dirty me up before they force me out.
Look, whatever they try, I'm not gonna go quietly.
Chief, I'm sorry.
Hey, you're a little late.
I was looking at apartments.
In the city? Yeah, it's, it's time.
So did I miss the whole thing? Actually, uh They're celebrating their last-minute decision not to get married.
Good for them.
Well, you lucked out.
You were so worried about the ceremony, but you didn't even have to do it.
I spent all night rewriting it.
You know, I was kind of looking forward to it.
I got the whole thing down to two minutes.
- I'd like to hear it.
- Ah, come on, you don't Really? As long as it's under two minutes.
Okay.
Dearly beloved We are gathered here to witness, and celebrate the union, of Phoebe Baker and Fin Tutuola.
Fin and Phoebe were each other's first partners over 20 years ago, and a partnership is a lot like a marriage.
You fight And you make up But at the end of the day, you always have each other's backs, and if you had to, you'd take a bullet for each other.
And a bond like that That never goes away.
Mm.
Wait.
- Wait a second, are you crying? - No I don't cry at weddings.
If I, if I was, it's just because I know how they end up.
Uh-huh.
You never cry, huh? - That's better.
- Mm-hmm.
I'll spare you the rest.
It's It's kinda hokey anyway.
- It's, uh - Carisi.
What? Here you go.
Thank you.
And I got this for you.
Thank you.
They're a good-looking couple.
How'd they meet? She's a cop.
His first partner.
To partners.