Announcements
DEFENDANT PLEADS GUILTY TO MANSLAUGHTER IN KILLING OF WOMAN WHOSE BODY WAS DISCOVERED IN DUFFEL BAG
Queens District Attorney Melinda Katz announced that David Bonola today pleaded guilty to manslaughter for the brutal slaying of Orsolya Gaal, whose body was discovered in a sports duffel bag near Forest Park. District Attorney Katz said, “This heinous killing devastated an entire family, left two boys without a mother, and horrified the surrounding community….
ACCUSED BUS HIJACKER CHARGED FOR UNLAWFULLY SEIZING MTA BUS IN CAMBRIA HEIGHTS
Queens District Attorney Melinda Katz announced today that Dwayne Gaddy has been charged with grand larceny, robbery, reckless endangerment and other crimes for allegedly commandeering a crowded MTA bus in Cambria Heights on Thursday morning with what appeared to be a handgun. All of the approximate 30 passengers were able to escape from the bus…
DISTRICT ATTORNEY KATZ SECURES INDICTMENT OF UNLICENSED DRIVER IN DEADLY HIT-AND-RUN OF 5-YEAR-OLD BOY
Queens District Attorney Melinda Katz announced today that Xavier Carchipulla has been indicted by a Queens County grand jury and arraigned in Supreme Court on charges of criminally negligent homicide and other crimes. The defendant, who is not licensed to drive, is alleged to have been the driver of a 2018 Dodge RAM that fatally…
QUEENS MAN PLEADS GUILTY TO MANSLAUGHTER IN KILLING OF WWI VETERAN MISSING SINCE 1976
Queens District Attorney Melinda Katz announced today that Martin Motta, 75, has pleaded guilty to manslaughter for the 1976 killing of an 81-year-old World War I Veteran. Motta faces 20 years in prison. District Attorney Katz said: “This long-cold case marks the first successful application in New York City of forensic genetic genealogy. No matter…
QUEENS MAN INDICTED ON ATTEMPTED MURDER CHARGES FOR SHOOTING CORRECTION OFFICER IN JAMAICA
Queens District Attorney Melinda Katz announced today that Mark Gibbs, 23, has been indicted by a Queens County grand jury and arraigned in Supreme Court on attempted murder, assault and other charges. The defendant allegedly fired multiple shots into a crowd on the street during an altercation on the street last July. Defendant Sevaughn Green,…
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…
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…