Court Cases
BROOKLYN MAN SENTENCED TO 14 YEARS IN PRISON FOR STABBING MAN WITH BROKEN BOTTLE FOLLOWING MINOR CAR ACCIDENT
Queens District Attorney Melinda Katz announced that Robert Finley, 46, has been sentenced to 14 years in prison for stabbing a man in the face with a broken glass bottle. According to court records, a minor traffic incident escalated into the near-deadly altercation when the victim stepped out of his vehicle to inspect the damage…
TWO DEFENDANTS CHARGED IN SCHEME TO STEAL EAST ELMHURST HOME FROM DECEASED HOMEOWNER BY POSING AS HER SON
Queens District Attorney Melinda Katz, along with New York City Sheriff Anthony Miranda, announced today that Jorge Vasquez Jr. and Andy V. Singh – as well as “23-41 100th Street Corp” – have been indicted by a Queens County grand jury and arraigned in Supreme Court for allegedly filing fraudulent paperwork to claim ownership of…
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….
QUEENS MAN SENTENCED TO 30 YEARS TO LIFE IN PRISON AFTER GUILTY CONVICTION IN DEATH OF NYPD DETECTIVE BRIAN SIMONSEN AND FELONY ASSAULT AGAINST A SECOND POLICE OFFICER DURING BOTCHED ROBBERY
Queens District Attorney Melinda Katz announced today that Jagger Freeman, 28, has been sentenced to 30 years to life in prison following a trial conviction of murder, robbery, assault and other crimes for directing the February 2019 cell phone store robbery that resulted in the death of New York City Police Detective Brian Simonsen. A…
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 WOMAN CHARGED WITH DRIVING WHILE INTOXICATED AND VEHICULAR ASSAULT FOR SERIOUSLY INJURING 8-YEAR-OLD GIRL AND GRANDMOTHER DURING AFTERNOON COLLISIONS
Queens District Attorney Melinda Katz announced today that Alexandra Lopez, 52, has been charged with vehicular assault, driving while under the influence of alcohol or drugs and other crimes for the June 28, 2022 multiple collisions that took place on 31st Avenue in Queens. The defendant struck multiple vehicles and two pedestrians – an 8-year-old…
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…
DEFENDANT INDICTED BY GRAND JURY FOR SLAYING OF PAWN SHOP OWNER; VICTIM WAS REPEATEDLY STRUCK WITH BLUNT OBJECT
Queens District Attorney Melinda Katz announced today that Rodolfo Lopez-Portillo, 48, has been indicted by a Queens County grand jury and arraigned in Supreme Court on murder charges and other crimes. The defendant allegedly struck and killed a 60-year-old pawn shop owner in broad daylight inside the Jamaica Avenue store in March 2022. District Attorney…
QUEENS MAN WHO BABYSAT SEVEN-YEAR-OLD GIRL CONVICTED FOR SEXUALLY ABUSING VICTIM FOR THREE YEARS
Queens District Attorney Melinda Katz announced today that Jose Nivelo, 43, has been convicted of course of sexual conduct against a child 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. DA Katz, when she was an…
BROOKLYN MAN CHARGED IN SCHEME TO STEAL JAMAICA HOME FROM ELDERLY WIDOW BY CLAIMING SHE DIED AND HE WAS HER SON
Queens District Attorney Melinda Katz, along with New York City Sheriff Anthony Miranda and New York City Finance Commissioner Preston Niblick, announced today that Christopher Williams, 41, has been charged with grand larceny, falsifying business records, identity theft, scheme to defraud and other crimes. The defendant allegedly used forged paperwork to claim ownership of a…
QUEENS MAN SENTENCED TO 21 YEARS IN PRISON FOR 2019 FAR ROCKAWAY SHOOTING THAT KILLED MAN
Queens District Attorney Melinda Katz announced today that Michael Hall, 36, has been sentenced to 21 years in prison for the December 2019 fatal shooting of a 45-year-old man in front of a Far Rockaway deli. The defendant pleaded guilty to manslaughter last month in Queens Supreme Court. District Attorney Katz said, “Gun violence is…
QUEENS HIGH SCHOOL TEACHER CHARGED WITH FORCIBLY TOUCHING STUDENT AND OTHER CRIMES
Queens District Attorney Melinda Katz announced today that Shannon Hall, 31, a teacher at Jamaica Gateway to the Sciences High School has been charged with forcible touching, endangering the welfare of a child and other crimes for abusing two female students, 14 and 16, from the school. District Attorney Katz said, “As parents, each day…
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…
QUEENS MAN CHARGED WITH MURDER FOR DEADLY STABBING OF FLUSHING RESIDENT
Queens District Attorney Melinda Katz announced today that Yang Zhang, 35, has been charged with murder, burglary and other crimes in the stabbing death of a 41-year-old man that took place in the early morning hours of Sunday, May 22, 2022. District Attorney Katz said, “This brutal act of violence is compounded by the seemingly…
QUEENS MAN SENTENCED TO PRISON FOR THREATENING TRANSGENDER WOMAN WITH ILLEGAL FIREARM
Queens District Attorney Melinda Katz announced today that Quame Truitt, 24, has been sentenced to five years in prison after pleading guilty to attempted criminal possession of a weapon for a September 2021 incident in which the defendant pointed an illegal firearm at a transgender woman in Jamaica, Queens. District Attorney Katz said, “The defendant…
BROOKLYN MAN INDICTED ON MURDER CHARGES IN ROCK ATTACK ON WOMAN IN CORONA
Queens District Attorney Melinda Katz announced today that Elisaul Perez, 33, has been indicted by a Queens County grand jury on murder and manslaughter charges, in addition to earlier filed charges of assault and criminal possession of a weapon in the November 2021 Thanksgiving weekend attack of 61-year-old Guiying Ma. Mrs. Ma was struck in…
QUEENS MAN SENTENCED TO PRISON FOR ATTEMPTED MURDER FOR SHOOTING UPS DELIVERY DRIVER WHOSE TRUCK BLOCKED TRAFFIC
Queens District Attorney Melinda Katz announced today that Jahsheen Osbourne, 21, has been sentenced to 17 years in prison for the unprovoked shooting of a UPS delivery driver in Woodside, Queens. The 15-year-veteran UPS worker was attempting to parallel park the brown box truck while the defendant waited in the passenger seat of a stolen…