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04
DISTRICT ATTORNEY CHARLES J.
HYNES ADDRESSES DTAP AND COM ALERT RECOGNITION CLASS IN
CEREMONY HELD AT BOROUGH HALL
In
a DTAP- ComAlert recognition speech delivered on Nov. 29,
Kings County District Attorney Charles J. Hynes said he was
proud to see benefits being reaped from two special programs
he created since assuming office in 1990.
DTAP is a residential drug treatment and re-entry
program for formerly incarcerated. ComAlert provides
formally incarcerated individuals with housing, education,
substance abuse treatment, physical and mental health
counseling and employment.
Todate, DA Hynes said 2,991 defendants have been
accepted into the DTAP program and 301 participants are
currently in treatment. He said 1345 women and men have
graduated from the program.
“These participants represent economic benefits to
the taxpayers of New York State
of $54 million in saved prison costs, health care costs,
recidivism and public assistance costs, combined with
increased tax revenues from our employed graduates,” said DA
Hynes.
DA Hynes said that ComAlert which provides
participants with wrap around re-entry services including
substance abuse treatment, anger management, vocational
deadlines, job placement, family support and mentor matching
is making an enormous impact as well.
“Our collaboration with
Medgar Evers College
has allowed us to offer the formerly incarcerated GED
classes and higher educational opportunities,” said District
Attorney Hynes.
“Our participants represent economic benefits to the
taxpayers of over seven million dollars.” said DA Hynes.
DA Hynes also said this year’s ComAlert graduates
distinguished themselves though their academic and
professional achievements and volunteerism sharing what hey
have experience and learned with member of the community and
other individuals who are at risk.
“It makes far more sense to me from a public safety
point of view to treat the underlying cause of the criminal
behavior of these addicted non-violent offenders,” said DA
Hynes.
Contact:
J. Zamgba Browne
(718) 250-3850
03
DISTRICT ATTORNEY
CHARLES J. HYNES PRESENTS AWARDS TO STUDENTS OF RESTART
PROGRAM AT THE BACK ON TRACK SITE IN
BROWNSVILLE
Restart is an educational program of the Department of
Education which is offered at the Back on Track location, 2318 Atlantic Avenue.
Restart provides an intensive educational program for
students who are between the ages of 13 and 16 and have been
held back one or more times and are currently in the 6th,
7th or 8th grades.
Restart students are provided the assistance to
successfully pass the Middle School Exam, qualifying them to
enroll in high school.
Students participating in Restart and their families may
receive services provided at the Back on Track site,
including mental health counseling.
The Brooklyn District Attorney’s office provides a
full-time social worker who works directly with the students
and their families to ensure they get the delivery of
services they need.
DA Hynes handed out awards to each student participating in
Restart, for their academic and personal achievements.
In attendance were parents, teachers, and staff
members.
In his remarks, DA Hynes cited the high level of excellence
achieved by the students, who were formerly truant as a
groundbreaking start to the Restart program. DA Hynes
stressed the success of Restart and said the program will
serve as notice to the residents of Brownsville that the Kings County District
Attorney’s Office is in the community and is committed to
make things different.
DA Hynes also thanked Susan Taylor for her inspiring
presentation and her message to the students that they can
achieve success for themselves and for their families.
At the close of the ceremony, DA Hynes extended each of the
students an open invitation to serve as interns at the
Brooklyn DA’s office when they begin high school.
02
KINGS COUNTY DISTRICT ATTORNEY CHARLES J. HYNES ANNOUNCES FOUR
INDICTMENTS IN TWO SEX TRAFFICKING CASES INVOLVING
12-AND-13-YEAR-OLD VICTIMS
AVON TO PROVIDE AID FOR VICTIMS
Brooklyn, November
21, 2011—Kings County District Attorney Charles J. Hynes
today announced four indictments in two separate
sex-trafficking cases, charging four defendants with forcing
a 12- year-old girl, and a 13-year-old girl to work as
prostitutes.
District Attorney Hynes also announced that Avon products
have donated toiletries and other products to
sex-trafficking victims in Brooklyn.
“The defendants in these cases are the lowest of the low,
forcing children to have sex for money. My Sex Trafficking
Unit and I will see them punished to the fullest extent of
the law,” said District Attorney Hynes. “Sex-trafficking
victims are lucky to escape with the clothes on their backs.
Something as simple as soap can help give them back some of
the dignity and sense of independence of which they have
been stripped. I would like to thank the people at Avon for
their donation, which continues our partnership in working
to end violence against women and girls, building on Avon’s
early and continuing support for the Brooklyn Family Justice Center.”
In November 2010, Melinda Carmichael, 22, introduced
a 12-year-old girl to Gary Whitfield, 29. Promising the
victim easy money and luxurious gifts, the two forced her to
dance at clubs and bachelor parties and to pick up johns on
the street and perform sex for money over the following 10
months, according to the indictment.
Charges against Carmichael and Whitfield include Sex
Trafficking, Promoting Prostitution in the Second Degree,
and Endangering the Welfare of a Child. They face up to 25
years in prison if convicted.
In September 2011, Kendale “Ace” Judge, 21, met a
13-year-old runaway.
His indictment charges that he gained her trust by
promising to love and take care of her, but instead beat her
and forced her into prostitution, and advertised her
services with photographs posted on the website,
Backpage.com.
When she tried to escape, he tracked her down and beat her
and threw her down a flight of stairs, according to the
indictment. The indictment charges that an accomplice,
Shanique Davis, 19, aided Judge, by photographing the girl
and helping to keep her captive.
Charges against Judge and Davis include Sex Trafficking,
Kidnapping in the First Degree, Compelling Prostitution,
Rape in the Second Degree, and Endangering the Welfare of a
Child. They face up to 25 years in prison if convicted.
A year and a half ago, The District Attorney’s office
created the Sex Trafficking Unit in the Rackets Division of
the office to address the growing problem of traffickers
exploiting women, girls and boys. The victims of these
crimes are typically very young, vulnerable and, therefore,
easy targets for the heinous criminals that prey on them.
To meet their special needs, the unit is staffed with
attorneys, paralegals and social workers, all of whom
received training in the handling of these sensitive and
difficult cases.
To date, we have indicted 31 defendants, have secured 6
convictions, all of which have resulted in substantial
prison sentences.
An indictment is an accusatory instrument and not
proof of a defendant’s guilt.
The cases are being prosecuted by Assistant District
Attorneys Grace Albinson and Kathleen Collins and by Chief
of the Sex Trafficking Unit Lauren Hersh. Michael Vecchione
is Chief of the Rackets Division.
These cases were investigated by Detective Rose
Muckenthaler, Detective Paul Carlin and Detective John
Kopack, of the Vice Human Trafficking Team. The commanding
officer of the Vice Human Trafficking Team is Deputy
Inspector Anthony Favale.
Contact: Mia Goldberg
(718) 250-2300
01
KINGS COUNTY DISTRICT
ATTORNEY CHARLES J. HYNES ANNOUNCES THE INDICTMENT OF A
FORMER STOCK BROKER, WHO STOLE OVER $200,000 FROM FOUR
VICTIMS ACROSS THE COUNTRY
FORMER STOCK BROKER USED
COMMON SCAM TECHNIQUES LIKE ALTERING CHECKS AND POSING AS
A WELL-CONNECTED PROFESSIONAL
Brooklyn, November 16, 2011 –Kings
County District Attorney Charles J. Hynes today announced
the indictment of Boris Shteyngart, 24, a disgraced stock
broker running a securities scam out of his Brooklyn home
who stole over $200,000 from four victims, including a
dentist from Missouri, who lost $142,000 and an 84-year-old
Queens man who lost $10,000, the bulk of his life savings.
Charges against Shteyngart
include Grand Larceny in the Second and Third Degrees,
Criminal Impersonation, Forgery in the Second Degree, and
Scheme to Defraud in the First Degree. If convicted, he
faces up to 40 years in prison.
“Let this indictment serve as
notice that my office is committed to working with FINRA
[the Financial Industry Regulation Authority] and other
authorities to protect the retirement savings and
investments of hard working citizens from the unscrupulous
and dishonest acts of men such as Boris Shteyngart,” said
District Attorney Hynes. “I thank FINRA’s Criminal
Prosecutions Assistance Group, for their hard work on this,
and other cases.”
Shteyngart was a licensed
stock broker from 2005 until 2009, when FINRA stripped him
of his of his brokerage license for misconduct. Today’s
indictment charges that from January 2009 until September
2011, he cold-called people across the nation, impersonating
a stock broker, saying he had called them in the past with a
great deal they missed out on, and offering them “a second
chance”. In two instances, he instructed them to make the
check out to “BORI”, which he said was for the Bank of Rhode
Island, where he claimed to hold an account, according to
the indictment. He told the victims to leave space after “BORI”,
for him to fill in an account number, according to the
indictment. The indictment charges that when Shteyngart
received the checks he would fill in the rest of his name,
“S Shteyngart”, after “BORI” and cash the checks.
Anyone who
believes he or she might be a victim or has information
about this case should contact the District Attorney’s
Office at (718) 250-2600, or the FINRA hotline
(800)289-9999.
An indictment is an
accusatory instrument and not proof of a defendant’s guilt.
The case is being prosecuted
by Rackets Bureau Chief Joseph A. DiBenedetto. Michael
Vecchione is Chief of the Rackets Division.
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Contact: Mia
Goldberg
(718) 250-2300
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