QUEENS DISTRICT ATTORNEY MELINDA KATZ NAMES VETERAN PROSECUTOR TO RUN NEW FRAUDS BUREAU

District Attorney Melinda Katz today announced that veteran prosecutor Joseph T. Conley III has been named to head the Frauds Bureau of the Queens District Attorney’s Office, which was created earlier this fall. District Attorney Katz said, “Joseph Conley’s distinguished career in law enforcement, including 16 years with the Suffolk County District Attorney’s Office, made…

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QUEENS MAN INDICTED ON MURDER CHARGES IN DEATH OF GIRLFRIEND WHOSE BRUISED AND MANGLED BODY WAS FOUND UNDER 6TH FLOOR WINDOW

Queens District Attorney Melinda Katz announced today that Shmuel Levine, 34, has been indicted by a Queens County grand jury and arraigned in Supreme Court on murder charges. The defendant allegedly beat the 37-year-old victim to death in her home on October 26, 2020. Her battered remains were found below her apartment’s 6th floor window.…

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QUEENS MAN INDICTED FOR ATTEMPTED MURDER FOR SHOOTING DELIVERY DRIVER WHO BLOCKED TRAFFIC WITH TRUCK IN JANUARY

Queens District Attorney Melinda Katz announced today that Queens resident Jahsheen Osbourne has been arraigned in Queens Supreme Court after a grand jury handed up two indictments charging the defendant with attempted murder, weapons charges and other crimes for allegedly shooting and seriously injuring a UPS driver in January. The victim was working and delivering…

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QUEENS DRIVER INDICTED BY GRAND JURY IN DEATH OF FEMALE PASSENGER; DEFENDANT CHARGED WITH AGGRAVATED VEHICULAR HOMICIDE, MANSLAUGHTER AND OTHER CRIMES

Queens District Attorney Melinda Katz announced that Nicholas Thompson, 35, was arraigned in Queens Supreme Court yesterday following a grand jury handing up a 13-count indictment charging the defendant with aggravated vehicular homicide, manslaughter, DWI and other crimes for a deadly car crash in September in Far Rockaway, Queens. Queens District Attorney Melinda Katz said,…

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Laser Electric Workers Photo

QUEENS COUNTY DISTRICT ATTORNEY MELINDA KATZ presented checks totaling more than $1.5 million to victims of a prevailing wage scam. The money distributed is the stolen wages recovered by the DA’s Office following an investigation and the prosecution of Laser Electric and its owner Jagdeep Deol. The defendants pleaded guilty in September to failing to…

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Laser Electric Workers Photo 2

QUEENS COUNTY DISTRICT ATTORNEY MELINDA KATZ presented checks totaling more than $1.5 million to victims of a prevailing wage scam. The money distributed is the stolen wages recovered by the DA’s Office following an investigation and the prosecution of Laser Electric and its owner Jagdeep Deol. The defendants pleaded guilty in September to failing to…

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QUEENS MAN CHARGED WITH ARSON AND OTHER CRIMES AFTER ALLEGEDLY SETTING FIRE TO VEHICLES IN TOW YARD; MORE THAN 100 FIREFIGHTERS RESPONDED TO JULY 2020 BLAZE

Queens District Attorney Melinda Katz, joined by New York City Fire Department Commissioner Daniel Nigro, announced today that Egor Spiridonov, 30, has been charged with arson, criminal mischief and other crimes for allegedly setting a fire to his own tractor truck in a tow company’s lot after the vehicle had been impounded. The blaze burned…

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DRUG DEALER FROM GREAT NECK PLEADS GUILTY TO CRIMINALLY NEGLIGENT HOMICIDE

Queens District Attorney Melinda Katz announced today that Justin Lum, of Great Neck, has pleaded guilty to criminally negligent homicide and drug possession in separate incidents resulting in the deaths of his girlfriend and a male acquaintance. Both victims – who had previously overdosed on drugs supplied by the defendant – died after he re-supplied…

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BROOKLYN MAN SENTENCED TO PRISON AFTER PLEADING GUILTY TO AGGRAVATED VEHICULAR HOMICIDE FOR CRASH THAT KILLED A MAN AND HIS TWO DOGS

Queens District Melinda Katz announced today that Alex Elicier, 31, of Hart Street in Bedford-Stuyvesant has been sentenced to up to 15 years in prison after pleading guilty to aggravated vehicular homicide and other crimes. The defendant admitted he got behind the wheel of a car after drinking alcohol and smoking marijuana in August 2018.…

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MULTI-AGENCY INVESTIGATION TAKES DOWN HEISTS CREW ACCUSED OF STEALING AND SELLING MILLIONS IN DESIGNER GOODS FROM JFK; DEFENDANTS CHARGED WITH CONSPIRACY, LARCENY AND OTHER CRIMES

Queens District Attorney Melinda Katz, joined by the Port Authority Police Chief Security Officer John Bilich, today announced that six individuals involved in two cargo heists and selling the proceeds have been indicted and variously charged with grand larceny, conspiracy, criminal possession of stolen property and other crimes for allegedly carrying out complex heists from…

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MAN CHARGED WITH MURDER OF 26-YEAR-OLD DELI EMPLOYEE

Queens District Attorney Melinda Katz announced today that Steven Cohen, 63, has been charged with murder and other crimes for the Monday evening shooting that claimed the life of a 26-year-old man inside a Queens deli. District Attorney Katz said, “The incident started with a dispute and ended with the accused allegedly taking of the…

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QUEENS DISTRICT ATTORNEY MELINDA KATZ AND QUEENS DEFENDERS TEAM UP TO OFFER LOCAL COMMUNITY UNIQUE DIVERSION PROGRAM BASED AT THE ROCKAWAY COMMUNITY JUSTICE CENTER

Queens District Attorney Melinda Katz announced today that her office has entered into a formal agreement with Queens Defenders for the launch of a new diversion program based at the Rockaway Community Justice Center, at 19-22 Mott Avenue in Far Rockaway. Under the program, eligible defendants accused of low-level crimes are referred to this locally-based…

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QUEENS MAN CHARGED WITH MURDER IN STRAY BULLET DEATH OF NYCHA WORKER

Queens District Attorney Melinda Katz announced today that Jerald Bethea, is facing murder and weapons charges for shooting and killing a worker who was tending the grounds of the Astoria Houses in April 2020. The innocent bystander was hit by a bullet that was intended for someone else. District Attorney Katz said, “The victim in…

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DA KATZ ANNOUNCES FORMATION OF COMMUNITY ADVISORY COUNCILS

Queens District Attorney Melinda Katz announced today the creation of eight advisory councils to enhance communications between her office and the various communities that comprise the most diverse county in the United States. “The first time people interact with the District Attorney should not be during a time of crisis or tragedy,” DA Katz said.…

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QUEENS MOTHER ARRAIGNED ON CHARGES OF ATTEMPTED MURDER OF NEWBORN BOY

Queens District Attorney Melinda Katz today announced that Sabita Dookram, 23, has been charged with attempted murder and other crimes for allegedly tossing her newborn son out of her bathroom window shortly after she gave birth. District Attorney Katz said, “This is a heartbreaking situation. A newborn baby has suffered greatly because of the alleged…

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