Court Cases
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…
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…
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….
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…
MAN INDICTED BY QUEENS COUNTY GRAND JURY IN SHOOTING DEATH OF WOMAN STRUCK BY STRAY BULLET THROUGH BEDROOM WINDOW
Queens District Attorney Melinda Katz announced today that Issam Elabbar, 31, has been indicted by a Queens County grand jury and arraigned on murder, manslaughter and other charges for allegedly firing a single shot in the early hours of September 30, 2020. The bullet ripped through a 3rd floor apartment window striking a mother of…
LONG ISLAND RESIDENT CHARGED WITH MURDER IN DEATH OF GIRLFRIEND WHOSE BODY WAS DUMPED ON QUEENS EXPRESSWAY
Queens District Attorney Melinda Katz announced today that Goey Charles, 29, has been charged with murder in the death of his girlfriend, whose body was found Friday morning alongside the Horace Harding Expressway. District Attorney Katz said, “This is a heartbreaking case. A pregnant woman was allegedly killed by this defendant – the father of…
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…
LONG ISLAND MOTHER AND SON INDICTED ON MURDER CHARGES IN SHOOTING DEATH OF MAN GUNNED DOWN IN QUEENS
Queens District Attorney Melinda Katz announced today that Avita Campbell, 38, and her son Raymond Jackson, 22, have both been indicted by a Queens County grand jury on murder and other charges for the shooting death of a Far Rockaway man last month. Defendant Campbell has been arraigned in Supreme Court. Defendant Jackson has not…
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…
QUEENS MAN INDICTED FOR ATTEMPTED MURDER FOR SHOOTING AT NYPD OFFICERS RESPONDING TO DOMESTIC VIOLENCE 911 CALL
Queens District Attorney Melinda Katz announced today that a Queens County grand jury has indicted Rodolfo Montero, 25, who was arraigned on attempted murder in the first degree and other crimes for allegedly attacking the mother of his child and then firing multiple shots at police officers when they responded to her home this September…
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…
DA KATZ: QUEENS RESIDENT PLEADS GUILTY TO ATTEMPTED ASSAULT FOR SLASHING MAN IN FACE IN WHITE CASTLE RESTAURANT IN 2017
Queens District Attorney Melinda Katz today announced that Billy Lavayen, 34, a reputed founding member of ABK (Always Banging Kings) street gang, has pleaded guilty to attempted assault in the brutal slashing of a man in an Elmhurst fast food restaurant in February 2017. The victim was attacked by a group of men and women…
QUEENS MAN INDICTED ON MURDER CHARGES IN STABBING DEATH OF WIFE
Queens District Attorney Melinda Katz announced today that Carmelo Mendoza, 41, has been arraigned following a Queens County grand jury handing up an indictment charging the defendant with murder for fatally stabbing his wife inside their Jackson Heights apartment in July. District Attorney Katz said, “This is the worst outcome of domestic violence, an argument…
CIGARETTE SMUGGLER PAYS MORE THAN $1.3 MILLION TO NEW YORK STATE AFTER PLEADING GUILTY TO GRAND LARCENY
Queens District Attorney Melinda Katz announced today that Nicholas Galafano, 58, has agreed to forfeit more than $1.3 million in cash that was recovered during a long-term investigation into a cigarette smuggling ring run by the defendant. Galafano was sentenced today for illegally selling untaxed cigarettes. Over the course of 2020, the Queens District Attorney’s…
QUEENS RESIDENT CHARGED IN STRAY BULLET SHOOTING THAT KILLED MARRIED MOTHER OF THREE IN JACKSON HEIGHTS
Queens District Attorney Melinda Katz announced today that Issam Elabbar, 31, has been charged with murder, manslaughter and other crimes for allegedly firing a single shot on the morning of Wednesday, September 30 that pierced a 3rd floor apartment window and struck a woman, killing her. District Attorney Katz said, “This is a heart-wrenching case….
MAN INDICTED ON RAPE AND ASSAULT CHARGES FOR ATTACK ON WOMAN INSIDE FOREST PARK
Queens District Attorney Melinda Katz announced today that Cuauhtemoc Cardenas, 32, has been arraigned after a Queens County grand jury handed up an indictment charging the defendant with rape in the first degree and other crimes for allegedly assaulting a 51-year-old woman as she walked in Forest Park around 6:30 p.m. on July 25, 2020….
BROOKLYN MAN INDICTED FOR VIOLENT ATTACKS ON TWO WOMEN JUST WEEKS APART IN VICTIMS’ APARTMENT BUILDINGS IN REGO PARK
Queens District Attorney Melinda Katz today announced that Richard Smalls, 58, of Brooklyn has been arraigned after a Queens County grand jury indicted him on burglary, robbery and other charges for two alleged surprise attacks on women in Rego Park, Queens. The defendant is accused of pouncing on a 50-year-old woman moments after she entered…
QUEENS MAN INDICTED ON MURDER CHARGES IN STABBING DEATH OF MOTHER
Queens District Attorney Melinda Katz announced today that David Galicia, 48, was arraigned following a Queens County grand jury indicting the defendant on murder charges and other crimes for allegedly slashing his elderly mother to death on April 24, 2020. The victim had stab wounds to her head and hands and was found slumped on…
ARRAIGNMENT UPDATE: QUEENS MAN ARRAIGNED ON INDICTMENT CHARGING HIM WITH MURDER AS A HATE CRIME FOR LABOR DAY STABBING DEATH
Defendant James Williams, 51, of New Haven Avenue in Far Rockaway, Queens, was arraigned today before Queens Supreme Court Justice Richard Buchter on an indictment charging him with murder in the second degree as a hate crime, murder in the second degree, criminal possession of a weapon in the third and fourth degree and tampering…
DISBARRED QUEENS ATTORNEY CHARGED WITH GRAND LARCENY FOR STEALING SETTLEMENT CASH FROM CLIENT
Queens District Attorney Melinda Katz announced today that Yohan Choi, 44, has been charged with grand larceny, forgery and other crimes for allegedly bilking a client out of more than $66,000 and fraudulently holding onto the settlement funds of a lawsuit for more than two years. District Attorney Katz said, “The victim in this case…
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