Inaugural Address of DA Eric Gonzalez

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Brooklyn District Attorney Announces Project Brooklyn CLEAR to
Offer Treatment for Individuals Arrested with Small Amount of Narcotics

In Effort to Stem Opioid Dependency, Pre-Arraignment Diversion Will Provide Services from Time of Arrest; Those who Participate Will Have Their Misdemeanor Charges Dismissed

Brooklyn District Attorney Eric Gonzalez announced the launch of a pre-arraignment diversion program to assist individuals who suffer from drug dependency and misuse. Under Project CLEAR (Collaborative Legal Engagement Assistance Response), individuals arrested for misdemeanor possession of a controlled substance will be offered the opportunity to receive treatment and other community-based services before their initial court appearance. If they meaningfully participate, the DA’s Office will decline prosecution of their cases before they ever appear in court and their arrest record will be sealed.

CBS-NY: Brooklyn DA Announces New Approach To Fight Opioid Epidemic

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DA Eric Gonzalez Announces Justice 2020 Initiative

Committee of Criminal Justice Experts, Reformers and Community Leaders Will Advise on Reforms and Innovative Approaches to Keep Brooklyn Safe and Strengthening Community Trust in the Criminal Justice System

Brooklyn District Attorney Eric Gonzalez today announced a groundbreaking initiative aimed at keeping Brooklyn safe and strengthening community trust in the criminal justice system by ensuring fairness and equal justice for all. Justice 2020 will rely initially on a Launch Committee consisting of criminal justice reform experts, defense groups, service providers, law enforcement, formerly incarcerated individuals, clergy and community leaders.

NY Times: Brooklyn District Attorney Turns to Experts for Ideas on Reform

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2017 was the Safest Year in Brooklyn’s History

Lowest Number of Homicides and Shootings since Record-Keeping Began, Continuing
Historic Declines; New Criminal Justice Reform Agenda to Launch in Early 2018

Acting Brooklyn District Attorney Eric Gonzalez today announced that 2017 will end as the safest year in Brooklyn’s recorded history, with the fewest number of homicides, shootings and shooting victims since record-keeping began, continuing a historic decline in crime over the past several years and particularly in 2016, according to statistics compiled by the New York City Police Department. Building on this trend, the DA’s Office is set to announce a reform-driven agenda after the new year that will maintain a focus on driving down violent crime while finding new opportunities for diversion, transparency and efficiency.

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Twenty Individuals – Including Four Doctors – Charged with Enterprise Corruption in Massive $146 Million Health Care Fraud

Allegedly Spent Proceeds on Luxury Properties, High-End Designer Goods and Jewelry; Recruited Patients from Homeless and Low-Income Population

Acting Brooklyn District Attorney Eric Gonzalez, together with federal, state and local partners, announced that four doctors are among 34 defendants – 20 individuals and 14 corporations – named in an 878-count indictment that alleges that they participated in a massive scheme to defraud Medicaid, Medicare and other publicly-funded insurance providers of approximately $146 million in the biggest such case in Brooklyn DA’s history. “These defendants allegedly exploited the poorest among us to divert millions of dollars from publicly-funded insurance programs these same vulnerable people rely on,” the DA said.

WSJ: The defendants paid patients to come to clinics, where they received unnecessary tests

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Acting Brooklyn DA Eric Gonzalez Dismisses 143,500 Old Summons Warrants that Subjected Residents to Arrest

Vacating Summons Warrants 10 Years or Older Helps Resolve Staggering Backlog, Enhances Public Safety; Initiative by Four City DAs Follows Brooklyn’s “Begin Again” Program

Acting Brooklyn District Attorney Eric Gonzalez announced that in the interest of justice, he dismissed 143,532 summons warrants that were issued 10 or more years ago. The warrants in question were issued for failure to pay a ticket for a minor infraction, subjecting individuals to arrest as well as carrying other negative consequences. The dismissals are part of an effort by the District Attorneys of Brooklyn, the Bronx, Manhattan and Queens who collectively dismissed nearly 645,000 old summons warrants.

NY1 Road to City Hall: A Historic Day of Dismissal

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Acting Brooklyn DA Eric Gonzalez and New York AG Eric Schneiderman Call for ICE to End Immigration Enforcement Raids in State Courts

Raids in NY Courthouses, including Family and Community Courts, Spiked this Year;
Victims and Witnesses being Targeted are Increasingly Fearful of Cooperating with Prosecutors

Acting Brooklyn District Attorney Eric Gonzalez and New York State Attorney General Eric T. Schneiderman called for the United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) to stop conducting raids in New York courthouses and to recalibrate their priorities so crime victims and witnesses are not targeted for removal proceedings. Instances of arrests and attempted arrests by ICE in courts have spiked approximately five-fold this year compared to 2016, according to service providers, and a growing number of victims have expressed reluctance to move forward with criminal prosecutions due to fear of being deported, according to the Brooklyn DA’s Office. These reports are consistent with findings detailed in a national report issued by the New York Attorney General’s office in March. Together, the reports provide overwhelming evidence that the Trump administration’s immigration enforcement policies have undermined public safety and must end.

NY Times: A Game of Cat and Mouse With High Stakes: Deportation

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Acting Brooklyn District Attorney Eric Gonzalez Announces New Policy Regarding Handling of Cases against Non-Citizen Defendants

Will Aim to Prevent Collateral Consequences of Convictions by Being Aware of Immigration Status of Defendants and Offering Appropriate Pleas; Two Newly-Hired Immigration Attorneys will Train Staff and Advise on Offers

Acting Brooklyn District Attorney Eric Gonzalez announced that his Office is implementing a new policy aimed at minimizing collateral immigration consequences of criminal convictions, particularly for misdemeanor and other low-level offenses. The Brooklyn District Attorney’s Office has hired two immigration attorneys to train all staff on immigration issues and to advise prosecutors when making plea offers and sentencing recommendations on cases of non-citizen defendants in an effort to avoid disproportionate collateral consequences, such as deportation, while maintaining public safety.

NY Times: Brooklyn Moves to Protect Immigrants From Deportation Over Petty Crimes

NPR: Prosecutors Protect Immigrants From Deportation For Minor Crimes

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Construction Company Owner Indicted for Manslaughter

Ignored Workers’ Safety Concerns and Industry Protocols Prior to Wall Collapse that Killed One Man and Seriously Injured Two Others

Acting Brooklyn District Attorney Eric Gonzalez, together with New York City Department of Investigation Commissioner Mark G. Peters, New York City Department of Buildings Commissioner Rick Chandler and Occupational Safety and Health Administration Regional Administrator Robert Kulick, announced that the owner of a Bedford-Stuyvesant construction company and his businesses have been indicted on manslaughter and other charges after a wall collapsed at an excavation site, killing one construction worker and injuring two others.

NY Times: Construction Companies’ Owner Is Charged in Laborer’s Death

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Twelve Alleged Gang Members Variously Charged With Conspiracy and Attempted Murder in Bushwick Turf War

Defendants Shot at Rivals on Busy Streets, Sometimes in Broad Daylight; Innocent Bystanders Struck, Others Narrowly Escaped Harm in 10 Shooting Incidents

Acting Brooklyn District Attorney Eric Gonzalez, together with New York City Police Commissioner James P. O’Neill, announce that 12 alleged members of the Bushwick- based street gang True Bosses Only have been variously charged in a 59-count indictment with conspiracy to commit murder, attempted murder, weapons possession and other charges in connection with 10 separate shootings that left seven people injured.

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Thirteen Defendants Charged in Connection with Heroin Distribution Ring Allegedly Led by Former Basketball Standout James “Fly” Williams

Operation Distributed 2 Million Glassines in a Three-Month Period; Four Charged as Major Traffickers under State Kingpin Statute

Acting Brooklyn District Attorney Eric Gonzalez, together with New York City Police Commissioner James P. O’Neill, announced that 13 people have been charged by felony complaints in connection with the operation of a major heroin distribution ring. Former NCAA and ABA basketball player James “Fly” Williams allegedly directed the operation as it purchased narcotics from suppliers in the Bronx and re-sold them, in bulk and retail quantities, in various Brooklyn neighborhoods, including Brownsville, Bushwick, Flatbush and Fort Greene.

NY Daily News: New York City street hoops star James ‘Fly’ Williams accused of running Brooklyn heroin ring

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Acting Brooklyn District Attorney Eric Gonzalez Announces New Policy Regarding Handling of Cases against Non-Citizen Defendants

Will Aim to Prevent Collateral Consequences of Convictions by Being Aware of Immigration Status of Defendants and Offering Appropriate Pleas; Two Newly-Hired Immigration Attorneys will Train Staff and Advise on Offers

Acting Brooklyn District Attorney Eric Gonzalez today announced that his Office is implementing a new policy aimed at minimizing collateral immigration consequences of criminal convictions, particularly for misdemeanor and other low-level offenses. The Brooklyn District Attorney’s Office has hired two immigration attorneys to train all staff on immigration issues and to advise prosecutors when making plea offers and sentencing recommendations on cases of non-citizen defendants in an effort to avoid disproportionate collateral consequences, such as deportation, while maintaining public safety.

NY Times: Brooklyn Moves to Protect Immigrants From Deportation Over Petty Crimes

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Thirty-Four Defendants Charged with Operating Sprawling Narcotics Distribution Ring that Sold Furanyl Fentanyl, Heroin and Cocaine

Operation Spanned New York and Arizona; Approximately 10 Kilograms of Narcotics and 17 Guns Recovered

Acting Brooklyn District Attorney Eric Gonzalez, together with New York City Police Commissioner James P. O’Neill, announced that 34 people have been variously charged in a 357-count indictment with criminal sale of a controlled substance, conspiracy and other crimes for their alleged roles in a narcotics trafficking operation that sold heroin and cocaine, both in Brooklyn and beyond. The case also involves alleged sales of furanyl fentanyl, a relatively new and potent opiate analog which is not yet classified as a controlled substance under New York State law.

NY Times: 34 Charged in Ring That Sold Potent New Drug, Prosecutors Say

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22 Virginia Residents, Many with Gang Ties, Indicted for Gun Trafficking; Weapons Purchased in Virginia to be sold on the Streets of Brooklyn

217 Firearms, Including 41 Assault Weapons, Purchased During Course of Investigation

Acting Brooklyn District Attorney Eric Gonzalez, together with New York City Police Commissioner James P. O’Neill, today announced that 24 individuals — 22 of whom are residents of Virginia — have been charged in a 627-count indictment with weapons offenses and conspiracy for trafficking guns purchased in Virginia to be sold on the streets of Brooklyn.

NY Times: Two Dozen People Are Accused of Bringing 200 Guns to New York

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Acting DA Eric Gonzalez Announces Creation of Cold Case Unit

The Brooklyn DA’s Office becomes the only prosecutorial office in the State with an in-house DNA expert

The new unit, staffed by a DNA specialist, will better equip the Brooklyn DA’s Office to investigate unsolved homicides and other crimes that can benefit from advanced DNA analysis. The newly-hired specialist will assist in analyzing previous testing in cold cases and advise if additional tests are available and necessary. She will also review all DNA reports obtained by the Office, prepare expert witnesses and assist prosecutors in cross examining defense expert witnesses.

BK Live: Acting DA Eric Gonzalez Discusses the New Cold Case Unit

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Brooklyn District Attorney’s Office Launches Young Adult Bureau

Will Handle Misdemeanor Cases against Defendants Ages 16-24; First Such Court in New York State and Second in the Nation Funded by DOJ Grant

Brooklyn District Attorney Ken Thompson announced the creation of a Young Adult Bureau that will operate in the newly-formed Brooklyn Young Adult Court. The new specialized court will handle all misdemeanor cases of defendants between the ages 16 and 24, with few exceptions, offering risk-needs assessments, counseling and services tailored to the specific requirements of that particular age group.

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