A Bridgeton man accused of forcing a woman into prostitution and having a gun was ordered held Thursday.
Bryant Siderio, 38, was on parole in a similar case when he was arrested inside the Rodeway Inn Room 212, after police received a tip from the alleged victim.
The woman texted police that there was a man with a gun and drugs inside the room, according to information released in court.
She later told police that she had come to Atlantic City to celebrate the birthday of her friend Jada Bell, when the woman's boyfriend --- who the victim called Bell's pimp --- tried to force her to work for him. When the couple was asleep, the victim alerted police, Assistant Prosecutor Erika Halayko said.
Since the room was registered to the woman, she allowed police to search. They allegedly found cocaine along with a handgun inside the closet.
But defense attorney Robert Johnson questioned how someone being held against her will would still have access to her cell phone, and said video he requested will show three people hanging out with "no one forced to do anything."
He also questioned why the woman would have mentioned a gun and drugs, but not that she was being held against her will or forced into having sex for money.
Johnson also said his client had no failures to appear in the past two years, which is one of the things looked at in whether to grant release under bail reform.
Halayko then pointed out that Siderio ---- who served served nearly three years in prison ---- just got out six months before his arrest, leaving him little time to have a failure to appear violation.
Siderio's prison term was part of a plea deal that included a charge of forcing a minor into prostitution, which was pleaded down to endangering the welfare of a child, Halayko said.
Because of his previous conviction, Siderio is considered a certain person not to possess a gun.
