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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Friday, October 23, 2026

Westchester Man Sentenced to Prison for
 Pushing Stranger onto Subway Tracks

Defendant Approached Victim from Behind and Shoved Him

Brooklyn District Attorney Eric Gonzalez today announced that a Westchester man has been sentenced to three-and-a-half years in prison for shoving a stranger onto the subway tracks at the Atlantic Avenue-Barclays station in Brooklyn.

District Attorney Gonzalez said, “It is every New Yorker’s worst fear to be senselessly shoved without warning onto the subway tracks. Today’s sentence holds this defendant accountable for doing just that. Thankfully, the victim in this case was able to safely get off the tracks just before a train entered the station.”

The District Attorney identified the defendant as Andrew Pashinin, 20, of Harrison, New York. He was sentenced today by Brooklyn Supreme Court Justice Rhonda Tomlinson to three-and-a-half years in prison and two years of post-release supervision. The defendant was convicted of first-degree attempted assault and fourth-degree criminal possession of a weapon on August 24, 2026, following a jury trial.

The District Attorney said that, according to the evidence, on December 7, 2024, at approximately 11:35 a.m., on the south bound D train platform of the Atlantic Avenue-Barclays station the defendant pulled out a knife and walked behind a 33-year-old man standing on the platform. He then put the knife away, pulled out a camera and began recording the man.

The defendant and the man got into a verbal dispute and the man walked away from the defendant, who then followed the man and shoved him from behind onto the subway tracks. The victim was able to get himself off the tracks, and onto the platform seconds before a train entered the station. He sustained pain and bruising.

The defendant fled the scene and was arrested on January 21, 2025, following an investigation.

The District Attorney thanked New York City Police Detective Nathanial Ullman, Hector Feliz and Christina Stewart of the KCDA Digital Evidence Lab, and Sara Kurtzberg, Chief of Prosecutorial Innovation, for their work on the case.

The case was prosecuted by Assistant District Attorney Ashley Infante and Assistant District Attorney Madison Penn, of the District Attorney’s Blue Zone Trial Bureau, under the supervision of Assistant District Attorney Douglas Marquez, Bureau Chief.

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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Monday, October 19, 2026

U.S. Postal Employees Indicted for Stealing Checks from Mail

Defendants Assigned to East New York Post Office Allegedly Stole Nearly $15,000 
 From Mail They were Supposed to Deliver on Their Routes

Brooklyn District Attorney Eric Gonzalez, together with Matthew M. Modafferi, Special Agent in Charge of the Northeast Area Field Office, U.S. Postal Service Office of the Inspector General, and U.S. Postal Inspection Service New York Division Inspector in Charge Darnell Edwards, today announced that two U.S. Postal employees have been arraigned on indictments charging them with stealing checks from mail they were supposed to deliver to residents.

District Attorney Gonzalez said, “The defendants in this case were entrusted to deliver mail, including checks, safely to residents of East New York. Instead, they allegedly seized on an opportunity to enrich themselves by repeatedly stealing checks instead of delivering them. We will now seek to hold them accountable thanks to the work of our prosecutors, our Postal Service partners and the NYPD.”

Special Agent in Charge Modafferi said, “The U.S. Postal Service Office of Inspector General is committed to investigating allegations of employee misconduct and protecting the integrity of the Postal Service. We appreciate the partnership of the Brooklyn District Attorney’s Office, NYPD, and the U.S. Postal Inspection Service in this investigation.”

Acting Inspector in Charge Edwards said, “These individuals allegedly stole U.S. Mail in which they were entrusted to deliver to residents in their community. We will hold accountable those who exploit the U.S. Mail to further their crimes, especially USPS employees, for their serious breach of trust. Postal inspectors will continue to uphold the sanctity of the U.S. Mail and pursue those who violate it.”

The District Attorney identified the defendants as Nicole Bernard, 41, of East Flatbush, Brooklyn, and Kenisha Hazzard, 30, of Brownsville, Brooklyn. They were arraigned before Brooklyn Supreme Court Justice Danny Chun on separate indictments. Bernard, who was arraigned on October 6, is charged with two counts of second-degree criminal possession of a forged instrument, one count of third-degree grand larceny, one count of fourth-degree grand larceny, and one count of petit larceny. Hazzard, who was arraigned today, is charged with seven counts of second-degree criminal possession of a forged instrument, six counts of petit larceny and one count of attempted petit larceny. They were released without bail. Bernard was ordered to return to court on December 2, 2026, and Hazzard was ordered to return to court on December 16, 2026.

The District Attorney said that, according to the investigation, Bernard was employed as a City Carrier at the East New York Station located at 2645 Atlantic Avenue between January 2023 and February 2024. The indictment charges that between March 1, 2023, and January 4, 2024, the defendant allegedly stole one check made payable to an individual on her mail route and deposited it into her personal bank account. She allegedly stole two additional checks mailed from East New York, both of which were intended for another person. A fourth check intended for an individual on her route was also allegedly stolen by the defendant and deposited into another account with a Connecticut address. The checks totaled $12,465.80.

Furthermore, the District Attorney said, Hazzard was also employed as a City Carrier Assistant at the East New York Station between October 2023 and December 2023. The indictment charges that between October 6, 2023, and October 31, 2023, the defendant allegedly stole seven checks made payable to individuals on her mail route and deposited them into her personal bank account. The checks totaled $2,487.75.

The thefts allegedly affected a total of 10 victims and resulted in losses totaling $14,953.55.

The investigations were conducted by New York City Police Department Detective Dillon Shimansky of the Financial Crimes Task Force and Special Agent Erin Nolan of the USPS Office of the Inspector General with assistance from Postal Inspector Anthony Ruffini of the United States Postal Inspection Service.

The District Attorney thanked KCDA Digital Forensic Analyst Yacelys Corona and Supervising Financial Investigator Susan Ryan for their assistance in the investigation.

This case is being prosecuted by Assistant District Attorney Tony Kim, of the District Attorney’s Investigations Division, under the supervision of Assistant District Attorney Adam Libove, Chief of the District Attorney’s Public Integrity Bureau, and the overall supervision of Assistant District Attorney Michel Spanakos, Deputy Chief of the Investigations Division, and Assistant District Attorney Patricia McNeill, Chief of the Investigations Division.

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An indictment is an accusatory instrument and not proof of a defendant’s guilt.

 

 

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Wednesday, October 14, 2026

Brooklyn DA’s Virtual Currency Unit Dismantles Infrastructure of
Multinational Crypto Investment Scam that Targeted Russian Speakers

112 Servers and 241 Scam Domains Disrupted, Dismantling Fraudsters’ Online
Infrastructure in One of the Largest Cyber Enforcement Actions Taken by Local Prosecutor

Brooklyn District Attorney Eric Gonzalez announced today that, in one of the biggest operational cyber disruptions undertaken by a local prosecutor’s office, his Virtual Currency Unit (VCU) successfully disrupted a multinational cryptocurrency fraud operation that targeted members of the Russian community in the U.S.  The law enforcement cyber action disabled the global scam operation, seizing and disrupting 241 web domains and 112 servers, the contents of which confirmed the millions of dollars lost by the Russian community in Brooklyn, and throughout the country.

Brooklyn District Attorney Eric Gonzalez said, “When scammers halfway around the world target Brooklyn residents, they should know they are not beyond our reach. These criminals stole many millions of dollars from Russian-speaking victims through an elaborate investment scheme, then tried to exploit them again with false promises to recover their money. Our groundbreaking Virtual Currency Unit identified the fraud, tracked the stolen cryptocurrency, broke new ground by uncovering the infrastructure behind the operation, and worked with the FBI to dismantle it. By disrupting more than 100 servers and hundreds of fraudulent websites, we have struck at the heart of this criminal enterprise and made it far harder for these scammers to victimize others. I commend our investigators and thank the FBI for their partnership in this extraordinary operation. We will continue using every tool at our disposal to protect Brooklyn residents from increasingly sophisticated fraud.”

James C. Barnacle, Assistant Director in Charge, FBI New York, said, “This case is a prime example of what can be done through the power of our partnerships with state, local, and international law enforcement.  Just as we rely on our law enforcement partners to disrupt criminals by any means, we also rely on the American public to let us know when they see criminal activity take place. Our partners at Kings County District Attorney’s Office were swift to involve our subject matter experts and together we got to the bottom of the plot, seizing over one hundred domains. The FBI will continue to support our partners with every available resource, human and technological, for the betterment of our New York communities.”

The District Attorney said that over the past three years, VCU has been investigating a large-scale scam organization running a cryptocurrency investment scam targeting members of the Russian-speaking community in the U.S. As Brooklyn is home to a very large Russian population, the scam disproportionately affected Brooklyn residents when compared to the rest of the country.

The criminals relied on cyber infrastructure and IP addresses in Ukraine and other Eastern European countries to carry out their operation. Last week, VCU executed numerous search warrants and took other enforcement actions across three time zones over the course of several hours. The operation seized and disrupted not only 241 scam cryptocurrency investment domains but, more significantly, a large cluster of over 100 cloud-based servers hosted by Eastern European and American companies, depriving the scammers of access to the data that populates the domains, victim information, and their operational software.

Prior to last week’s actions, VCU had already seized or disrupted 400 domains associated with cryptocurrency investment fraud. While the domain seizures were highly effective at alerting potential victims to the websites about the on-going scam, new scam websites popped up quickly. In response, VCU has now escalated the law enforcement operation by identifying the servers supporting the scam, worldwide, and, with the assistance of the FBI, coordinated an international cyber take-down. This disruption, to the underlying infrastructure of the scam operation, takes away the scammer’s ability to quickly create new websites and contact pre-existing victims.

Data recovered also revealed that the scammers were operating a cryptocurrency recovery scam operation, contacting the victims a few weeks after the initial deception with the promise that they could recover the stolen assets.

At the beginning of the investigation, VCU identified a large cluster of Russian-speaking victims in Brooklyn who all shared a similar narrative: the victim responded to a Facebook ad in Russian for investment opportunities; they then received a follow-up call from an “investment advisor” who spoke to them in Russian; the “investment advisor” coached them into creating an account on a cryptocurrency investment platform website; with the help of the “advisor,” the victim purchased cryptocurrency and transferred it to cryptocurrency addresses linked to the investment platform websites; and after “investing” for several weeks or months, the victim attempted to make a withdrawal but was locked out of their account or told they had to pay additional fees and taxes.

It is estimated that tens of millions of dollars were stolen in the course of the scheme, with some victims losing their entire life savings. The DA’s Office has been able to seize about  $300,000 in stolen funds so far and is working to claw back more.

The District Attorney thanked the FBI, Shadow Server, Coeus, and UltaHost for their assistance and cooperation in the investigation.

The case was investigated by Assistant District Attorney Alona Katz, Chief of the District Attorney’s Virtual Currency Unit, Assistant District Attorney Alex Davis of the Virtual Currency Unit, Virtual Currency Unit Analyst Christopher Vellios, Senior Virtual Currency Analyst Paul Stenzel, Intelligence Analysts Timothy Brown and Sourov Talukder of the KCDA Digital Evidence Lab, under the supervision of Assistant District Attorney Jingu Chong, Chief of the Digital Evidence Lab, and the Detective Investigators Bureau.

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Seizure Notice that now appears on the disrupted websites

Homepages of two of the scam domains

                                                                                 

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Tuesday, October 13, 2026

Brooklyn Man Sentenced to 10 Years in Prison for
Punching and Stomping Subway Passenger on “A” Train

Attack Captured on Surveillance Video; Additional Video Tracked Defendant
After he Left the Train and Headed to his Residence

Brooklyn District Attorney Eric Gonzalez today announced that a Brooklyn man was sentenced to 10 years in prison for punching a subway passenger and then stomping on his head and face approximately 30 times after he fell to the floor. The defendant pleaded guilty to attempted murder last month.

District Attorney Gonzalez said, “This was a vicious act of senseless violence that left a straphanger seriously injured. The defendant’s cowardly violence, stomping the victim 30 times as he lay helpless on the subway floor, cannot be tolerated. Today’s sentence ensures the defendant is held accountable and reinforces our commitment to keeping our transit system safe.”

The District Attorney identified the defendant as Jason Reyes, 37, of East New York, Brooklyn. He was sentenced today by Brooklyn Supreme Court Justice Matthew Blum to 10 years in prison and five years’ post-release supervision. The defendant pleaded guilty to second-degree attempted murder on September 28, 2026.

The District Attorney said that, according to the evidence, on October 20, 2024, at approximately 4:35 a.m., the victim, a 37-year-old man, and another man were sitting in the middle of the train car on a southbound “A” train heading from Lafayette Avenue, in Brooklyn, to Far Rockaway in Queens. The defendant was sitting at the other end of the train car when he saw the victim throw a French fry at a female passenger.

The defendant confronted the victim, according to the evidence, demanded that he apologize and punched him in the head several times, causing him to fall to the floor.

Furthermore, according to the evidence, as the victim lay on the floor, the defendant kicked him in the body, then used his right foot to repeatedly stomp the victim in the face and head more than 30 times over the course of several minutes. The victim’s friend tried to intervene, telling the defendant: “You’re going to kill [him], we have to call the police.” The defendant then threatened that man and punched him in the face.

Finally, according to the evidence, the defendant filmed the attack with his cell phone while stomping on the victim, rummaged through the victim’s pockets, taking $60 and a cell phone, which he then threw at the victim’s face. The defendant then exited the train and walked home to his residence on Pitkin Avenue.

Several passengers called 911 and the victim was taken to Brookdale Hospital with a fractured orbital bone and nose, a traumatic brain injury, bleeding in the brain, and a laceration to the forehead and lip. He also suffered bruising and swelling of his face and was hospitalized for four days.

The defendant was arrested following an investigation that involved identifying him from surveillance video of the attack and other surveillance images of him leaving the train and walking into his residence.

The District Attorney thanked Assistant District Attorney Kara Pride of the Orange Zone, Orange Zone Paralegal Jamal Marshall and Digital Evidence Lab Forensic Analyst Hiba Abdullah for their assistance on the case.

The case was prosecuted by Assistant District Attorney Alexis Lightner, of the District Attorney’s Orange Zone Trial Bureau, under the supervision of Assistant District Attorney Andrea Orlando, Bureau Chief.

 

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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Tuesday, September 29, 2026

Manhattan Man Who Killed Ex-Girlfriend’s New Boyfriend After
Breaking into Her Brooklyn Home Sentenced to Life in Prison

Defendant Stabbed Victim Seven Times, Dragged Him Out to Street to Die

  Brooklyn District Attorney Eric Gonzalez today announced that an East Harlem man has been sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole for breaking into the home of his former girlfriend, with whom he shared a child, punching her in the face and body, and fatally stabbing her new boyfriend.

District Attorney Gonzalez said, “This was a chilling and calculated attack on an innocent man and woman by a defendant with a long history of domestic abuse. Not only did he commit a brutal murder, but he also shattered the sanctity and safety of a family’s home. I hope that today’s sentence brings some solace to James Santiago’s relatives, including his devastated mother, who lost her son in such a violent and cruel manner.”

The District Attorney identified the defendant as Michael Israel, 39, of East Harlem, New York. He was sentenced today by Brooklyn Supreme Court Justice Michael Kitsis to life in prison without the possibility of parole. The defendant was convicted of first-degree murder, first-degree burglary, third-degree assault and endangering the welfare of a child on June 26, 2026, following a jury trial.

The District Attorney said that, according to the evidence, on January 12, 2020, at approximately 2:20 a.m., the defendant broke into the Coney Island residence of his former girlfriend, a 37-year-old woman, where she was in bed sleeping with her new boyfriend, James Santiago, 42. The defendant punched the woman several times, causing two black eyes and bruising to her back and shoulder, and stabbed the now deceased victim seven times about his body.

The defendant then dragged the victim’s bloodied body, naked except for a T-shirt, out of the house and into the street, where he whispered something in the victim’s ear, and left him to die, according to the evidence.

Testimony at trial showed that the defendant had long been a domestic violence abuser of his former girlfriend and that in the hours leading up to the murder had sent her numerous threatening text messages and made a Facetime call in which he became jealous and told the woman he was going to come to her home and assault her.

The defendant was arrested on January 15, 2020, following an investigation.

The District Attorney thanked New York City Police Detective Darnell Forrester and Detective James Hemmer for their work on the case, as well as Assistant District Attorney Rachel Singer, Chief of the Forensic Science Unit, DNA Specialist Susan Horan, also of the Forensic Science Unit, KCDA Detective Investigators, Christina Stewart and Sourov Talukder of the KCDA Digital Evidence Lab, and Homicide Paralegal Julia Holman for their assistance.

The case was prosecuted by Senior Assistant District Attorney Chelsea Toder, of the District Attorney’s Homicide Bureau, and Assistant District Attorney Ashley Infante, of the District Attorney’s Blue Zone Trial Bureau, under the supervision of Assistant District Attorney Leila Rosini, Homicide Bureau Chief.

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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Tuesday, September 29, 2026

Brooklyn District Attorney to Host Begin Again Event
To Clear Summons Warrants

The Renewed Community Initiative Will Also Include Health and Resource Fair

Brooklyn District Attorney Eric Gonzalez today announced that his office will host a Begin Again event on Saturday, October 3 from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. at Bridge Street AME Church, 277 Stuyvesant Avenue, Brooklyn. This summons warrant adjudication initiative – aimed at helping residents address their open summons matters and clear the staggering backlog of warrants in the New York City summons court system – will be held in partnership with Congressmember Hakeem Jeffries’ Office, the New York State Office of Court Administration, and the Legal Aid Society.

District Attorney Gonzalez said, “The number of low-level summonses issued by the NYPD has ballooned in recent years, leaving thousands of New Yorkers who failed to answer those tickets with open warrants that could lead to an arrest and other negative consequences. This is why we are restarting the successful Begin Again program that allows individuals to resolve these summons warrants in a safe environment inside a local church. I encourage anyone who may be eligible for relief or would like to take advantage of the adjacent health fair to come down to Bridge Street this Saturday to give themselves this life-changing opportunity.”

Rev. David B. Cousin, Sr. said, “Bridge Street is excited to assist in partnering with District Attorney Eric Gonzalez and his office in this initiative, which offers residents an opportunity to resolve outstanding summons warrants. This program aligns with Bridge Street’s history of being a social justice institution with a motto of being ‘The Church in the Heart of the Community with the Community at Heart.’”

For far too long, unresolved summonses for minor, low-level offenses have resulted in unnecessary interaction with the criminal justice system. Now, thanks to this weekend’s Begin Again event, New Yorkers will have the opportunity to clear up open warrants and prevent a minor infraction like littering from leading to an arrest or other serious consequences,” said House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries (NY-08). “I am grateful to Bridge Street AME Church for hosting this life-changing event and to Brooklyn District Attorney Eric Gonzalez for his leadership in making our communities safer and ensuring people with outstanding summonses can resolve their warrants quickly and easily.”

The Brooklyn District Attorney’s Office and its partners will provide on-site legal services to give New Yorkers a chance to clear their outstanding warrants. Individuals who appear for Begin Again will first consult with on-site free attorneys to make sure only eligible summons warrants are heard. All participants will then enter a temporary courtroom, where a judge will be on hand to address the outstanding summons and bench warrants that resulted from the failure to respond to summonses for a multitude of low-level infractions, including walking a dog without a leash, riding a bicycle on the sidewalk or being in a park after closing.

These summons warrants, when left unresolved, subject those who have them to automatic arrest when questioned by police on the street or during a traffic stop. They also carry a number of negative consequences, including impeding one’s ability to apply for citizenship, secure employment or obtain public housing. In today’s immigration enforcement environment of the federal government, an open warrant can be particularly risky to undocumented immigrants.

The use of criminal summonses by the NYPD has increased dramatically in recent years, from over 45,000 in 2021 to over 95,000 in 2024 and over 117,000 last year. Consequently, many thousands more people may have an arrest warrant they are not aware of or another unresolved matter relating to the summons. Begin Again provides an opportunity to resolve these issues for free, in a safe and supportive environment.

The Brooklyn DA’s Office launched this program in 2015, leading to the dismissal of thousands of warrants in Brooklyn. It was later adopted by other boroughs and, in 2017, the city automatically dismissed warrants that were 10 years or older. The program was paused in 2018, but the accumulation of hundreds of thousands of new warrants makes it urgently needed again.

Saturday’s event will additionally include a Health and Resource Fair, including FDNY CPR demonstrations, free mammogram sign-up, blood pressure reading, prostate cancer screening, job readiness resources and more.

The District Attorney thanked Congressman Jeffries, the Office of Court Administration, the Legal Aid Society and all the community partners for their participation and assistance in the event.

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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Thursday, September 24, 2026

Man Sentenced to 32 Years to Life in Prison for Raping and Robbing

Two Women in Separate Attacks at Gunpoint in East New York Park

Defendant Linked to Both Assaults Through DNA

Brooklyn District Attorney Eric Gonzalez today announced that a Brownsville man has been sentenced to 32 1/3 years to life in prison for raping and robbing two women in separate gunpoint attacks in an East New York park.

District Attorney Gonzalez said, “This defendant terrorized two women and subjected them to horrific sexual violence at gunpoint. Today’s sentence reflects the seriousness of these crimes and ensures that this dangerous defendant will be kept off our streets. I commend the survivors for their courage in coming forward and testifying at trial.”

The District Attorney identified the defendant as Marcus Collier, 24, of Brownsville, Brooklyn. He was sentenced today to 32 1/3 years to life in prison by Brooklyn Supreme Court Justice Donald Leo. The defendant was convicted of predatory sexual assault, first-degree robbery, first-degree criminal sexual act, first-degree rape and third-degree robbery on May 1, 2026, following a jury trial.

The District Attorney said that, according to the evidence presented at trial, on October 11, 2021, at approximately 1 a.m., a 20-year-old woman had just left work and was walking on Louisiana Avenue adjacent to the Breukelen Ballfields in East New York when the defendant, wearing a mask, approached her from behind, placed his arm around her neck and forced her into the park. The defendant pointed a gun at the victim, stole her money and cellphone and forced her to perform a sex act before bringing her further into the park, assaulting her again and fleeing.

Furthermore, the District Attorney said, during the early morning hours of November 7, 2021, the defendant, again wearing a mask, approached a man and a 30-year-old woman who were sitting in a vehicle on Louisiana Avenue. Displaying what appeared to be a firearm, the defendant demanded the man’s wallet and ordered the woman out of the vehicle. He directed the man to drive away and then forced the woman into the Breukelen Ballfields.

The defendant took the woman to a dark area of the park, where he raped her while threatening her with the gun. He then walked her through the neighborhood at gunpoint before releasing her. The victim was able to see the defendant’s face when he removed his mask and later identified him in a photo array and at trial.

The defendant was conclusively linked to both sexual assaults through DNA evidence recovered from evidence collection kits administered to both victims and was arrested on November 10, 2021.

The District Attorney thanked Paralegal Supervisor Jennifer Hernandez of the District Attorney’s Special Victims Bureau for her assistance with the case.

The case was prosecuted by Senior Assistant District Attorney Daniel Newcombe, of the District Attorney’s Special Victims Bureau, and Assistant District Attorney Sarah Lavy, also of the Special Victims Bureau, under the overall supervision of Assistant District Attorney Miss Gregory, Bureau Chief.

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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Wednesday, September 23, 2026

Three Defendants Sentenced for Sex Trafficking of a Child

Defendants Variously Trafficked Three Teenage Girls in Brooklyn and North Carolina

Brooklyn District Attorney Eric Gonzalez today announced that three men charged in connection with trafficking teenage girls in Brooklyn and North Carolina have been sentenced to up to 12 years in prison. They previously pleaded guilty to sex trafficking of a child.

District Attorney Gonzalez said, “These sentences deliver justice for the victims and reaffirm our commitment to protect vulnerable young people from predators who traffic and abuse them. My office will continue to stand with survivors and hold traffickers fully accountable for the pain and harm they cause through this type of exploitation.”

The District Attorney identified the defendants as Mylord Williams, 37, of the Bronx, Terrel Chery, 29, of Nassau County, and Kinard Oliver, 28, of Brooklyn. All three defendants pleaded guilty to sex trafficking of a child. Chery and Oliver also pleaded guilty to fourth-degree conspiracy.

Chery was sentenced today by Brooklyn Supreme Court Justice Danny Chun to 12 years in prison, five years’ post-release supervision, and he must register as a sex offender upon release from prison. Oliver was sentenced by Justice Chun on August 12, 2026 to eight years in prison, five years’ post-release supervision, and he must register as a sex offender upon release from prison. Williams was sentenced by Justice Chun on June 24, 2026 to six years in prison, five years’ supervised release, and he must register as a sex offender upon release from prison.

The District Attorney said that, according to the investigation, in July 2022 Williams rented two rooms in East New York, Brooklyn, and along with Chery, sex trafficked a 17-year-old girl, posting commercial sexual advertisements of her and collecting all the money she made by engaging in prostitution through October 2022.

Furthermore, in October 2024, a 15-year-old victim who had also been sex trafficked was identified, and further investigation revealed that Williams, Chery, and Oliver conspired to engage in the sex trafficking of additional minors in Brooklyn and North Carolina.

The defendants pleaded guilty and were sentenced in connection with the following additional incidents:

• Williams and Oliver sex trafficked a 17-year-old victim in Brooklyn in August 2024. That victim texted a friend asking for help and NYPD officers responded to the location. The investigation revealed that her trafficking had been going on since the beginning of February 2024.
• In October 2024, Chery and Oliver transported a 15-year-old and a 16-year-old female to North Carolina where they engaged in prostitution in various cities and were required to give a portion of their earnings to Chery and Oliver.

The case was investigated by now retired New York City Police Department Detective Kevin Deleon, along with now retired Detective James Rufle of the joint FBI-NYPD Child Exploitation and Human Trafficking Task Force and citywide Human Trafficking Squad, under the supervision of Lieutenant Amy Morin and Sergeant Kevin Kavanagh, and the overall supervision of Inspector Gary Marcus. Detective Investigators from the Brooklyn District Attorney’s Office contributed to the investigation.

The District Attorney thanked Police Officer Tim Dewyngaert of the Wilmington, N.C., Police Department, Detective Joseph Wechsler of the Henrico, Virginia Police Division, Police Officer Sean Kehoe, Counselor Jacquelyn Wells and Sergeant Charles DePrima, of the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey Police Department Youth Services Unit, Investigator Sean Tashjian of the New York State Police, Detective Jonathan Castro, of the Newark Police Department, and Lieutenant Tracey Quinn of the Greene County Sheriff’s Office.

Additionally, the District Attorney thanked Deputy Chief Janette Lukowsky of the District Attorney’s Law Enforcement Assistance Unit, Human Trafficking Unit Deputy Chief Mary E. Monahan, Paralegal Specialist Aurora Martinez, Paralegal Aaliyah Antrobus, and Digital Evidence Lab Senior Digital Forensic Analyst Taylor Mumley for their work on the case.

The case was prosecuted by Senior Assistant District Attorney Audrey Chao, of the District Attorney’s Human Trafficking Unit, and Assistant District Attorney David Weiss, Chief of the Human Trafficking Unit, under the overall supervision of Assistant District Attorney Miss Gregory, Chief of the Special Victims Bureau.

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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Wednesday, September 23, 2026

Brooklyn Man Sentenced to Prison for Government Impersonation Scam

Defendant Stole Approximately $18,000 from Williamsburg Woman
Who Was Falsely Told She Faced Arrest

Brooklyn District Attorney Eric Gonzalez today announced that a Sunset Park man has been sentenced to one and a half to four and a half years in prison for his role in a government impersonation scam that stole $18,200 from a 22-year-old Williamsburg woman after she was falsely told there was a warrant for her arrest.

District Attorney Gonzalez said, “These scams are designed to frighten and manipulate people into handing over their hard-earned money. I urge anyone who is the target of a scam to report it immediately and know they are not alone. We will continue to aggressively investigate these schemes and hold accountable those who prey on members of our community.”

The District Attorney identified the defendant as Weiwei Xu, 39, of Sunset Park, Brooklyn. He was sentenced today by Brooklyn Supreme Court Justice Elizabeth Warin to one and a half to four and a half years in prison. The defendant pleaded guilty to third-degree grand larceny on August 11, 2026.

The District Attorney said that on July 17, 2025, the victim received a telephone call from an individual who falsely identified herself as a United States Marshal and told her that there was an open warrant for her arrest for money laundering and that her identity had been compromised. The caller told the victim she would have to pay money to clear the purported warrant and kept her on the telephone for more than four hours.

According to the investigation, the caller directed the victim to withdraw $13,000 from her bank account and deposit it into another account. When the victim’s bank blocked the transaction due to suspected fraud, the caller instructed her to return home and wait for someone to collect the cash. Later that day, two unidentified men arrived at the victim’s home and one of them provided a passcode that had been given to the victim by the caller before taking the $13,000.

The caller continued contacting the victim over the next several days, according to the evidence. On July 20, 2025, the victim contacted Shomrim and called 911. A New York City Police Department officer responded to her home and, while taking a report, answered another call from the scammer, identified himself as a police officer and told the caller to stop contacting the victim.

Later that evening, the scammer again called the victim and demanded that she turn over the remaining $5,200 in cash, telling her that an undercover detective would collect the money the following day. The victim reported the planned pickup to Shomrim and police.

On July 22, 2025, at approximately 12:55 p.m., after the victim had alerted law enforcement, the defendant drove a black Cadillac to the victim’s home and met her outside. He provided the prearranged passcode, identified himself as “Jack” and took the $5,200 in cash. The defendant was stopped shortly afterward by Shomrim and police, who recovered the victim’s money from his vehicle and arrested him.

Following the defendant’s arrest, an investigation conducted by the Brooklyn District Attorney’s Office identified 12 telephone numbers associated with the scheme and determined that the scammers used internet-based phone services with IP addresses located in several countries in Asia.

The case was prosecuted by Senior Assistant District Attorney Han Zhang and Assistant District Attorney Kellen Michuda, of the District Attorney’s Blue Zone Trial Bureau, under the supervision of Assistant District Attorney Kin Ng, Bureau Chief.

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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Wednesday, September 23, 2026

Brooklyn Man Sentenced to up to 12 Years in Prison for Stealing Nearly
$16 Million in Fraudulent Cryptocurrency Scheme

Scammed Approximately 100 Victims Throughout the US;
Convinced Users to Transfer Funds, Claiming Accounts were Hacked

Brooklyn District Attorney Eric Gonzalez today announced that an indictment brought by his Virtual Currency Unit has resulted in the guilty plea and sentencing of a Brooklyn man in connection with a phishing and social engineering scheme that stole nearly $16 million from about 100 users of the cryptocurrency exchange Coinbase. The defendant – who used the handle @lolimfeelingevil when bragging online – contacted users purporting to be a Coinbase representative, claimed that their assets were at risk from a hacker and convinced them to transfer their money to a new cryptocurrency wallet. He then emptied out those accounts and laundered the assets by sending them to online swapping and mixing services as well as cryptocurrency gambling entities.

District Attorney Gonzalez said, “Today’s sentencing holds the defendant accountable for a brazen, long-running social engineering scam that amounted to a digital robbery of nearly 100 victims. Our Virtual Currency Unit painstakingly pieced together the digital proof that identified the defendant behind this sophisticated scheme, followed the money that he stole and compiled iron-clad evidence against him. This case should put crypto scammers on notice: we will follow the digital trail wherever it leads and aggressively pursue those responsible.”

The District Attorney identified the defendant as Ronald Spektor, 23, of Sheepshead Bay, Brooklyn. He was sentenced today by Brooklyn Supreme Court Justice Danny Chun to four to 12 years in prison. The defendant pleaded guilty to the entire 31-count indictment, including first-degree money laundering, first-degree grand larceny, first-degree criminal possession of stolen property and related charges on September 2, 2026 in exchange for the promised sentence over the objection of the District Attorney’s office, which sought a sentence of seven to 21 years in prison.

The defendant was also ordered to forfeit cash, cryptocurrency and personal property with an estimated value of more than half a million dollars and make restitution of almost $16 million.

The District Attorney said Coinbase is an American cryptocurrency exchange that allows its users to buy, sell, and store digital assets. Coinbase users are popular targets for phishing scams, which are social engineering cyberattacks where a bad actor impersonates a trusted entity, like a bank or a well-known company, to trick customers into revealing sensitive information, such as passwords, account numbers, or other personal details. These scams are typically conducted through deceptive emails, text messages, phone calls, or malicious websites that mimic legitimate ones.

Over the course of a year, the DA’s Virtual Currency Unit investigated a Coinbase phishing scheme that resulted in approximate loss of $15,944,000 from about 100 U.S.-based users. Victims confirmed that a purported Coinbase representative contacted them and informed them that their assets were at risk from a hacker and needed to be moved to a new wallet. The users, believing they were communicating with a real Coinbase representative, unwittingly moved their crypto assets to a wallet that they were led to believe was under their sole control, but was actually accessible by the defendant.

The investigation further revealed that the stolen assets were then laundered by swapping them multiple times through different crypto exchanges until they were eventually consolidated at “cash-out points” where they could be converted to other types of cryptocurrencies, wagered in bets, converted to cash, and used to purchase gift cards or digital assets. Large portions of the stolen assets in this case were sent to gambling services and various online storefronts.

The defendant, who lived with his father in Brooklyn, was responsible for the scheme, according to the evidence, based on transaction records, blockchain analyses, digital forensic and evidence recovered from multiple search warrants. The defendant’s own home IP address was linked to multiple wallets that cryptocurrency was stolen from. The investigation also revealed that he used online forums to recruit others to work for him as social engineers (e.g. perpetuating what might look like a hacking attempt) and to brag about his criminal exploits.

Furthermore, the investigation revealed that Spektor used the handle @lolimfeelingevil on the encrypted messaging app Telegram, where he ran a channel called “Blockchain enemies” in which he openly bragged about his heists. He also used encrypted apps like Discord. Investigators recovered messages that show he wrote, using slang terms, that he lost six million dollars of cryptocurrency by gambling and implied that he has made millions of dollars’ worth of cryptocurrency through scamming.

In addition, text messages recovered from his phone show that after becoming the subject of online allegations of fraud, he disposed of a cryptocurrency hardware wallet and purchased a new one.

Victims came from all walks of life, and their locations spanned the entire country. Some lost $1 million or more.

The District Attorney offered the following tips to avoid falling victim to phishing scams:

• • Coinbase and most other companies will never call customers or ask to transfer crypto to a “safe wallet”
  • Don’t trust caller ID, sender names or lookalike domains that can be spoofed.
  • Slow down. Scammers rely on urgency and pressure. Verify independently, consult with others, don’t move money in a rush.

The civil forfeiture case against the defendant was handled by Senior Assistant District Attorney Joel Greenwald under the supervision of Asset Forfeiture and Crimes Against Revenue Deputy Bureau Chief Diana Villanueva.

The case was investigated by Assistant District Attorney Alona Katz, Chief of the District Attorney’s Virtual Currency Unit with the assistance of ADA Kevin Zhen of the Frauds Bureau, Senior Virtual Currency Analyst Sam Weaver and Paul Stenzel, as well as analysts Jayden Kuprel, Chris Vellios, and Paralegal Claire Fagan, of the Virtual Currency Unit. Detective Investigators from the KCDA Detective Bureau and members of the Digital Evidence Lab Unit under the supervision of Chief Jingu Chong also assisted in the investigation.

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