Archive for November 2024
QUEENS WOMAN INDICTED FOR FIRST-DEGREE MURDER FOR SETTING FIRE THAT KILLED TWO PEOPLE IN JAMAICA GARAGE
Queens District Attorney Melinda Katz announced that Aliya Fakhri has been indicted on murder in the first degree and related charges for deliberately setting a deadly fire in the detached garage of a home in Jamaica killing her boyfriend, 35-year-old Edward Jacobs, and 33-year-old Anastasia Ettienne. Fakhri allegedly set the fire near the entrance of…
Read MoreQUEENS HUSBAND AND WIFE CHARGED WITH OPERATING INTERNATIONAL STOLEN MERCHANDISE RING OUT OF KEW GARDENS HILLS HOME AND STOREFRONT IN DOMINICAN REPUBLIC
Queens District Attorney Melinda Katz and Governor Kathy Hochul announced today that married couple Cristopher Guzman and Yvelisse Guzman Batista, as well as three co-defendants, were charged with operating a large-scale retail theft and fencing operation. The pair sold stolen merchandise including high-end makeup, perfume, beauty products, designer clothing and accessories, locally and abroad under…
Read MoreYour Weekly Update – November 22, 2024
My office secured a grand jury indictment against three individuals accused of illegally occupying a single-family home in St. Albans. The rightful owner’s family noticed unauthorized activity in the home this spring after the property was vacated in early 2024… (continued)
Read MoreQUEENS WOMAN INDICTED FOR SEX TRAFFICKING TRANSGENDER VICTIM ON ROOSEVELT AVENUE
Queens District Attorney Melinda Katz announced that Valezka Echeverrias was arraigned on an indictment charging her with sex trafficking and other crimes for allegedly forcing a transgender woman to engage in prostitution on Roosevelt Avenue and to pay the defendant a weekly sum of money. After the victim stated that she wanted to stop engaging…
Read MoreQUEENS MAN CHARGED WITH DEFRAUDING FEDERAL DISASTER RELIEF PROGRAM OF MORE THAN $240,000 WITH BOGUS CLAIMS OF ECONOMIC HARM DUE TO COVID-19
Queens District Attorney Melinda Katz announced that Humayun Kabir has been charged with grand larceny and other crimes for allegedly stealing thousands of dollars in pandemic relief funds intended to help workers and small business owners suffering hardship due to COVID-19. The defendant allegedly applied for a federal Payroll Protection Program loan and an Economic…
Read MoreFDNY EMT CHARGED WITH ATTEMPTED MURDER IN UNPROVOKED SHOOTING OF 36-YEAR-OLD MAN IN ASTORIA
Queens District Attorney Melinda Katz announced that Isaiah Keller, an FDNY emergency medical technician, was charged with attempted murder, assault and weapon possession for the shooting of a 36-year-old man on a residential block in Astoria in the early morning of August 31. The defendant and victim did not know one another. District Attorney Katz…
Read MoreTHREE ALLEGED SQUATTERS INDICTED FOR ILLEGALLY OCCUPYING ST. ALBANS HOME
Queens District Attorney Melinda Katz announced that True Jackson, Saliam Sudler, and Shania Outar have been indicted on charges of burglary, criminal trespass and other crimes for illegally occupying a single-family home in St. Albans. The rightful owner’s family noticed unauthorized activity in the home this spring after the property was vacated in early 2024.…
Read MoreQUEENS MAN PLEADS GUILTY IN ARSON FIRE THAT SERIOUSLY INJURED TWO OCCUPANTS OF SOUTH OZONE PARK HOME
Queens District Attorney Melinda Katz announced that Evan Person pleaded guilty to arson in the second degree for setting fire to cars in South Ozone Park and entering a home where he set a blaze that critically injured two of its occupants. District Attorney Katz said: “This defendant is a serial arsonist who set fire…
Read MoreDA KATZ ANNOUNCES TAKEDOWN OF MAJOR NETWORK CABLE THEFT OPERATION
Queens District Attorney Melinda Katz announced that Kong Gao has been charged with fraudulent making of an electronic access device and criminal possession of forgery devices in connection to a large-scale theft of network cable streaming and Wi-Fi services in Flushing and Whitestone. Gao is accused of manufacturing approximately 200 fraudulent modem devices embedded with…
Read MoreYour Weekly Update – November 15, 2024
My office secured a jury trial conviction this week for attempted murder in the first degree against a man who shot NYPD Detective Brett Boller in April 2023… (continued)
Read MoreQUEENS MAN CONVICTED OF ATTEMPTED MURDER IN SHOOTING OF NYPD OFFICER
Queens District Attorney Melinda Katz announced that Devin Spraggins was convicted of attempted murder in the first degree for shooting NYPD Detective Brett Boller after an altercation in April 2023. The rookie officer and his partner, Officer Anthony Rock, were on routine patrol in the Jamaica business district when they confronted Spraggins after he assaulted…
Read MoreFAR ROCKAWAY MAN SENTENCED TO 24 YEARS TO LIFE IN PRISON FOR FATAL SHOOTING IN 2021
Queens District Attorney Melinda Katz announced that Waturi Johnson was sentenced today to 24 years to life in prison for the shooting death of Uriah Richardson, a father of three gunned down in midday outside of the Mott Avenue A train station in Far Rockaway in 2021. The two men did not know one another.…
Read MoreYour Weekly Update – November 8, 2024
Each year, I reflect on the debt that we owe to the heroic men and women who have served and sacrificed for our freedoms. My office will host a special Veterans Day Ceremony today, starting at 11:00 a.m., at the Queens Vietnam Veterans Memorial in Elmhurst Park. We take this opportunity each year to express…
Read MoreBROOKLYN MAN CHARGED WITH STAGING CAR CRASH ON BELT PARKWAY IN ROSEDALE
Queens District Attorney Melinda Katz announced today that Maikel Martinez was charged with staging a motor vehicle accident, reckless endangerment and other crimes after being in a car that allegedly cut off another driver on the Belt Parkway, forcing that driver to come to a stop. The car the defendant was in then reversed into…
Read MoreTHREE MEN CHARGED WITH CANNABIS POSSESSION AFTER MORE THAN 850 POUNDS OF MARIJUANA FOUND IN A LONG ISLAND CITY APARTMENT
Queens District Attorney Melinda Katz announced that Cesar Egas Nagua, Michel Garcia Rodriguez and Alain Prieto Romero were charged with criminal possession of cannabis after a search warrant uncovered more than 850 pounds of cannabis flower with a street value in excess of $100,000 in a Long Island City apartment. District Attorney Katz said: “A…
Read MoreSQUATTER SENTENCED AFTER PLEADING GUILTY TO THREE FELONIES FOR ILLEGALLY OCCUPYING JAMAICA HOME
Queens District Attorney Melinda Katz announced that Lance White-Hunt was sentenced today after pleading guilty to identity theft, offering a false instrument for filing and tampering with physical evidence. White-Hunt illegally occupied a home in Jamaica and went as far as to forge leasing documents to stake his claim to the property as a legal…
Read MoreDA KATZ, NYPD AND SHERIFF’S OFFICE SHUTTER UNLICENSED CANNABIS SHOP IN SUNNYSIDE
Queens District Attorney Melinda Katz announced the closure of an unlicensed cannabis shop that operated near the Thomas A. Noonan Playground on Greenpoint Avenue in Sunnyside. A woman working at the shop was charged with criminal sale of cannabis and criminal possession of a controlled substance. District Attorney Katz said: “This shop, which was located…
Read MoreYour Weekly Update – November 1, 2024
Since May, at least six children in Queens between the ages of 12 and 15 have been injured or tragically lost their lives while “subway surfing.” As a mother of two young boys, I am deeply concerned about our youth who continue to engage in this perilous activity in pursuit of fleeting social media fame…
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