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09
KINGS COUNTY DISTRICT ATTORNEY CHARLES J. HYNES ANNOUNCES
THE INDICTMENT OF SALVATORE PERRONE FOR THE MURDER OF THREE
CLOTHING SHOP OWNERS SINCE JULY
Brooklyn, November 27, 2012 –
Kings County District Attorney Charles J. Hynes today
announced the First-Degree Murder indictment of Salvatore
Perrone, for shooting three clothing store-owners with the
same gun, in three separate incidents, since July 6, 2012.
Perrone, 64, is charged with six counts of murder: Three
counts of Murder in the First Degree, because the indictment
charges he killed three people in a similar manner within a
period of two years, and three counts of Murder in the
Second Degree. Murder in the First Degree carries a maximum
sentence of life in prison without parole.
Murder in the Second Degree carries a maximum
sentence of 25 years to life, for each count.
All three victims owned the clothing stores where they were
killed. Ballistic reports conclude the same .22-caliber
semi-automatic rifle was used to kill the three men.
The indictment charges that on the evening of July 6, 2012,
Perrone shot and killed Mohamed Gabeli, 65, inside Valentino
Fashion clothing store at 7718 Fifth Avenue in Bay Ridge.
The indictment charges that on the evening of August 2,
2012, Perrone shot and killed Isaac Kadare, 59, inside
Amazing 99-Cent and Up Deals clothing store at 1877 86th
Street in Bensonhurst.
The indictment charges that on the evening of November 16,
2012, Perrone killed Rahmatollah Vahidipour, 78, inside
She-She Boutique, at 834 Flatbush Avenue.
An indictment is an accusatory instrument and not proof of a
defendant’s guilt.
The case is being prosecuted by Melissa L. Carvajal, Senior
Trial Attorney in the Homicide Bureau.
Kenneth M. Taub is Chief of the Homicide Bureau.
Contact:
Jonah Bruno
(718) 250-2300
08
KINGS COUNTY DISTRICT ATTORNEY
CHARLES J. HYNES ANNOUNCES SENTENCES OF THREE LATIN KING
GANG MEMBERS IN BOROUGH PARK ARSON CASE
Brooklyn, November 26, 2012 –
Kings County District Attorney Charles J. Hynes today
announced the sentences of Emil Vazquez, 21, Juan Burkette,
30, and Casimiro Reyes, 21, Latin King gang members, who
along with other members of the gang, were charged with
planning and executing an arson of a Borough Park residence
with Molotov cocktails.
Vazquez was convicted of Arson in the First Degree
and sentenced on November 15 to 15 years to life in prison.
Burkette was convicted of Arson in the First Degree
and sentenced today to 23 years to life in prison.
Reyes was convicted
of Conspiracy in the Second Degree and sentenced today to
six to 18 years in prison.
They were sentenced by Brooklyn Supreme Court Judge
Albert Tomei.
On March 1, 2010, the
Latin Kings street gang’s “Borough Park Homicide Squad” set
fire to the Borough Park residence in an attempt to kill a
former gang member.
In July 2010, the three defendants, along with 15
other gang members who were also involved in the planning,
were indicted.
The target of the arsons, Juan Kuang, 19, had been
“stripped” of his Latin King status, over disagreements with
the Borough Park Homicide Squad’s leaders.
After constant
harassment by the Latin Kings, Juan Kuang stabbed Latin King
member Norman Vado, 21, the brother of the gang’s leader, or
“First Crown”, Roger Vado. Juan Kuang is currently serving a
five-year prison sentence for the stabbing of Norman Vado.
Roger Vado and the Borough Park Homicide Squad members were
charged with setting the fire at Juan Kuang’s residence in
retaliation for Norman Vado’s stabbing.
On two separate occasions, the gang members threw Molotov
cocktails at two different Borough Park homes, where they
believed Kuang was living at the time. One building,
which was a multi-family unit where young children and an
elderly woman lived, was completely destroyed. The
other targeted building was an apartment complex, of which
the exterior, rear wall was scorched and damaged.
Nobody was injured in either fire.
The case was investigated by the NYPD Gang Division’s
Brooklyn South Gang Squad and the FDNY Bureau of Fire
Investigation’s Citywide South/Special Investigations Unit.
The case was prosecuted by Anita Channapati, Deputy Bureau
Chief, and Leila Rosini, Assistant District Attorney, of the
Gang Bureau. Deanna Rodriguez is Chief of the Gang Bureau.
Contact:
Sandy Silverstein
(718) 250-2300
07
KINGS COUNTY DISTRICT ATTORNEY’S
COUNSEL TO THE DA, LANCE OGISTE, TO RECEIVE THOMAS E. DEWEY
MEDAL FROM NYC BAR ASSOCIATION
Brooklyn, November 26, 2012 –
Kings County District Attorney Charles J. Hynes today
announced that Lance Ogiste, Counsel to the DA, will receive
the Thomas E. Dewey Medal from the NYC Bar Association at
their eighth annual event on Wednesday, December 12 at 42
West 44th Street in NYC.
District Attorney Hynes said, “I want to congratulate Lance
Ogiste on this prestigious honor.
He is an exceptional prosecutor and program leader in
our office and a tremendous community supporter.
He
is truly deserving of this award from the Bar Association as
he exemplifies the qualities that serve as an example to all
of our prosecutors.”
Counsel to District Attorney Hynes, Lance Ogiste is
a leader in the DA’s Office as well as in Brooklyn’s diverse
community, mentoring youth and volunteering with local legal
and charitable organizations.
Counsel Ogiste oversees the Appeals, Gangs, and
Major Narcotics Bureaus,
and the ComALERT Program, which aids ex-offenders by helping
them re-enter society after periods of incarceration.
Born and raised in New York
City, Mr. Ogiste organizes and attends various events
throughout Brooklyn, informing residents of the programs and
services that the DA’s office provides.
Out in the community,
he encourages people to turn to the District Attorney’s
Office for help, if they have been victimized.
Prior to his appointment as
Counsel to the District Attorney, Mr. Ogiste was in charge
of the Civil Rights Bureau, which is responsible for
prosecuting bias and hate crimes, and supervised attorneys
working on immigration fraud cases.
In addition, he has
been Deputy Bureau Chief in the Appeals Trial Unit, a Senior
Trial Attorney in the Trial Cadre, which handled murder and
high-publicity cases; and he was an Assistant in the Law
Enforcement Investigations Bureau, which prosecuted police
officers accused of crimes.
Outside of the DA’s Office,
Mr. Ogiste is involved in many professional associations.
He is a member of the
National Black Prosecutor’s Association and the American Bar
Association, where he is a former Co-Chair of the Committee
on Re-Entry, which focuses on issues affecting ex-offenders
reintegrating into society; a member of the Board of
Directors of the Metropolitan Black Bar Association and
member of the Committee on Character and Fitness for the
Second Judicial Department for the State of New York.
Mr. Ogiste also devotes his
spare time to mentoring college students interested in
pursuing a career in law.
The Thomas E. Dewey Medal
Award is
presented each year to an outstanding prosecutor in each
county
and in the Office of the City’s Special Narcotics Prosecutor,
recognizing their excellent work as prosecutors as well as
their contributions to public service.
Past winners of the Thomas E. Dewey Medal from the Kings
County District Attorney’s Office include Rhonnie Jaus
(2011), Mary Hughes (2010), Wanda Lucibello (2009), Charles
Guria (2008), Michael Vecchione (2007), Anne Swern (2006),
and Anna-Sigga Nicolazzi (2005).
Thomas E.
Dewey first came to the public’s attention as a prosecutor
in the 1930s, instituting successful criminal proceedings
against gangsters, bootleggers and organized crime figures
of the day. By 1937,
Dewey was elected District Attorney of New York County,
where he served one term before resigning to run for
governor. He
served as the 47th Governor of New York from 1943
to 1954.
Joining Mr. Ogiste as
2012 award recipients are Edward Talty from the Bronx, Judy
Salwen (NY County), Donna Aldea (Queens County), Wanda L.
DeOliveira (Richmond County), and Jodie E. Kane (Special
Narcotics Prosecutor’s Office).
The Moderator will be Seth Farber, Chair of the Dewey
Medal Committee.
The Keynote Speaker will be Linda Fairstein, Author and
former Bureau Chief of the New York County District
Attorney’s Office’s Sex Crimes Prosecution Unit.
Contact:
Sandy Silverstein
((718) 250-2300
06
KINGS COUNTY DISTRICT ATTORNEY
CHARLES J. HYNES ANNOUNCES WINNERS OF DA’S 2012
ANTI-BULLYING o:p>
VIDEO CONTEST
DA HYNES HONORS EIGHT FOURTH AND
FIFTH-GRADERS WHO WON THE CHANCE TO BE “DA FOR THE DAY”
Brooklyn, November 19, 2012 –
Kings County District Attorney Charles J. Hynes today
announced the winners of his 2012 Legal Lives Anti-bullying
video contest.
This year, there was a tie with two exceptional videos.
Both winning videos came from students at P.S. 186 in
Bensonhurst.
One video explained
what bullying means to the students and how the students
deal with their frustration.
The children who participated in that video include
Fiona Kocillari, Andres Valle and Willis Tran, all of whom
were fifth graders when they created the video.
They are now in junior high school.
The other video was a skit in which one girl was
being bullied by her classmates until “Super Nice Guy” comes
to her rescue, wearing his cape.
The winning students who participated in that video
include Jessica Ross and Mohammad Rashid, who were in the
fourth grade at the time, as well as fifth graders John
Ting, Anaiah Rivera and Kristen Valdes.
The videos were created with the assistance of Adrian
Ross, Activity Specialist, and Christine Agnello, Assistant
Program Director of the Neighborhood Improvement
Association’s ExpandED afterschool program, at P.S. 186.
Also, playing instrumental roles were P.S. 186
Principal Bayan Cadotte, Parent Coordinator Elaine Delaney
and all the teachers at P.S. 186 who have worked with the
students.
District Attorney
Hynes said, “Bullying has increasingly become a growing
problem in schools and the online community.
It occurs daily in our schools, schoolyards, homes,
and on the Internet.
Bullying among our youth and young adults should
concern us.
Victims of bullying who do not get help have, on occasion,
tragically taken their own lives.
At a minimum, a
victim’s social relationships and performance at school or
work suffer. Troubled
youth also act out more and can hurt others in the process,”
District Attorney Hynes said.
“The contest was an effort to curb bullying.
Our hope is to raise the consciousness of not only
children, but teachers, administrators and parents to the
reality of bullying and how each one of them has got to step
up and be a part of solving this terrible problem.
Peer pressure can be very effective. If more young people
were to take a stand against bullying, then the phenomenon
would likely diminish over time.”
The second annual
contest was open to all fourth through ninth graders
throughout Brooklyn.
Participants were asked to create a 90-second video
which answered one of the following questions:
1)
What is bullying?
2)
How does bullying make you feel?
3)
What does a bully look like?
4)
How can you stop a bully?
5)
What should you do if you are being bullied?
The videos were
judged based on creativity and effectively getting the
message across about the effects of bullying and the
importance of putting an end to it.
Judges included Assistant District Attorneys as well
as law, college, and high school interns.
The winning videos can be seen by clicking the
following links:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aceFcl1etmU
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pKIgaEfyupg
The winners will get
to be “DA for the Day” at a later date, where they will
spend the whole day with District Attorney Hynes, attending
meetings and conferences.
“Bullying is
intentional, aggressive behavior that involves an imbalance
of power or strength, typically repeated over time.
Bullying has a
serious effect on its victims, often leading to depression,
and in some cases, it may even lead to suicide,” said
District Attorney Hynes.
Contact:
Sandy Silverstein
(718) 250-2300
05
KINGS COUNTY DISTRICT ATTORNEY CHARLES J. HYNES, NYC HUMAN
RESOURCES ADMINISTRATION COMMISSIONER ROBERT DOAR, AND
MEDICAID INSPECTOR GENERAL JAMES C. COX ANNOUNCE THE
INDICTMENT OF JANNA DOHENY FOR ILLEGALLY RECEIVING MEDICAID
BENEFITS SINCE 2004
WHILE
SWINDLING $29,000 IN PUBLIC BENEFITS, THE DEFENDANT BOUGHT
UP MULTIPLE APARTMENTS AT THE OCEANA CONDOMINIUM COMPLEX--
LUXURY WATERFRONT APARTMENTS IN BRIGHTON BEACH SELLING FOR
$500,000 AND UPWARDS PER APARTMENT
Brooklyn, November 14, 2012
– Kings County District Attorney Charles J. Hynes, Human
Resources Administration Commissioner Robert Doar, and
Medicaid Inspector General James C. Cox today announced the
indictment of Janna Doheny, 43, for fraudulently collecting
more than $29,000 in Medicaid benefits since 2004.
Charges against Ms. Doheny include Welfare Fraud in
the Third Degree, Grand Larceny in the Third Degree, and
Offering a False Instrument for Filing in the First Degree.
If convicted of the top count, Welfare Fraud in the
Third Degree, Ms. Doheny faces a maximum of seven years in
prison.
“It is not a matter of if
people who steal money from public assistance programs will
be caught; it is when,” said District Attorney Hynes.
“I commend Commissioner Doar and Inspecter General
Cox for for their commitment to bringing these criminals,
who are stealing from the people who need it most, to
justice. My
office will prosecute these cases to the fullest extent of
the law.”
According to her initial
benefit application Ms. Doheny claimed that her only source
of income for herself and her daughter was $1,550 a month
that she earned working at an adult entertainment
establishment in Queens.
On the application she claimed her bank accounts and
other investments totaled less than $5,000.
On the basis of these disclosures the New York City
Human Resources Administration enrolled Ms. Doheny in New
York State’s Family Health Plus Medicaid Benefits program.
“Lying to the system to
receive Medicaid is a theft of taxpayer dollars and will not
be tolerated,” said HRA Commissioner Robert Doar. “At HRA,
we maintain the integrity of public assistance programs by
providing benefits to those who are eligible and
investigating those who ignore the rules. I would like to
thank District Attorney Charles J. Hynes and his team for
their continuous commitment to pursue the prosecution of
those who commit Medicaid fraud.”
“Fighting fraud is our
number one priority,” said Inspector General Cox.
“We work for the taxpayers of the State of New York,
and we cannot tolerate the actions of people who falsify
their resources in order to obtain Medicaid coverage.
We are pleased to have collaborated with the district
attorney and HRA to bring this charade to an end.
Our office works to protect Medicaid for those who
truly need it.”
According to the
indictment, investigators from the Office of the Medicaid
Inspector General started to look more closely at Ms. Doheny
when it was brought to their attention that between 2002 and
2010 Ms. Doheny had purchased five apartments in the luxury
seaside Oceana Condominium complex.
The Oceana Condominium Complex’s website advertises
prices between $500,000 and $2 million.
Property records for the
complex confirmed that Ms. Doheny purchased five apartments
in the luxury seaside complex over that period.
A further investigation of property records showed
that Ms. Doheny had also purchased properties in Bay Ridge,
Brooklyn; Long Beach, Long Island and multiple properties in
South Florida.
The investigation also
found Doheny had several bank accounts in her own name as
well as an account in the name of her business, Oceana
Ventures.
Records show annual deposits to these accounts were in
excess $100,000. She also had checking accounts that she
shared with two separate men.
Investigators from the Office of the Medicaid
Inspector General observed Ms. Doheny living in Long Beach,
NY, not in Brooklyn as she claimed on her application.
The charges allege the
defendant had $170,000 cash in a safe deposit box on Long
Island, as well as jewelry.
Account statements also revealed that the defendant
made purchases at Saks Fifth Avenue, Victoria’s Secret, and
Amazon.
OMIG investigators found
the defendant’s internet profile on a Russian language
social networking website.
The internet profile showed Ms. Doheny posed for a
professional photographer who took pictures of her in
swimwear on the beach and that she also travelled to a
luxury resort in Arizona.
An indictment is an
accusatory instrument and not proof of a defendant’s
guilt.
The case is being prosecuted by Assistant District Attorney
Joel H. Greenwald of the Public Assistance Crimes
Unit. Lauren Mack is the Chief of the Public Assistance
Crimes Unit. Clyde
Augustine and Glenn Kenny are the supervising detective
investigators.
Efrain Alvarado is the detective investigator.
Contact:
Mia Goldberg
718-250-2300
04
KINGS COUNTY DISTRICT ATTORNEY
CHARLES J. HYNES ANNOUNCES INVESTIGATION INTO SCAMS AND
LARCENOUS PRICE SPIKES RELATED TO HURRICANE SANDY
Brooklyn, November 8, 2012 –
Kings County District Attorney Charles J. Hynes today
announced today he would empanel a special Rackets Grand
Jury, to investigate claims that certain businesses used
Hurricane Sandy as an opportunity to commit illegally raise
prices and to generate various scams.
“The sad truth about a tragedy is that while it
brings out the very best in people, it can also bring out
the worst,” said District Attorney Hynes. “To raise the
price of a hotel, as people seek emergency shelter is just
unconscionable.”
The Grand Jury will
investigate claims that businesses, such as hotels and gas
stations, committed Grand Larceny by Trick, when they
dramatically raised prices in the wake of Hurricane Sandy.
The Grand Jury will also investigate claims of Grand Larceny
by False Promise: scams, like fake charities collecting –
and keeping – contributions, or bogus construction companies
accepting payments for work they never plan on doing.
DA Hynes assigned Executive Assistant District
Attorney Kevin Richardson and Senior Investigative Assistant
District Attorney Damani Sims, both of the Rackets Division,
to the investigation.
Anyone with information concerning storm-related
price spikes should call the District Attorney’s Action
Center: (718)250-2340.
Michael Vecchione is Chief of the Rackets Division.
Contact:
Jonah Bruno
(718) 250-2300
03
KINGS COUNTY DISTRICT
ATTORNEY CHARLES J. HYNES ANNOUNCES THE INDICTMENT OF TWO
MEN FOR TRAFFICKING COUNTERFEIT GREEN CARDS, SOCIAL SECURITY
CARDS AND OTHER ID CARDS, AFTER A YEAR-LONG UNDERCOVER
INVESTIGATION WITH U.S. DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND SECURITY
JOSE MATEO CASTRO SOLD FAKE
SOCIAL SECURITY AND GREEN CARDS OUT OF A SUNSET PARK BAKERY.
LEONEL ESCAMIILO MANUFACTURED SOPHISTICATED PHONY ID’S
VIRTUALLY INDISTINGUISHABLE FROM THE REAL THING OUT OF HIS
BASEMENT APARTMENT USING EQUIPMENT AVAILABLE ONLINE
Brooklyn, November 8, 2012 –
Kings County District
Attorney Charles J. Hynes today announced the indictment of
Jose Mateo Castro, 56, and Leonel Escamiilo, 43,
for trafficking counterfeit identification cards – including
Social Security Cards, Permanent Lawful Resident Cards,
commonly called “Green Cards” and drivers licenses from New
Jersey and Michigan, resulting from a year-long
investigation conducted by Detective Investigators from the
District Attorney’s Special Investigations Unit, and agents
from the United States Department of Homeland Security.
Castro is charged with 14 counts of Criminal
Possession of a Forged Instrument in the Second Degree and
14 counts of Forgery in the Second Degree.
Escamiilo is charged with 13 counts each of Criminal
Possession of a Forged Instrument in the Second Degree and
Forgery in the Second Degree and six counts of Criminal
Possession of Forgery Devices.
Both men face up to seven years in prison and
subsequent deportation to Mexico.
“Trafficking of
forged Federal identification cards is not a victimless
crime,” said District Attorney Hynes. “They are used for
many illicit purposes, including identity theft, obtaining
access to workplaces and other private areas.
Because of the potentially grave dangers they pose,
my office is committed to working with local and federal
authorities, such as the Department of Homeland Security, to
vigorously investigate, and prosecute those manufacturing
and trafficking counterfeit documentation.”
The investigation began in July 2011, when DHS agents
received a tip that an individual known as “Pancho,” was
selling forged Green Cards and Social Security cards to
undocumented aliens out of Las Conchitas Bakery, 4811 5th
Avenue, in Sunset Park.
According to investigators “Pancho” worked at the
bakery. They
later learned his real name was Jose Mateo Castro.
The indictment charges that Castro, on multiple occasions,
sold fake Green Cards and Social Security Cards to an
individual in exchange for $130.
The charges allege that over the next few months, a person
known to the investigators met Castro and gave him money,
passport photos and the information to be used on the ID’s.
Later that day, Castro would provide that individual
with forged Green Cards and Social Security Cards bearing
the names and photographs that the individual had provided
to Castro previously.
Castro provided identification cards in the names of
at least six different people”.
Investigators obtained counterfeit ID’s with the
names of at least six different people.
According
to experts who examined them, the forgeries were so
sophisticated that one without the training in identifying
counterfeits could easily be fooled.
According to the indictment, on August 14, 2012, the
surveillance team observed Castro hand an envelope to a man
identified as Leonel Escamiilo.
Escamiilo took the envelope and went to a building
located at 367 49th Street in Sunset Park.
About an hour later, Escamiilo exited the building
with a bag, which he gave to Castro.
The indictment further charges that in September,
investigators again observed Castro dropping the photos off
at that address, and return later to meet Escamiilo outside
the building. Escamiilo then handed him
a forged green card and a forged social security
card. The
investigators observed Castro hand those documents to the
person whom had previously given him money and photos.
The investigation revealed that Escamiilo lived in a room
located in the basement of 367 49th Street.
Pursuant to a search warrant executed at that
location, detectives and agents recovered a trove of
supplies used to manufacture various forms of
government-issued identification cards, including blank
cards, holograms, laminates, a paper-cutter, a computer and
a printer, easily available online for about $1300,
specifically used for making double-sided ID cards.
A forensic examination of the seized computer
revealed that it was used to create the identifications
purchased as part of the investigation from Castro, as well
as other forged documents.
The following members of the District Attorney’s Special
Investigations Unit participated in this case: Deputy Chief
Investigator Gregory DeBoer; Supervising Detective
Investigator Glenn Kenny; Supervising Detective Investigator
Michael Seminara; Detective Investigator William Pettie;
Detective Investigator Pat Lanigan; Detective Investigator
Thomas Farley and Detective Investigator Richard Ortega.
Joseph Ponzi is the
Chief Detective Investigator, and George Terra is the
Assistant Chief Investigator of the Special Investigations
Unit. From the Department of Homeland Security, Group
Supervisor Ryan Singleton and Special Agent Thomas Roldan
assisted the operation.
The case is being prosecuted by Rackets Division Bureau
Chief Joseph DiBenedetto.
Michael Vecchione is Chief
of the Rackets Division.
An indictment is an accusatory instrument and not proof of a
defendant’s guilt.
Contact:
Mia Goldberg
(718) 250-2300
02
KINGS COUNTY DISTRICT ATTORNEY
CHARLES J. HYNES ANNOUNCES CONVICTION OF TWO PASTORS FOR
DEED FRAUD
DEFENDANTS SOUGHT TO TAKE OVER
CONTROL OF CROWN HEIGHTS GOSPEL CHURCH BY AMENDING THE
CHURCH’S CERTIFICATE OF INCORPORATION TO INSTALL THEMSELVES
AS THE BOARD OF TRUSTEES
AND FILED A FALSE DEED TO STEAL
THE CHURCH BUILDING
Brooklyn, November 7, 2012 –
Kings County District Attorney Charles J. Hynes today
announced the conviction of Monica James, 63, and Raymond
Rufen-Blanchette, 44, on the top charge of Grand Larceny in
the Second Degree for fraudulently transferring the
ownership of a Crown Heights church to themselves,
installing themselves, with others, as a new Board of
Trustees. The
defendants will be sentenced on December 19 before Brooklyn
Supreme Court Justice Albert Tomei, when they face up to 15
years in prison.
In 2010, Monica James
was fired from her position as Pastor of the Crown Heights
Gospel Church, located at 320 Rockaway Avenue, after
admitting to being in a sham marriage to help her niece’s
ex-husband obtain a Green Card.
Shortly afterward, James, Rufen-Blanchette, and
others conspired to fraudulently transfer the deed to the
church to themselves.
They amended the church’s Certificate of
Incorporation to install themselves as the new Board of
Trustess and filed the false amendment with the Kings County
Clerk’s office.
The defendants then
had the title of the church transferred to a new entity
named Crown Heights Gospel Church Trust with the address of
Rufen-Blanchette’s home.
The deed was filed with the City Register on
September 10, 2010.
On September 20,
2010, the administrator of the church was called to the
church building by an alarm company.
Defendant Rufen-Blanchett, with a locksmith, had
changed the locks on the building.
Police were called and Rufen-Blanchett was arrested.
After further investigation, James’ involvement was
discovered and she was arrested on March 18, 2011.
They both were charged with and convicted of Grand
Larceny in the Second Degree and three counts of Offering a
False Instrument for Filing in the First Degree;
Rufen-Blanchette was also charged with and convicted of
Criminal Mischief in the Fourth Degree.
The case was
prosecuted by Richard Farrell, Chief of the Rackets
Division’s Real Estate Fraud Unit.
Michael Vecchione is Chief of the Rackets Division.
Contact:
Sandy Silverstein
(718) 250-2300
01
KINGS COUNTY DISTRICT ATTORNEY
CHARLES J. HYNES ANNOUNCES GUILTY PLEA OF MAN WHO LIT A
WOMAN ON FIRE INSIDE AN ELEVATOR,
CAUSING HER DEATH
DEFENDANT WILL BE SENTENCED TO 50
YEARS TO LIFE
Brooklyn, November 7, 2012 –
Kings County District Attorney Charles J. Hynes today
announced the guilty plea of Jerome Isaac, 48, for the
December 2011 murder of a woman that he lit on fire inside
her apartment building elevator.
Isaac pled guilty to the top charge of Murder in the
First Degree, for acting in an especially cruel and wanton
manner, intentionally causing death while inflicting great
physical pain as a course of torture, and Arson in the
Second Degree.
He will be sentenced on November 30 before Brooklyn Supreme
Court Justice Vincent Del Giudice to 25 years to life for
the murder charge and 25 years for the arson, which will run
consecutively.
On December 17, 2011,
Isaac doused 73-year-old Deloris Gillespie with gas inside
the elevator of Gillespie’s apartment building at 203
Underhill Avenue and set her on fire as she was about to
exit. He then
doused her again with an accelerant and threw a Molotov
cocktail inside the elevator.
The victim was pronounced dead at the scene.
The entirety of his actions was caught on videotape.
Isaac claimed he was mad at the victim because she
owed him money.
Several minutes later, Isaac went to his brother’s building
at 315 Lincoln Place and set his brother’s apartment door on
fire using an accelerant.
Nobody was injured during that incident.
Isaac was arrested on December 18.
The case was
prosecuted by Mark Hale, Chief Counsel to the Homicide
Bureau. Ken Taub
is Chief of the Homicide Bureau.
Contact:
Sandy Silverstein
(718) 250-2300
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