Announcements
QUEENS DISTRICT ATTORNEY MELINDA KATZ APPOINTS 49 NEW ASSISTANT DISTRICT ATTORNEYS
Queens District Attorney Melinda Katz today announced the appointment of 49 new assistant district attorneys, the largest class to ever join the Queens District Attorney’s Office. “I am proud to welcome this diverse group of talented professionals into the Queens District Attorney’s Office. I look forward to working with them in support of this Office’s…
QUEENS MAN SENTENCED TO 12 YEARS IN PRISON FOR ASSAULTING POLICE OFFICER WHO WAS STRUCK IN EYE WITH CROWBAR
Queens District Attorney Melinda Katz today announced that Andres Tabares, 40, has been sentenced to 12 years in prison on assault charges for striking a police officer with a crowbar causing severe physical injuries. Police officers were pursuing two defendants who were attempting to burglarize a home on April 16, 2019, in Kew Gardens, Queens…
BRONX MAN SENTENCED TO EIGHT YEARS IN PRISON FOR SLASHING MAN AFTER HURLING HOMOPHOBIC AND RACIAL SLURS
Queens District Attorney Melinda Katz announced today that Ramon Castro, 56, has been sentenced to 8 years in prison for assault as a hate crime for a July 2021 incident near a Flushing, Queens subway station where he slashed a man in the face after using racial and homophobic slurs. District Attorney Katz said, “Hate-motivated…
SECOND INDICTMENT OF COUPLE ON SEX TRAFFICKING AND PROMOTING PROSTITUTION CHARGES
Queens District Attorney Melinda Katz today announced that defendants Destiny Lebron, 19 and Gil Iphael, 22, have been indicted by a Queens County grand jury and arraigned in Supreme Court on sex trafficking and other charges in the July 2022 incident that took place inside the Quality Inn hotel in Jamaica, Queens. District Attorney Katz…
FAR ROCKAWAY WOMAN INDICTED ON MURDER CHARGES IN FATAL SIDEWALK HIT AND RUN
Queens District Attorney Melinda Katz announced today that Kiani Phoenix, 26, has been indicted by a Queens County grand jury on murder and other charges for allegedly fatally striking a 59-year-old man with her vehicle as she drove onto the sidewalk outside of a deli convenience store on August 27th in Far Rockaway. The defendant…
WOMAN INDICTED FOR STASH OF ILLEGAL WEAPONS FOUND IN HER BRIARWOOD HOME
Queens District Attorney Melinda Katz announced today that Dorothy Hirsch, 62, has been indicted by a Queens County grand jury on criminal possession of a weapon and other charges after eight illegal weapons, six of them semi-automatic, as well as hundreds of rounds of ammunition were allegedly found inside her apartment on 84th Road in…
QUEENS MAN INDICTED ON CHILD SEX TRAFFICKING AND OTHER CHARGES FOR FORCING GIRLFRIEND INTO PROSTITUTION
Queens District Attorney Melinda Katz today announced that Orlando Ramirez, 24, has been indicted by a Queens County grand jury and arraigned in Queens Supreme Court on sex trafficking charges and other crimes for bringing his 17-year-old girlfriend from Mexico and allegedly forcing her into having sex with strangers for cash for several years until…
MAN CHARGED WITH MURDER IN SHOOTING DEATH OF FEMALE FRIEND
Queens District Attorney Melinda Katz announced today that Tariek Sykes, 34, has been charged with murder and criminal possession of a weapon for allegedly shooting his female friend in broad daylight on the street in Richmond Hill. The August 1, 2022 shooting took place following a verbal dispute between the defendant and the victim. District…
TEEN CHARGED WITH HATE ATTACK ON QUEENS BUS
Queens District Attorney Melinda Katz announced today that a 16-year-old girl has been charged with assault as a hate crime and other charges for allegedly assaulting a 57-year-old-woman on a public bus near the intersection of Jamaica Avenue and Woodhaven Boulevard on July 9, 2022. An apprehended juvenile female has also been charged and a…
QUEENS MAN SENTENCED TO 23 YEARS IN PRISON FOR SEXUALLY ABUSING SEVEN-YEAR-OLD GIRL HE BABYSAT FOR THREE YEARS
Queens District Attorney Melinda Katz announced today that Jose Nivelo, 43, has been sentenced to 23 years in prison for sexually abusing a seven-year-old girl over a three-year period starting in 2012. The defendant was babysitting the girl in his Queens home when the abuse occurred. District Attorney Katz said, “Instead of providing safe care…
GUN TRAFFICKING CREW DISMANTLED WITH 1,611-COUNT INDICTMENT OF TENNESSEE MAN AND FOUR NYC RESIDENTS FOLLOWING LONG-TERM INVESTIGATION
Queens District Attorney Melinda Katz, joined by New York City Police Commissioner Keechant L. Sewell, today announced a 1,611-count indictment and the arrests of five individuals allegedly involved in a gun trafficking ring using the notorious Iron Pipeline to smuggle guns purchased in Knoxville, Tennessee, which were then sold illegally in Queens County. Law enforcement…
BROOKLYN RESIDENT PLEADS GUILTY TO MANSLAUGHTER IN 2021 SHOOTING DEATH OF MAN IN ST. ALBANS
Queens District Attorney Melinda Katz announced today that Rayshawn Cherry, 28, has pleaded guilty to manslaughter for the shooting death of man in St. Albans, Queens. The victim was gunned down following a foot chase upon leaving the defendant’s girlfriend’s home on June 11, 2021. District Attorney Katz said, “My Office will not stand for…
BRONX MAN SENTENCED TO 19 YEARS IN PRISON FOR ATTEMPTED MURDER AFTER BEATING WOMAN WITH NAIL-RIDDLED WOODEN PLANK
Queens District Attorney Melinda Katz announced today that James Fitzgerald, 55, has been sentenced to 19 years in prison after pleading guilty to attempted murder for the May 16, 2020, vicious beating of his estranged girlfriend. The victim was attacked by the defendant on the sidewalk in front of a fish market in Jamaica, Queens….
BOYFRIEND OF WOMAN KILLED AND STUFFED IN CAR TRUNK INDICTED BY QUEENS GRAND JURY ON MURDER CHARGES
Queens District Attorney Melinda Katz announced today that Kareem Flake, 30, has been indicted by a Queens County grand jury and arraigned in Supreme Court on charges of murder, kidnapping and other crimes following his extradition from Florida. The defendant is accused of killing a 26-year-old mother of two from Troy, NY in November 2020….
TRIO PLEADS GUILTY IN HOME FORECLOSURE SCAM; OVER $400,000 IN RESTITUTION SECURED FOR VICTIM
Queens District Attorney Melinda Katz announced today that Jonathan Marcus, Vincent Longobardi and Edward Doran – as well as East Coast Money Finders, Inc. – pleaded guilty to criminal possession of stolen property and subsequently made restitution of more than $400,000 to the victim. The trio and the company were indicted by a grand jury…
QUEENS DISTRICT ATTORNEY MELINDA KATZ ANNOUNCES THE APPOINTMENTS OF CHIEF INVESTIGATOR AND EXECUTIVE ASSISTANT DISTRICT ATTORNEY OF CRIMINAL PRACTICE & POLICY DIVISION
District Attorney Melinda Katz today announced the appointments of two executives who will assist in streamlining inter-office processes and enhancing public safety protocols within Queens County. Retired NYPD Assistant Chief Thomas Conforti has been appointed as Chief Investigator and veteran prosecutor Theresa M. Shanahan has been appointed as Executive Assistant District Attorney for Criminal Practice…
JURY CONVICTS DEFENDANT OF ASSAULT IN THE FIRST DEGREE FOR STABBING MAN WITH BROKEN BOTTLE FOLLOWING MINOR CAR ACCIDENT
Queens District Attorney Melinda Katz announced today that Robert Finley, 46, has been convicted at trial of assault in the first degree for stabbing a man in the face with a broken glass bottle. A minor traffic incident escalated into a near-deadly altercation when the victim stepped out of his vehicle after his car was…
BROOKLYN MAN SENTENCED TO EIGHT YEARS IN PRISON AFTER PLEADING GUILTY TO SEX TRAFFICKING A TEEN GIRL
Queens District Attorney Melinda Katz announced today that Jordan Adderley, 32, was sentenced to eight years in prison after pleading guilty to sex trafficking of a child, rape and other crimes. The defendant profited from the prostitution of a 16-year-old girl whom he drove to various hotels, including the now-closed Umbrella Hotel in Kew Gardens,…
NYPD OFFICER INDICTED AND CHARGED WITH TAMPERING WITH EVIDENCE
Queens District Attorney Melinda Katz announced today that NYPD Police Officer Kevin Martin, 45, has been indicted by a Queens County grand jury and arraigned in Supreme Court on tampering with evidence and other charges. The defendant failed to wear his body-worn camera during a March 2019 arrest in which an illegal gun was recovered….
QUEENS MAN PLEADS GUILTY TO ATTEMPTED MURDER FOR SHOOTING FORMER SUNY BUFFALO FOOTBALL PLAYER
Queens District Attorney Melinda Katz announced today that Jeffrey Thurston, 28, has pleaded guilty to attempted murder, criminal possession of a weapon and other crimes for shooting a former student athlete outside a deli on Springfield Boulevard in July 2020. The defendant also pleaded guilty to burglary charges for a March 2020 incident involving an…
