Posts by ASokol@queensda.org
JAMAICA RESIDENT SENTENCED TO 36 YEARS IN PRISON FOR FATAL SHOOTING IN JANUARY 2020 AND SECOND HOMICIDE IN APRIL 2021
Queens District Attorney Melinda Katz announced that Ashik Zaman was sentenced today to 36 years in prison for killing a 39-year-old man in 2020 in a dispute over money and for fatally shooting another man in 2021 outside a liquor store in South Ozone Park. That victim died the next day, his 29th birthday. District…
Read MoreYour Weekly Update – July 12, 2024
My office works every day to prevent gun violence and to stop the manufacture of ghost guns — unregulated and untraceable firearms often made at home that have increasingly been found at crime scenes. We recently filed an amicus brief in a legal case before the U.S. Supreme Court… (continued)
Read MoreLONG ISLAND MAN SENTENCED TO THREE TO NINE YEARS FOR STEALING ELDERLY WOMAN’S EAST ELMHURST HOME
Queens District Attorney Melinda Katz announced that Marcus Wilcher was sentenced today to three to nine years in prison for stealing an East Elmhurst home from its elderly owner by using forged documents and by creating a fictitious character – the owner’s purported son — to facilitate the transaction. The home was then sold for…
Read MoreSIX PEOPLE INDICTED FOR ATTEMPTED GANG ASSAULT OF POLICE OFFICERS WHO WERE CHECKING ON WELFARE OF UNATTENDED CHILDREN OUTSIDE LONG ISLAND CITY HOTEL
Queens District Attorney Melinda Katz announced that six people were arraigned on a grand jury indictment charging them with attempted assault in the first degree, attempted gang assault in the first and second degrees and related crimes for an attack on two NYPD officers. The officers were checking on the welfare of three unattended children…
Read MoreHOLLIS MAN INDICTED ON GUN CHARGES AFTER CACHE OF WEAPONS FOUND IN CAR DURING TRAFFIC STOP IN EAST ELMHURST
Queens District Attorney Melinda Katz announced that Judd Sanson has been indicted by a grand jury and arraigned on charges of criminal possession of a weapon and other crimes after a traffic stop in East Elmhurst near LaGuardia Airport led to the discovery of an arsenal of weapons along with body armor inside his vehicle.…
Read MoreYour Weekly Update – July 5, 2024
My office is currently handling several open investigations into card skimming — a type of theft that occurs when illegally installed devices on ATMs, cashier terminals, or fuel pumps capture card data and record PIN entries for purposes of fraud… (continued)
Read MoreREPUTED GANG MEMBER SENTENCED TO 20 YEARS TO LIFE IN PRISON FOR DEADLY SHOOTING OF CORONA TEEN
Queens District Attorney Melinda Katz announced that Dennis Vassilenko, a member of the Crips 8 Trey gang, was sentenced to 20 years to life in prison for the murder of 17-year-old Eduardo Hernandez-Martinez in July 2021. Vassilenko was found guilty of murder following a jury trial for shooting the teen at point-blank range in front…
Read MoreYour Weekly Update – June 28, 2024
My office secured a 22-year prison sentence this week for a man who unleashed a violent, unprovoked attack on a commuter at the Howard Beach-JFK Airport subway station in September 2022… (continued)
Read MoreFOREST HILLS MAN CHARGED WITH ATTEMPTED MURDER IN BEATING OF WOODSIDE DELI WORKER
Queens District Attorney Melinda Katz announced that Osvel Diaz was arraigned on a criminal complaint charging him with attempted murder and assault in the beating of a 62-year-old worker at the Sunnyside Mini Mart in Woodside on June 17. Diaz allegedly pummeled the victim until he was rendered unconscious and then continued to kick him…
Read MoreBERNARDO RAUL CASTRO MATA ARRAIGNED ON INDICTMENT CHARGES OF FIRST- DEGREE ATTEMPTED MURDER FOR SHOOTING TWO POLICE OFFICERS
Queens District Attorney Melinda Katz announced that Bernardo Raul Castro Mata was arraigned today on grand jury indictment charges of two counts of attempted murder in the first and second degrees, and other related crimes, for allegedly shooting two NYPD officers who attempted to pull him over on June 3 for driving the wrong way…
Read MoreTWO MEN INDICTED IN 2021 MURDER-FOR-HIRE CASE IN SOUTH JAMAICA
Queens District Attorney Melinda Katz announced that Jayson Scott and Richard Swygert were arraigned today on an indictment charging Scott with first- and second-degree murder and Swygert with second-degree murder in the 2021 shooting death of 47-year-old Darius Guillebeaux in South Jamaica. Scott is alleged to have been hired to kill Guillebeaux. District Attorney Katz…
Read MoreARVERNE MAN SENTENCED TO 10 YEARS IN PRISON FOR DEADLY ATTACK ON TAXI DRIVER OVER UNPAID FARE
Queens District Attorney Melinda Katz announced that Austin Amos was sentenced today to 10 years in prison for his role in a violent attack that killed Kutin Gyimah, a 52-year-old taxi driver, following a confrontation over an unpaid fare from Manhattan to Far Rockaway in 2022. Amos was among a group of passengers in the…
Read MoreSUBWAY ATTACKER SENTENCED TO 22 YEARS IN PRISON FOR ATTEMPTED MURDER OF COMMUTER AT HOWARD BEACH-JFK AIRPORT STATION
Queens District Attorney Melinda Katz announced that Waheed Foster was sentenced today to 22 years in prison for the violent, unprovoked attempted murder of a commuter at the Howard Beach – JFK Airport subway station in September 2022. The victim, who was on her way to work at the time of the attack, was so…
Read MoreYour Weekly Update – June 21, 2024
We charged a man this week with first-degree rape, two counts of kidnapping, predatory sexual assault and other crimes for attacking two 13-year-olds in Kissena Park in the middle of the afternoon on June 13… (continued)
Read MoreCORONA MAN CHARGED WITH RAPE AND KIDNAPPING FOR ATTACK ON 13-YEAR-OLD IN KISSENA PARK
Queens District Attorney Melinda Katz announced that Christian Inga was charged today with first-degree rape, two counts of kidnapping in the second degree, predatory sexual assault and other crimes for attacking two 13-year-olds who were in Kissena Park in the middle of the afternoon on June 13. He is alleged to have held them at…
Read MoreFOUR PEOPLE CHARGED FOR ATTEMPTED GANG ASSAULT OF POLICE OFFICERS WHO WERE CHECKING ON WELFARE OF UNATTENDED CHILDREN OUTSIDE LONG ISLAND CITY HOTEL
Queens District Attorney Melinda Katz announced that two NYPD officers, who were checking on the welfare of three unattended children on bikes outside a Long Island City hotel, were attacked by a group of adults at approximately 4:20 a.m. on June 17. Four defendants were arraigned today, accused of attempted gang assault and related charges,…
Read MoreYour Weekly Update – June 14, 2024
My office seized an unlicensed mobile cannabis dispensary, known as “The Green Empress,” on the corner of 43rd Street and Queens Boulevard in Sunnyside this week… (continued)
Read MoreNEARLY 100 ILLEGALLY PARKED SCOOTERS SEIZED BY DA’S OFFICE AND NYPD
Queens District Attorney Melinda Katz announced the seizure of 99 scooters parked illegally on the sidewalk and in the street in South Jamaica, South Ozone Park, South Richmond Hill, Corona, Elmhurst and Jackson Heights. One unregistered motorcycle and one unregistered dirt bike parked on a sidewalk were also confiscated. The vast majority of the parked…
Read MoreYour Weekly Update – June 7, 2024
My office filed two counts of attempted murder in the first degree against a man who allegedly shot two NYPD officers in East Elmhurst on Monday… (continued)
Read MoreSUBWAY ATTACKER PLEADS GUILTY TO ATTEMPTED MURDER FOR BRUTAL ASSAULT THAT LEFT WOMAN BLIND IN ONE EYE
Queens District Attorney Melinda Katz announced that Waheed Foster has pleaded guilty to attempted murder for the violent, unprovoked assault of a subway rider in September 2022 at the Howard Beach/JFK station. The victim, who was on her way to work at the time of the attack, underwent emergency surgery for her injuries which resulted…
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