Press Release

Queens District Attorney Melinda Katz announced that James Fraley was sentenced today to 25 years in prison for attempted murder and drug and weapons possession charges in the 2021 shooting of a deli owner in Briarwood and the subsequent discovery of a large quantity of heroin in his home. Fraley was on lifetime parole for a 1989 murder conviction.

District Attorney Katz said: “A violent predator very nearly shot a small business owner to death for less than $200, and the guns and drugs found in his home pointed to more bloodshed and devastation ahead. The debt he will have to pay to society is a long prison sentence.”

Fraley, 73, of Farmers Boulevard in St. Albans, was convicted last month by a jury of attempted murder in the second degree, assault in the first degree, robbery in the first degree, criminal possession of a weapon in the second degree, criminal possession of a controlled substance in the first degree, and criminal possession of a controlled substance in the third degree. Queens Supreme Court Justice Gary Miret imposed today’s determinate sentence of 25 years in prison to be followed by five years post-release supervision.

According to the charges and trial testimony:
• On Aug. 12, 2021, at approximately 2:00 p.m., Fraley entered the Rojas Deli at 146-10 Hillside Avenue, ordered a sandwich and then shot the owner, Rufino Rojas-Flores, in the chest. He then turned the gun on the owner’s daughter, who was working behind the counter, and demanded the money in the register.
• The daughter gave him between $100 and $200 cash and Fraley fled. A deli worker chased him on Hillside Avenue toward the Parsons Boulevard subway stop.
• Surveillance video footage showed the worker running after an older man and also captured Fraley in the subway stop. The NYPD created a wanted poster from the video.
• On Aug. 17, an officer recognized Fraley from the wanted poster as he got into a car. The officer pulled Fraley over for a traffic violation and arrested him.
• When detectives went to Fraley’s home, they found a .357 caliber revolver, a .380 caliber semi-automatic pistol loaded with six rounds of ammunition, and a safe containing more than 12 ounces of heroin. Drug paraphernalia, including hundreds of glassine envelopes, were also discovered in the home.
• Rojas-Flores was treated at the hospital for injuries to his liver from the gunshot wound.

Assistant District Attorney Eric Weinstein prosecuted the case under the supervision of Assistant District Attorney Michael Whitney, Senior Deputy Bureau Chief, of the District Attorney’s Career Criminal Major Crimes Bureau, and Deputy Bureau Chief Roni Piplani, and under the overall supervision of Executive Assistant District Attorney for the Major Crimes Division Shawn Clark.

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