Press Releases
MANHATTAN MAN CHARGED FOR UNPROVOKED ASSAULT OF TWO STRAPHANGERS ON SUBWAY PLATFORM IN KEW GARDENS
Queens District Attorney Melinda Katz announced that Tyquan Manassa was arraigned late last night on charges of assault and weapon possession for an unprovoked attack on two commuters inside the Union Turnpike-Kew Gardens train station on Wednesday. Both victims were slashed in the face while waiting for the train to arrive. District Attorney Katz said:…
GLENDALE MAN SENTENCED TO 24 YEARS IN PRISON FOR MASPETH TAVERN KILLING
Queens District Attorney Melinda Katz announced that Marcin Pieciak was sentenced to 24 years in prison for fatally stabbing his girlfriend, Sarah McNally, in March 2024. The defendant pleaded guilty to manslaughter last month in satisfaction of the indictment against him. Pieciak cornered the victim while she worked at a Maspeth tavern, fatally attacked her,…
REPEAT OFFENDER EXTRADITED FROM CALIFORNIA ON BAIL JUMPING CHARGES
Queens District Attorney Melinda Katz announced that Freddy Arias Zapata was extradited and arraigned on an indictment charging him with bail jumping, an E felony, in regard to three separate grand larcenies and a burglary that took place between May and November 2024. Zapata is accused of stealing luxury items, cash and other valuables from…
32 REPUTED GANG MEMBERS INDICTED ON MURDER, ATTEMPTED MURDER AND CONSPIRACY CHARGES FOR FOUR-YEAR TURF WAR IN SOUTHEAST QUEENS
Queens District Attorney Melinda Katz and New York City Police Department Commissioner Jessica S. Tisch announced today that 32 reputed members of the Bad-Co Ballout gang have been indicted following a year-long investigation into multiple shootings and homicides in Southeast Queens dating back to 2021. It was the largest single gang takedown in the history…
BRONX MAN SENTENCED TO 24 YEARS IN PRISON FOR STEALING VICTIM’S CAR AND RUNNING OVER THE MAN WITH HIS OWN VEHICLE
Queens District Attorney Melinda Katz announced that Zahir Williams was sentenced to 24 years in prison for the death of Francisco Ortega in October 2023. The 50-year-old victim was viciously beaten by Williams and his cohorts and left lying in an Astoria intersection. Williams then stole the victim’s car and deliberately drove over Ortega’s unconscious…
JOHN DOE DEFENDANT SENTENCED FOR STEALING THREE QUEENS COUNTY HOMES
Queens District Attorney Melinda Katz announced that a John Doe defendant – who has used multiple aliases – was sentenced to 4 ½ years to nine years in prison for stealing three homes in Queens. The defendant was arrested in March under the name of Carl Avinger for his role in an ongoing deed fraud…
FAR ROCKAWAY WOMAN SENTENCED TO 18 YEARS IN PRISON FOR STRIKING MAN ON SIDEWALK IN FATAL HIT-AND-RUN
Queens District Attorney Melinda Katz announced that Kiani Phoenix was sentenced to 18 years in prison after pleading guilty to manslaughter for the death of 59-year-old Milton Storch in Far Rockaway in 2022. Phoenix, who had been arguing with another woman outside a deli, entered her car and accelerated toward the woman but instead hit…
TRIO INDICTED FOR MORTGAGE FRAUD
Queens District Attorney Melinda Katz announced that Daniel Fama, his wife, Marjorie Fama, and Benedetto Cupo were indicted by a grand jury and arraigned on charges of grand larceny, criminal possession of stolen property and other crimes for falsifying employment verification documents to obtain a $550,000 mortgage for the Famas’ home on Staten Island. District…
ROSEDALE MAN CHARGED WITH POSSESSION OF GHOST GUN CACHE FOUND AT HIS HOME
Queens District Attorney Melinda Katz announced that Lianu Luis Brown Delgado has been charged with weapons possession and other crimes after an investigation led to the recovery of eight guns, including seven ghost guns and more than 100 rounds of ammunition, at the defendant’s Rosedale home. The guns were allegedly made on a 3D printer…
GLENDALE MAN PLEADS GUILTY TO DEADLY STABBING AT MASPETH TAVERN
Queens District Attorney Melinda Katz announced that Marcin Pieciak pleaded guilty today to manslaughter in the first degree for fatally stabbing his girlfriend, Sarah McNally, at a Maspeth tavern in March 2024. McNally was working as a bartender when Pieciak stabbed her then slit his own throat. District Attorney Katz said: “Marcin Pieciak walked into…
FORMER CORRECTION OFFICER CHARGED WITH FILING PHONY DOCUMENTATION FOR MEDICAL TREATMENT
Queens District Attorney Melinda Katz and New York City Department of Investigation Commissioner Jocelyn E. Strauber announced that Equanna Escalera was arraigned on charges of grand larceny and offering a false instrument for filing for submitting documentation falsely claiming that she had been treated by a doctor and physical therapists 29 times in 2022 to…
HIT-AND-RUN DRIVER INDICTED FOR MANSLAUGHTER IN DEATH OF HIGHWAY WORKER ON NASSAU EXPRESSWAY
Queens District Attorney Melinda Katz announced today that Daveanand Budhai was arraigned on an indictment charging him with manslaughter, assault, leaving the scene and other crimes for the death of Isabel Alvarez, a construction zone flag person working on the Nassau Expressway in September who was allegedly struck and killed by the defendant. Budhai is…
DA KATZ HOSTS FIRST MISSING PERSONS DAY IN QUEENS WITH NYC OCME AND US REP GRACE MENG
Queens District Attorney Melinda Katz announced the first Queens Missing Persons Day, hosted in partnership with the New York City Office of Chief Medical Examiner (OCME) and U.S. Rep. Grace Meng on October 24. The free event provided one-on-one assistance for families of loved ones who have been missing for 60 days or more. Attendees…
ELMHURST MAN SENTENCED TO 50 YEARS TO LIFE IN PRISON FOR MURDERING MOTHER AND BROTHER
Queens District Attorney Melinda Katz announced that Roscoe Danielson was sentenced today to 50 years to life in prison for the murder of his mother and brother in July 2023. The defendant was convicted last month of murder and concealing his brother’s body in a garbage bag and dragging it from the family’s East Elmhurst…
QUEENS VILLAGE MAN INDICTED FOR LABOR TRAFFICKING, GRAND LARCENY
Queens District Attorney Melinda Katz announced that Rippon Uddin was indicted by a grand jury on charges of labor trafficking, grand larceny and other crimes for stealing approximately $18,000 from a Bangladeshi man — in the United States on a student visa — by falsely telling him he would hire an immigration attorney on his…
RICHMOND HILL MAN INDICTED FOR UNPROVOKED KNIFE ATTACK ON 7 TRAIN PASSENGER
Queens District Attorney Melinda Katz announced that Luis Pallchisaca was indicted on charges of attempted murder, assault and weapon possession for a violent knife attack against another subway passenger on board the 7 train at the Mets-Willetts Point station in Corona in September. Pallchisaca approached a 25-year-old man as he boarded the subway, slashed the…
GEORGIA MAN ARRESTED FOR RAPING FIVE VICTIMS IN SOUTHEAST QUEENS IN THE 1990s
Queens District Attorney Melinda Katz announced that Michael Benjamin was arraigned today on an indictment charging him with rape in the first degree, sodomy in the first degree, sexual assault in the first degree, burglary in the first degree and other crimes for allegedly raping five women from 1995 to 1997. The defendant was originally…
FORMER SCHOOL STAFFER CHARGED WITH STEALING MORE THAN $400,000 FROM FLUSHING SCHOOL
Queens District Attorney Melinda Katz announced that Abi Corbin was arraigned on a grand jury indictment charging her with grand larceny and identity theft for stealing $415,000 from the East-West School of International Studies (P.S. 281Q) where she worked as a community associate. Her role included processing work orders and the stolen money was meant…
FLUSHING DOCTOR CHARGED WITH GRAND LARCENY FOR STEALING STATE MONEY MEANT TO EXPAND ACCESS TO CARE FOR WOMEN
Queens District Attorney Melinda Katz and New York State Health Commissioner Dr. James V. McDonald announced that Dr. QiLi Li was charged with grand larceny and other crimes for misusing nearly $300,000 in state grant money meant to expand access to abortion services at her Flushing practice. She allegedly used the funds to provide cosmetic…
DRUG DEALER SENTENCED TO 18 YEARS IN PRISON FOR POSSESSING TWO KILOGRAMS OF DEADLY FENTANYL
Queens District Attorney Melinda Katz announced that Dennis Carrol was sentenced to 18 years in prison after being convicted by a jury in March of criminal possession of a controlled substance. Approximately 2 kilograms of fentanyl, with an estimated street value of $80,000, were recovered in the trunk of Carrol’s car in November 2022 during…
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