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Roger Baker is the secondary antagonist of the Law & Order: Special Victims Unit episode "Debt". He is a corrupt immigration lawyer on the payroll of New York Snakehead boss Ricky Yao.
He was portrayed by Loren Dean.
Biography[]
Baker was an immigration lawyer who would represent illegal immigrants detained by ICE and facing deportation in New York. However, Baker's line of work did not pay very well, as most of his clients had little to no money and many disappeared without paying him after he paid their bail. To supplement his income, Baker offered his services to Snakehead boss Ricky Yao, who ran a people smuggling operation involving Chinese women. Whenever one of the smuggled immigrants was picked up by ICE, Ricky would contact Baker, who would file their asylum claims and send them to work for Ricky Yao to pay off the expenses, arranging for the Snakehead to pay their bail. If he thought they looked attractive, he would direct them to a brothel run by the Snakehead to be forced into prostitution; otherwise they would be put to work at one of the Snakehead's sweatshops until their debt for being smuggled into the country was paid off. Baker would also send other female immigrants who retained his services to work for Ricky. To assuage his guilt, Baker convinced himself that he was helping the victims stay in the country and it was the only way to make sure they wouldn't be deported.
One of Baker's victims was 15-year-old Ping Wu, who had been smuggled into the country at the behest of her mother Jiao. Ping was arrested by the immigration bureau after arriving in the United States and as usual Ricky contacted Baker to represent her. Baker thought she was pretty and, thinking she would make good money, directed her to work at Ricky's brothel, where she was forced into sex slavery to work off her debt to the Snakehead. Her mother Jiao was later killed for trying to get her back.
"Debt"[]
The Manhattan Special Victims Unit, who are investigating Jiao's disappearance, discover that she had paid the Snakehead to smuggle Ping into the country and that Ping was later detained by the immigration service. Investigating further, they find that she had her bail paid by someone linked to the Snakehead and her asylum claim was filed by Baker. Baker is interviewed by Detectives Elliot Stabler and Olivia Benson and tells them that Ping's bail was paid by a family member and she disappeared without paying him, which is not uncommon. Benson and Stabler believe him and leave without asking further questions.
Much later, Benson and Stabler interview one of Ricky's prostitutes to find the location of his brothel so they can rescue Ping. The prostitute agrees to give them information about Ricky in return for asylum; however, when Benson goes to call Baker, who is the only immigration lawyer willing to work pro bono, the horrified prostitute tells her that Baker was the one who sent her to work for Ricky in the first place.
In a sting to catch Baker out, Ping's aunt Li Mei pretends to be detained by the immigration bureau and forensic psychiatrist George Huang, pretending to be her cousin, calls Baker in to represent her. Baker agrees to file an asylum claim on behalf of Li Mei, but tells her she will have to do some work for a friend to pay the expenses as he does not have the money. As soon as Baker hands over his "friend"'s contact details, confirming he is Ricky Yao, Stabler steps out and arrests him for facilitating prostitution.
Baker is aggressively interrogated by Stabler and claims that he is helping the women he represents to stay in the United States. He initially denies any knowledge of sex slavery until Stabler threatens him, at which point he immediately caves and confesses everything, giving the SVU the directions to the brothel where Ping works. Baker is then charged with facilitating prostitution.
External links[]
- Roger Baker on the Law & Order Wiki
