Press Releases
QUEENS MAN SENTENCED TO LIFE IN PRISON FOR TRIPLE STABBING OF GIRLFRIEND, HER SON AND A COUSIN
Queens District Attorney Melinda Katz announced that Travis Blake was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole for the 2022 murders of his girlfriend, Karlene Barnett, and two of her family members, Dervon Brightly and Vashawna Malcolm. Blake was convicted by a jury last month of murder in the first degree and…
LONG ISLAND MAN WHO KIDNAPPED, BEAT AND TORTURED TWO MEN AFTER LURING THEM SEPARATELY TO LOCATIONS FOR SEX SENTENCED TO 20 YEARS IN PRISON
Queens District Attorney Melinda Katz announced today that Gil Iphael has been sentenced to 20 years in prison after pleading guilty to kidnapping, robbery and promoting prostitution for three separate incidents. The defendant lured his victims to locations for sex with the help of a co-defendant, then the victims were detained, assaulted and robbed. In…
ALLEGED VANDAL INDICTED ON CRIMINAL CHARGES AFTER DESTROYING RELIGIOUS STATUE IN ASTORIA CATHOLIC CHURCH
Queens District Attorney Melinda Katz announced that Jose Rodriguez has been indicted on charges of burglary, attempted assault, hate crime of aggravated harassment and other related crimes for allegedly striking a statue of the baby Jesus in front of the altar at Immaculate Conception Church in Astoria on April 6. The statue fell to the…
TWO MEN CHARGED WITH ATTEMPTED MURDER FOR SHOOTING AN OFF-DUTY POLICE OFFICER DURING AN ATTEMPTED CARJACKING
Queens District Attorney Melinda Katz announced that Denzel Brown and Marvin Dankwah have been charged with attempted murder, attempted robbery, weapon possession and other related crimes for attempting to steal a green BMW from an off-duty police officer at gunpoint and shooting at the vehicle as the victim tried driving away. The shooting, which took…
FAKE PLASTIC SURGEON INDICTED ON MANSLAUGHTER CHARGES FOR PERFORMING PROCEDURE ON 31-YEAR-OLD WOMAN WHO DIED AFTER IMPLANT REMOVAL
Queens District Attorney Melinda Katz announced that Felipe Hoyos Foronda has been indicted by a grand jury on charges of manslaughter, assault and unauthorized practice of a profession for allegedly performing cosmetic surgery without a license in his Astoria home. The 31-year-old victim, Maria Penaloza, went into cardiac arrest and died 14 days later. District…
LONG ISLAND MAN INDICTED FOR MURDER OF MOTORCYCLIST IN FATAL ROAD RAGE INCIDENT
Queens District Attorney Melinda Katz announced today that Jordan Rosen was indicted by a grand jury and charged with murder in the second degree for the death of a 55-year-old Astoria man on April 5 during an alleged road rage incident that began on a Long Island Expressway exit ramp. Rosen pursued the other driver,…
NYPD OFFICER CHARGED WITH ATTEMPTING TO DISSEMINATE INDECENT MATERIAL TO A MINOR
Queens District Attorney Melinda Katz announced today that Travis Desouza, a New York City police officer, was charged with attempted dissemination of indecent material to minors, official misconduct and other crimes for allegedly sending sexually explicit content via an online app to an undercover officer posing as a 14-year-old. Desouza was assigned to a Brooklyn…
DA KATZ SHUTTERS ILLEGAL MOBILE CANNABIS DISPENSARY IN REGO PARK
Queens District Attorney Melinda Katz announced the closure of an unlicensed mobile cannabis dispensary that operated at Woodhaven Boulevard underneath the Long Island Expressway in Rego Park, near a school and park. In response to community complaints, the Queens District Attorney detective investigators conducted a series of undercover purchases at the van, which had…
QUEENS MAN CHARGED WITH RAPE OF WOMAN IN JAMAICA
Queens District Attorney Melinda Katz announced today that Rody Morales Cu was charged with rape and sexual abuse for allegedly raping a 50-year-old woman early last Friday morning in Jamaica. District Attorney Katz said: “Rody Morales Cu is accused of accosting a stranger on a Jamaica street in the early morning hours of April 11…
DRIVER INDICTED ON MANSLAUGHTER AND DWI CHARGES FOR PRE-DAWN COLLISION THAT KILLED MOTORIST ON NORTHERN BOULEVARD
Queens District Attorney Melinda Katz announced that Michael Pena has been indicted by a grand jury on charges of manslaughter, driving while intoxicated and related crimes for allegedly driving at a high rate of speed under the influence of drugs and alcohol, and slamming his Mercedes-Benz into another motorist at the intersection of 107th Street…
MOTORIST INDICTED FOR MURDER OF BREEZY POINT MAN AFTER ROAD RAGE INCIDENT THAT BEGAN ON BELT PARKWAY
Queens District Attorney Melinda Katz announced that Malcolm Anglin was arraigned today on charges of murder in the second degree, leaving the scene of an incident without reporting causing death and criminal possession of a weapon. The defendant is accused of intentionally driving into a 55-year-old man in a Breezy Point parking lot in May…
HALF OF ‘BONNIE AND CLYDE’ MAIL THEFT TEAM SENTENCED TO 3 ½ to 7 YEARS IN PRISON FOR BURGLARY SPREE
Queens District Attorney Melinda Katz announced today that Brandon Sestoso was sentenced to 3 ½ to seven years in prison in connection with five residential apartment mailbox thefts between April and August 2024. Sestoso, allegedly accompanied by a female co-conspirator — leading the pair to be dubbed “Bonnie and Clyde” by members of law enforcement…
DRUG DEALING OPERATION DISMANTLED IN JACKSON HEIGHTS
Queens District Attorney Melinda Katz announced the indictment of nine individuals who were charged with selling and possessing controlled substances following a 17-month-long investigation into a drug peddling operation centered on 95th Street in Jackson Heights. Undercover investigators made 40 buys of cocaine, crack and fentanyl with a street value of more than $12,000. District…
QUEENS MEN INDICTED FOR SEX TRAFFICKING, PROMOTING PROSTITUTION
Queens District Attorney Melinda Katz announced that Xu Cheng Sun and Jingchao Zhang have been indicted by a grand jury on charges of sex trafficking, promoting prostitution and other crimes for trafficking a Chinese woman inside an East Flushing brothel. The woman arrived in the US from China in November and was taken to a…
QUEENS MAN PLEADS GUILTY TO SEX TRAFFICKING TEENAGER AND WEAPONS CHARGES
Queens District Attorney Melinda Katz announced that Troy Siddons pleaded guilty to sex trafficking and weapon possession charges for paying a 14-year-old for sex and later coercing her to engage in sex acts with paying customers to pay off a purported debt. The victim was held against her will and denied medical treatment for pain…
THREE CHARGED IN 2019 STABBING DEATH OF 17-YEAR-OLD IN SOUTH JAMAICA
Queens District Attorney Melinda Katz announced today that Tianna Benjamin, Charles Gillespie and Kyra Tyrell have been indicted by a grand jury and charged with murder, weapon possession and conspiracy in the November 2019 stabbing death of 17-year-old Talasia Cuffie. The victim attended a memorial basketball game being held in honor of Aamir Griffin, a…
SUBWAY ATTACKER CONVICTED OF ROBBERY AND ASSAULT FOR HAMMER ATTACK ON WOMAN IN QUEENS PLAZA STATION IN 2022
Queens District Attorney Melinda Katz announced that William Blount has been convicted of robbery in the first degree, assault in the first degree and other crimes for brutally attacking a straphanger as she entered the Queens Plaza subway station in Long Island City in 2022. Blount approached the victim from behind, kicked her down the…
SIBLING SENTENCED TO 25 YEARS TO LIFE IN PRISON FOR FATALLY STABBING BROTHER
Queens District Attorney Melinda Katz announced that Henrry Gutierrez was sentenced to 25 years to life in prison for fatally stabbing his 52-year-old brother in July 2022. The incident occurred during an argument inside a multi-unit Jamaica residence where the two men lived on separate floors. District Attorney Katz said: “This is an extraordinary family…
QUEENS MAN FOUND GUILTY IN 2022 TRIPLE HOMICIDE STABBING DEATHS OF HIS GIRLFRIEND, HER SON AND A COUSIN
Queens District Attorney Melinda Katz announced that Travis Blake was convicted at trial of murder in the first degree and other crimes for the vicious deaths of his girlfriend and two of her family members. The victims were found with an array of puncture and blunt force wounds and in a state of decomposition when…
QUEENS DISTRICT ATTORNEY MELINDA KATZ SWEARS IN SIX NEW ASSISTANT DISTRICT ATTORNEYS
From left to right Maria Simonova, Jessica Laguerre, Laurane Fumex, the DA, Emily Jilson, Naomi-Beth Carter, and Elizabeth Mullin. Queens District Attorney Melinda Katz announced today the appointment of six new Assistant District Attorneys to the Queens District Attorney’s Office. The new ADAs received their degrees from Columbia Law School, Cornell Law School, Emory University…
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