|
| |
 |
Month
of
JANUARY
2007 |
| OFFICE
OF PUBLIC INFORMATION |
|
Jerry Schmetterer................Dir of Public Information / Jonah Bruno.......................Dep.
Dir. of Public Information |
| J. Zamgba Browne ...............Community
Media Specialist / Sandy Silverstein...................Communications
Specialist |
|
Orlando Rivera....................Communications
Specialist |
|
001
KINGS COUNTY
DISTRICT ATTORNEY
CHARLES J. HYNES ANNOUNCES SENTENCING OF CONVICTED
RAPIST
DNA MATCHED FROM
PRIOR BURGLARY CONVICTION
Brooklyn, January 30,
2007 – Kings
County District Attorney Charles J. Hynes today
announced the sentencing of Jamel Ash, 30, to the
maximum 25 years for raping a 53-year-old woman in
front of her granddaughter in 1998. The sentence
will run consecutive to the 20-year sentence which
Ash is currently serving for a prior robbery and
burglary conviction.
On Thanksgiving Day in 1998, the victim
entertained family in her home. After everyone had
left, she retired to her bedroom. Several hours
later, she heard a noise downstairs. She called out
to see if one of her family members had returned.
But nobody responded. Ash, who had come to the home
to burglarize it, then went upstairs. He went to
the bedroom, kicked in the door and found the victim
alone with her 8-month-old granddaughter. He
demanded money and jewelry. Then, he swiped a gold
necklace, pushed her onto the bed and raped her.
After he finished the assault, he wiped himself off
with a towel and left.
When Ash was convicted in 2002 and
sentenced to 20 years for several burglaries and
robberies that occurred in 1999, his DNA was put
into a database. In 2005, as part of Project
Backlog, the DNA in the database matched DNA found
on the victim’s underwear. It was later found that
there was also a match to the DNA found on the towel
and in dried secretions taken from the victim’s
upper thigh at the time of the incident.
Ash was indicted in the rape case on
January 30, 2006. He was convicted on December 18,
2006 on charges of Rape in the First Degree and
Burglary in the First Degree.
The case was prosecuted by Deputy Bureau
Chiefs Rachel Schmidt and Maria Cienava from the Sex
Crimes Bureau. Rhonnie Jaus is Chief of the Sex
Crimes Bureau.
Contact:
Sandy Silverstein
718-250-2300
back to top |
002
KINGS COUNTY
DISTRICT ATTORNEY CHARLES J. HYNES ANNOUNCES
INDICTMENT IN DRUNK DRIVING INCIDENT
NEW VEHICULAR
ASSAULT CHARGE USED FOR FIRST TIME
Brooklyn, January 30, 2007 –
Kings County District
Attorney Charles J. Hynes today announced the
indictment of Jiankai Huang, 29, on charges of
Vehicular Assault in the First Degree, Assault in
the Second Degree and Driving While Intoxicated. It
is the first time the Brooklyn District Attorney’s
Office has charged Vehicular Assault in the First
Degree, which went into effect November 1, 2006.
Huang is charged with causing an
accident that injured several people, when he ran a
red light at the intersection of 65th
Street and Fort Hamilton Parkway. With a
blood-alcohol level of .152 percent, Huang had
nearly twice the legal amount of alcohol in his
system at the time of the incident, 8:18 A.M.
January 24. He was driving between 40 and 50 miles
per hour.
Six people were injured in the multi-car
accident, including a passenger in Huang’s car and
two students walking to McKinley Junior High School.
One, age 12, suffered two broken arms, two broken
legs, and a lacerated kidney – which had to be
surgically removed. His right foot was amputated.
Another pedestrian, age 25, remains in the hospital
with a crushed pelvis.
The new Vehicular Assault statute can be
charged when two or more people are seriously
injured in a vehicular accident involving an
intoxicated driver.
Huang faces a maximum of seven years in
prison if convicted. He is being held on $100,000
bail. More charges are expected.
Assistant District
Attorney Gayle Dampf-Littman, Chief of the Vehicular
Crimes Bureau, is prosecuting the case.
Contact:
Jonah Bruno
718-250-2300
back to top |
003
KINGS COUNTY
DISTRICT ATTORNEY CHARLES J. HYNES ANNOUNCES 15-YEAR
SENTENCE IN IDENTITY THEFT
DEFENDANT TOOK OVER VICTIMS’ CREDIT CARD ACCOUNTS
TO WITHDRAW CASH AND MAKE PURCHASES TOTALING MORE
THAN $67,000
Brooklyn,
January 26, 2007 –
Kings County District Attorney Charles J. Hynes
today announced sentencing for Kevin Griffith, 28,
to five to 15 years in prison.
Earlier this month, Griffith pleaded guilty to Grand
Larceny in the Second Degree, the top charge in a
211-count indictment.
Griffith
had been charged with making a series of purchases
and bank withdrawals totaling more than $67,000, on
Chase Manhattan Bank credit cards fraudulently
obtained, through account takeover scams. As a
result of this investigation, Griffith has also been
charged with similar crimes in Manhattan.
On nine
occasions Griffith contacted Chase Manhattan Bank
using the name of an account holder and requested a
new card be mailed to a different address –
Griffith’s address. Often he said he needed the new
card at the new address because his house had burned
down. Griffith had the account holders’ social
security numbers, account numbers and addresses. He
would then ask the customer service representative
at the bank to mail him a second credit card in
another name – sometimes his real name – telling the
bank he wanted the other person to be listed as a
secondary account holder.
On his tenth victim, Griffith even opened a brand
new account – providing the bank with the victim’s
social security number, mother’s maiden name, date
of birth and address – and had himself listed as a
secondary account holder.
To avoid
the scrutiny of the actual account holders, Griffith
had the credit card bills mailed to his
address.
Assistant District Attorney Michael Vaccaro of the
Rackets Division, prosecuted the case. Michael
Vecchione is Chief of the Rackets Division.
Contact: Jonah Bruno
718-250-2300
back to top |
004
KINGS COUNTY DISTRICT ATTORNEY
CHARLES J. HYNES ANNOUNCES SENTENCING IN RAPE OF
10-YEAR-OLD GIRL
Brooklyn, January 19, 2006 Kings County District
Attorney Charles J. Hynes today announced the
sentencing of Tedy Pierre, 24, to 15 years in prison
for raping a 10-year-old girl to whom he was related
through marriage.
Pierre was convicted in
November of Rape in the First Degree and Criminal
Sex Act in the First Degree.
In the summer of
2005, Pierre raped and sodomized the girl on more
than one occasion, threatening her with violence if
she told anyone. Eventually she told her aunt, who
contacted police. When Pierre realized he would be
arrested, he fled to Haiti. He was arrested after
returning to the United States.
Assistant District
Attorney Patricia Gunning and Catherine Dagonese
prosecuted the case. Ama Dwimoh is Chief of the
Crimes Against Children Bureau.
Contact: Jonah Bruno
718-250-2300
back to top |
05
KINGS COUNTY DISTRICT ATTORNEY
CHARLES J. HYNES
ANNOUNCES CONVICTION
IN GANG RAPE
DEFENDANT’S DNA LED TO CONVICTION
Brooklyn, January 17, 2007 Kings County District
Attorney Charles J. Hynes today announced the
conviction of Robert Kelly for his participation in
a July 2005 robbery and rape.
Kelly was convicted of Rape in the First
Degree, Robbery in the Second Degree, and Criminal
Sexual Act in the First Degree. When he is
sentenced, February 2, he will face a maximum of 50
years to life in prison.
Kelly, 41, and four accomplices Gerdzer
Edmee, 18; Etzer Edmee, 25; Yashika Cochrane, 18;
and Raynold Voltaire, 33 have all been charged in
the incident. The victims one man and one woman
were carjacked, forced to surrender their ATM PIN
numbers, and taken to the basement of a Flatlands
apartment building, where the woman was raped.
Cochrane, who was not involved in the
rape, pleaded guilty to Attempted Robbery in the
Second Degree, in exchange for a two-year prison
sentence. Voltaire, the apartment building’s
superintendent, pleaded guilty to Rape in the First
Degree and will serve eight years in prison.
In the basement of the building the
victims were put in separate rooms, and the woman
was repeatedly raped by four defendants. Kelly and
Voltaire both lived in apartments in the building.
The rapists forced the victim to wear a
towel over her head, so she could not see her
attackers. However, DNA found at the scene matched
Kelly’s. Kelly was also caught on surveillance video
at an ATM machine withdrawing cash from one victim’s
bank account.
Kelly, a Level-3 Sex Offender, is
currently serving a life sentence on an unrelated
charge.
The case was prosecuted by Assistant
District Attorneys Kevin O’Donnell and Christina
Fay. Rhonnie Jaus is Chief of the Sex Crimes Bureau.
Contact: Jonah Bruno
718-250-2300
back to
top |
006
|
|
|
HOME |
|