YEAR END WRAP-UP

This has been a successful year for my office.  We have taken many dangerous criminals off the streets, implemented some new programs designed to lower recidivism, continued the success of our alternative-to-prison programs,  taken guns off the streets and educated the community regarding a variety of issues including Internet Safety and Mortgage Fraud. 

In April, Assemblywoman Diane Gordon was convicted and sentenced to two to six years in prison after being caught on videotape surveillance soliciting a $500,000 bribe. She sought to have a house built for her in return for helping a developer get a valuable parcel of city land.  It was another major step for my office in rooting out official corruption.

I am especially proud of our office for the takedown of a multi-million dollar human tissue theft conspiracy.  This case received attention from all over the world because of the rare circumstances involved in this illegal activity.  Michael Mastromarino, Joseph Nicelli, Lee Cruceta, and Christopher Aldorasi were arrested for this scheme in which tissues were harvested from people who never consented before they died, to be donors. Those tissues were then sold to medical companies for use in surgical transplants, such as bone and skin grafts.  Mastromarino, the mastermind behind this operation, was sentenced to up to 54 years in prison.  Aldorasi was sentenced to a maximum of 27 years.  Nicelli and Cruceta are awaiting sentencing.

In an effort to get guns off the streets, we initiated a gun buyback program with the NYPD.  On three occasions this year starting in July, we teamed up with churches throughout Brooklyn to take illegal, functioning guns off the streets by offering a $200 cash reward for each eligible weapon surrendered. They could be brought to selected churches. All transactions were completely anonymous.  A total of 1,535 guns were collected through the three gun buybacks.  Due to the enormous success, we plan to continue this program next year.

One of the most high-profile court cases throughout the entire country this year  were two murder trials  in the death of seven-year-old Nixzmary Brown at the hands of her stepfather Cesar Rodriguez and her mother Nixzaliz Santiago.  Nixzmary Brown suffered signs of long-term physical abuse, she had been tied up with ropes and bungee cords and was often deprived of food.  Rodriguez and Santiago were both convicted and received long prison sentences.  In addition, this case has caused the Administration for Children’s Services to make changes in its procedures when looking into child-abuse cases.

In April, my office co-sponsored Brooklyn Child Watch with the New York Foundling Fontana Center for Child Protection, which is a new child abuse prevention program designed to get volunteers in the community involved by providing them with the necessary information and skills to help protect children in their neighborhoods.  The program aims to educate neighborhood volunteers through a series of workshops on child abuse issues and how to identify and report child abuse and neglect.

One of our biggest challenges this year was gang violence – trying to stop the violence, get gangs off the streets, and preventing youth in our community from joining gangs.   A major problem we identified is that many stores throughout Brooklyn are marketing to gangs.   Our Gangs Bureau, set up a task force with concerned parents called “Mothers Against Gangs” to take on gang-friendly stores which sell clothes that are intentionally color coded by sporting good manufacturers to appeal to violent street gangs.  This marketing has led to people getting attacked because they were unknowingly wearing gang colors.  Mothers Against Gangs has been successful in getting the word out, preventing more gang-related violence.

Along with the NYS Department of Taxation and Finance, my office seized the largest amount of counterfeit tax stamps in New York State history.  The counterfeit stamps, valued at $6.1 million, were intended to be applied to packs of untaxed cigarettes. Investigators also seized more than 100 cartons of counterfeit cigarettes and we indicted the accused smuggler Rafea Al-Nablisi.  The counterfeit tax stamps were to be applied to cigarettes which were being illegally diverted away from distribution centers. This type of fraud costs taxpayers in New York up to hundreds of millions of dollars each year, in lost revenue.

Our Drug Treatment Alternative-to-Prison (DTAP) program has continued to be a tremendous success.  This year, we honored 80 graduates of the diversion program designed to rehabilitate drug-addicted, non-violent felony offenders by providing residential drug treatment.  These individuals overcame their drug addictions, received services including career training, and turned their lives around, enabling them to better resist the temptation of drugs.  DTAP, now in its 18^th year, has reduced recidivism rates of its graduates by half.  Since the program began in 1990, there have been 1,110 graduates.  Diversion to DTAP has resulted in economic benefits of $44.2 million dollars per the 1,110 graduates.

This year, we implemented two new programs designed to protect city employees – police officers and transit workers.  My Assault on Police Office Program (APOP) and Assault on Transit Workers Program was created to protect those officials from random attacks and ensure that those who assault these officials will be prosecuted to the full extent of the law.

Our ComALERT program has continued to be a tremendous success in reducing recidivism among its participants.  ComALERT is a reentry program which provides assistance and services to parolees upon returning to the Brooklyn community.  My office forms partnerships with community-based organizations that specialize in job training, educational services and substance abuse treatment.  Collectively, these organizations along with federal, state and local law enforcement agencies provide their respective areas of expertise.  This enables participants to make a successful transition from prison to home by providing drug treatment counseling, mental health counseling, assistance in attaining a GED, as well as access to transitional housing and employment.

The ComALERT staff has been very active this year. The program enrolled 345 clients in 2008. 

Our staff did prison in-reach at four different facilities, organized a faith-based mentoring training with Prison Fellowship Ministries, in order to educate the faith-based community on how to deal with the needs of the formerly incarcerated; and collaborated with the New York State Division of Parole for a community parole basketball game held at Thomas Jefferson High School. DA’s staff, parolees, and parole officers participated in this game.  The event fostered greater communication between the law enforcement agencies, community and parolees.

Our Youth & Congregations in Partnership (YCP) program celebrated its 10^th anniversary this year.  YCP is a community-based intervention program established in 1997, promoting rehabilitation and the reduction of recidivism among Brooklyn’s court-involved and at-risk youth. We honored many of those who contributed to the success of the YCP program including the graduates, their parents, mentors, pastors and community organizations, and we gave scholarships to numerous YCP graduates. 

Our Family Justice Center, which provides information and services such as counseling, advocacy, legal information and housing help, for domestic violence victims all in one location, has continued to help more and more victims.  Since opening, the Family Justice Center has had over 38,000 victims who have visited the Family Justice Center on at least one occasion. 

We have also made many arrests and gotten convictions for all kinds of fraud cases including dental fraud, mortgage and real estate fraud, Internet fraud, stock fraud and welfare fraud.  Scammers are always trying to make a quick dollar illegally.  My office regularly sends prosecutors into the community to educate people on different types of scams and provide warning signs on what they should look out for to avoid being victimized.  One form of fraud is identity theft.  Scammers try to take advantage of you through a variety of schemes by getting your personal information and making purchases in your name.  Here are some tips to avoid being a victim of identity theft:

-  Beware of Internet shopping.  Don’t buy items from stores that you’ve never heard of. 

-  If prices are too good to be true, then it’s probably a scam. 

-  Beware of auctions and inappropriate websites. 

-  Don’t open email attachments from people that you don’t know. 

-  Don’t give out personal information over the phone and be careful of what information  
   you give out on the computer as well.

-  Shred all of your mail.

-  Take receipts from all of your credit card purchases. 

-  When you are out shopping, pay close attention to what is going on around you,

   especially in crowded streets, stores and malls.

-  Do not burden yourself with too many packages. If you are jostled in a crowd, be aware

   that a pickpocket, or someone working with one, might be responsible. Also watch out

   for loud arguments or commotions that might be staged to distract you while your  

   pocket is being picked.

-  Learn as much about the seller as you can before making purchases from them.  If the seller is unfamiliar,       
   check with your state or local consumer protection agency and the  Better Business Bureau.  Try to get an  
   address or a phone number in case there is a problem  with the product.

We had a unique case this August in which a multi-agency effort led to the arrest of an individual who used four acres of publicly owned property on Erskine Street, to create a dumping ground for garbage, construction debris and derelict or stolen cars, tractor trailers and heavy-duty machinery, as well as a private parking lot and an illegal automobile dismantling yard.  The suspect, Darren Miller, has been indicted and is awaiting trial.

My office not only protects human beings who are victims of crimes, but we also protect the rights of animals.  Animal cruelty is a serious issue.  It is important to realize that animals have many of the same needs as human beings for survival.  Animals also have their own rights and deserve to be protected from harm.  I indicted a defendant this August who was raising, training and selling illegal fighting birds.  After executing a search warrant at his home, 58 roosters were recovered with their combs removed – a surgical alteration made to help roosters fight.  Detectives also recovered a cock-fight “training ring”, a hypodermic needle, surgical instruments, and razor blades – which are often attached to roosters’ legs prior to fights – and special “boxing gloves” used in training.

This year, we opened four new neighborhood offices, bringing the total to 25.  The 25 neighborhood offices throughout Brooklyn are an extension of the DA’s Office.  They are walk-in centers where people in the community can come in and speak to a prosecutor or counselor and receive services and information about a variety of issues including elder abuse, domestic violence, sexual abuse, drug or gang activity, prostitution, burglary or robbery, gangs, identity theft, fraudulent loans and other frauds.  We recently opened offices in Bushwick, Homecrest, Coney Island and East New York.  In addition, we have a mobile neighborhood office which travels throughout Brooklyn.  We have plans to add another neighborhood office in Crown Heights early next year.

Vanda Seward, Executive Director of ComALERT	John Chaney, Deputy Director of ComALERT	Deanna Rodriguez, Chief of Gang Bureau
Ama Dwimoh, Chief of Crimes Against Children Bureau	APOP and Assault on Transit Workers program staff:  From left to right:  Senior Trial Attorney Thomas Ridges, Deputy District Attorney John O’Mara, Deputy District Attorney Angelo Morelli and Deputy Bureau Chief Lewis Lieberman
Anne Swern, First Assistant District Attorney	David Heslin, Executive Assistant District Attorney & Director of DTAP program	Carol Moran, Deputy District Attorney & Chief of Animal Crimes Unit
Lauren Mack, Bureau Chief of Public AssistanceCrimes Unit	Charles Guria, Chief of Civil Rights/Police Integrity Unit	Mike Vecchione, Chief of Rackets Division
Wanda Lucibello, Chief of Domestic Violence Bureau	Joe DiBenedetto, Deputy Bureau Chief of Rackets Division	Laura Neubauer, Bureau Chief of Rackets Division
Kevin O’Donnell, Unit Chief of Cybercrimes Unit	Joan Gabbidon, Senior Deputy District Attorney & Director of YCP program	Richard Farrell, Counsel to Rackets Division
Mary Hughes, Confidential Assistant to the District Attorney	Reagan Stevens, Director of Neighborhood Offices	Lance Ogiste, Counsel to the District Attorney