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11
10
 KINGS
COUNTY DISTRICT ATTORNEY CHARLES J. HYNES ANNOUNCES MAXIMUM
SENTENCE IN GANG MURDER
Brooklyn, July 29, 2008 – Kings County District Attorney Charles J. Hynes today announced the
sentencing of Adrian Aguilar, 31, to 25 years to life, for a
gang-related murder, in June 2007.
Aguilar received the maximum sentence today,
from Brooklyn Supreme Court Justice John Ingram.
At 11:10 a.m. June 10, 2007, Aguilar, a member
of the Los Traviseos street gang, approached Jose Torres and
shot him six times, outside 123 Wyckoff Avenue. Torres had
tattoos signifying membership in a rival gang, CTS 26. Los
Traviseos is Spanish for “Little Troublemakers.”
Following a trial, Aguilar was convicted of
Murder in the Second Degree, on June 20, after a jury
deliberated for 45 minutes.
The case was prosecuted by Gang Bureau Deputy
Bureau Chief Janet Gleeson. Deanna Rodriguez is Chief of the
Gang Bureau.
Contact: Jonah
Bruno
718-250-2300
09
KINGS
COUNTY DISTRICT ATTORNEY CHARLES J. HYNES AND NEW YORK STATE
DEPARTMENT OF TAXATION AND FINANCE COMMISSIONER ROBERT L.
MEGNA ANNOUNCE INDICTMENT IN $300,000 SALES TAX THEFT
USED-CAR DEALER CHARGED
CUSTOMERS TAXES HE NEVER REMITTED
Brooklyn, July 25, 2008 – Kings County District Attorney Charles J. Hynes and New York State
Department of Taxation and Finance Commissioner Robert L.
Megna today announced the indictment of a used-car dealer,
Akpan Charles Akpabio, who is charged with failing to pay
sales tax on any sale between 2003 and 2006, despite
collecting the taxes from customers.
Akpabio, 64, is charged with Grand Larceny in
the Second Degree, 13 Counts of Grand Larceny in the Third
Degree, 14 Counts of Falsifying Business Records in the
First Degree, Petit Larceny, and multiple violations of New
York State Tax Law. His business, Midamach Corporation, is
also charged in the indictment. If convicted, he faces up to
15 years in prison.
The indictment charges that from 2003 to 2006,
sales at Akpabio’s dealership, at 1676 East New York Ave.,
totaled more than $3.5 million, and that his failure to pay
$300,000 in taxes he collected on those sales constitutes a
theft. Business records obtained when authorities searched
the establishment showed that Akpabio had collected sales
tax from customers, according to the indictment. Seven
vehicles were also seized in the raid.
The investigation is ongoing.
An indictment is an accusatory instrument and
not proof of a defendant’s guilt.
The case was investigated by the Tax
Department’s Special Investigations Unit.
The case is being prosecuted by Counsel to the
Money Laundering and Revenue Crimes Bureau Steven Kramer.
Joseph McCarthy is Chief of the Money Laundering and Revenue
Crimes Bureau. Michael Vecchione is Chief of the Rackets
Division.
Contact: Jonah
Bruno
718-250-2300
08
KINGS
COUNTY DISTRICT ATTORNEY CHARLES J. HYNES HONORS 80
GRADUATES OF HIS DRUG TREATMENT ALTERNATIVE-TO-PRISON (DTAP)
PROGRAM
DENISE E. O’DONNELL,
COMMISSIONER OF THE DIVISION OF CRIMINAL JUSTICE
SERVICES, TO GIVE KEYNOTE ADDRESS
Brooklyn, July
23, 2008 – Kings County District Attorney
Charles J. Hynes today honored 80 graduates of his
Drug Treatment Alternative-to-Prison (DTAP) program in the
ceremonial courtroom of Borough Hall in Downtown Brooklyn.
Denise E. O’Donnell,
the Commissioner of the Division of Criminal Justice
Services, gave the keynote address. This year’s Outstanding
Alumnus of the Year Award was presented to Alfred A. Isaacs.
From this graduating class,
there are some remarkable stories. Prior to entering the
DTAP program, some of the graduates were not only using
drugs but they were selling drugs as well. Some of the
offenders committed other crimes to support their drug
habits. The graduates have all made incredible strides to
overcome their drug addictions and turn their lives around.
Two of these individuals spoke about how the program changed
their lives. Albert Allen and Carrie Booker-Searcy shared
their stories of addiction and recovery.
For Albert Allen, drinking
beer led to cigarettes, which led to marijuana, which led to
hard liquor, which then led Albert Allen to become a heroin
addict by the age of 20. In order to support his habit he
sold crack cocaine. In 2002, Mr. Allen’s wife died of a
heart attack, leaving him to raise their 12-year-old
daughter on his own. Their daughter lost a sober parent and
had to rely on her heroin-addicted, drug-dealing father for
support. Mr. Allen continued to sell drugs while his
daughter was in school. This lifestyle caused Mr. Allen to
acquire 49 arrests prior to coming to DTAP. He never
participated in a drug treatment program before DTAP, but
realized that he needed a change. Life was getting harder.
DTAP offered Mr. Allen a chance to change his life and
opened doors that were once closed. Samaritan Village was
the residential program that Mr. Allen attended. He
received help from family to raise his daughter and now
after completing DTAP, he has a steady job delivering
medical products for a pharmacy. Mr. Allen says proudly
that, “Life is good”.
In 1985, Carrie Booker-Searcy
saw a popular TV commercial for a Manhattan hotel and
decided that she had to visit New York City. She expressed
this to the man she was seeing at the time and shortly after
graduating from Cleveland State University with a BS in
business, as a gift, the same man treated her to what was
supposed to be a one-week trip to New York City. Ms. Booker-
Searcy arrived in New York City, was soon seduced by the 42nd
Street late night action and never went back to her home
town of Cleveland. Little did she know that her generous
friend was a heroin addict, who soon pulled her into his
lifestyle. The college graduate incurred scores of arrests
including four that led to state sentences. When she was
arrested, yet again in 2006, and was offered DTAP, she
considered it divine intervention. She realized that she
had an addiction. She decided to make a change in her life
and entered into residential treatment at Samaritan
Village. While there, she took full advantage of its
resources by entering a staff training program and regularly
seeing the on-site therapist who was instrumental in helping
her deal with her past issues of abuse. She no longer needed
the drugs to ease the pain. Today Ms. Booker-Searcy works as
a case manager at the Samaritan Village Van Wyck facility
where she has a caseload of 18 clients. She is very happy
with her life today; she has her own apartment and she feels
like a productive member of society. None of this would have
been possible without DTAP. Ms. Booker-Searcy is also
looking forward to another graduation now. She will be
receiving a certificate from the Center for the Application
of Substance Abuse Technologies (CASAT) this October which
will allow her to advance in her field.
Every year,
thousands of offenders commit drug crimes or other
non-violent offenses in order to feed their drug habit.
District Attorney Hynes created DTAP in 1990 based on the
belief that addicted defendants would return to society more
capable of resisting drugs and crime after receiving
appropriate treatment than if they had spent a similar
amount of time in prison at twice the cost. They would be
able to resurrect their lives.
This diversion program,
which is recognized as one of the nation’s most successful,
provides residential drug treatment to drug-addicted,
non-violent, repeat offenders, under a deferred-sentencing
model. Participants enter a guilty plea and receive a
deferred sentence that allows them to participate in a drug
treatment program, usually for about 24 months. Those
who successfully complete the program have their charges
dismissed. Those who fail to complete the program are
brought back to court and sentenced to prison.
“I agree with the critics of
the Rockefeller drug laws that it makes no sense to simply
warehouse nonviolent drug abusers in state prisons. But
rather than relaxing the prohibitions against drugs, the
penalties against their use can serve the constructive role
of encouraging addicts to opt for treatment." District
Attorney Hynes said. “DTAP gives nonviolent offenders an
opportunity to change their lives of addiction and crime
into lives of hope and promise.” In doing so, DTAP, now in
its 18th year, has reduced recidivism rates of
its graduates by half. Since the program began in 1990,
there have been 1110 graduates. An
analysis of the savings realized on correction, health care,
public assistance and recidivism costs combined with the tax
revenues generated by the DTAP graduates reveals that
diversion to DTAP has resulted in economic benefits
of $44.2 million dollars
per the 1110 graduates.
Eighty-seven percent of the
class are men; 13% are women. Their average age is 40. Prior
to treatment, 53% of the employable graduates were working.
By the time these graduates completed treatment, 98% were
working in jobs that include clerical positions, maintenance
workers, truck drivers, counselors, construction,
food service and messengers. The majority of the class is
from Brooklyn. But there are also other graduates from the
Bronx, Manhattan, Queens, Staten Island and Long Island.
These graduates received
treatment at 19 residential therapeutic communities,
including Daytop Village; Phoenix House, Samaritan Village,
Veritas, Damon House, Argus Community, Pride Site, the
Lower Eastside Service Center (Su Casa), Odyssey House,
Serendipity, and Greenhope Services for Women.
Contact: Sandy
Silverstein
718-250-2300
07
KINGS
COUNTY DISTRICT ATTORNEY CHARLES J. HYNES, MTA NYC TRANSIT
PRESIDENT HOWARD ROBERTS Jr. AND TRANSPORT WORKERS UNION
LOCAL 100 PRESIDENT ROGER TOUSSAINT ANNOUNCE ASSAULT ON
TRANSIT WORKERS PROGRAM
NEW PROGRAM AIMED AT
PROTECTION OF BUS DRIVERS, TRAIN CONDUCTORS AND STATION
AGENTS
Brooklyn, July 22, 2008
– Kings County District Attorney Charles J. Hynes, MTA NYC
Transit President Howard Roberts Jr. and Transport Workers
Union President Roger Toussaint today announced the creation
of the Assault on Transit Workers Program. This initiative
is designed to ensure that assaults on MTA NYC Transit
workers such as bus operators, train operators and
conductors will be prosecuted to the full extent of the
law.
The program is similar to the DA’s Office’s
Assault on Police Officer Program (APOP) in that the
program’s goal is to protect those officials from random
attacks. Both programs consist of a team of prosecutors and
investigators who look into cases where an officer or a
transit worker has been seriously injured, shot at or
attacked with a deadly weapon, or if there is an attempted
assault.
District Attorney Hynes said, “Transit workers
are a vital part of our city as millions of New Yorkers rely
on them to get around. It is important to maintain a safe
work environment for them as they are vulnerable to public
attacks. This program lets the public know that if they
assault a transit worker, they will be arrested and
prosecuted the same as if a police officer was assaulted. I
would like to thank MTA NYC Transit President Howard Roberts
for his cooperation in putting this program together.”
MTA NYC Transit President Howard Roberts said,
“The safety and security of our employees is one of our
primary goals, as such I want to thank the Kings County
District Attorney for devoting the resources necessary to
ensure those who would attack the people that make this city
move are punished to the fullest extent of the law.”
Transport Workers Union
President Roger Toussaint said, “I would like to thank
District Attorney Hynes for making it safer for transit
workers to do their jobs."
There have been 32 related cases in Brooklyn
since 2005. Deputy District Attorney John O’Mara from the
DA’s Investigations Bureau will be heading up this new
program.
Contact: Sandy
Silverstein
718-250-2300
06
KINGS
COUNTY DISTRICT ATTORNEY CHARLES J. HYNES GIVES KEYNOTE
ADDRESS AT CONFERENCE FOR TEEN VOLUNTEERS, DISCUSSING CRIME
“MY OBLIGATION IS TO SAVE
CHILDREN FROM A LIFE OF CRIME”
Brooklyn, July 17, 2008 –
Kings County District
Attorney Charles J. Hynes yesterday informed a group of teen
volunteers from Kings County Hospital attending a conference
at Borough Hall, that he has a primary obligation to save
children from the negative consequences of the criminal
justice system.
DA Hynes said the theme
chosen by the volunteers for the conference, “Youth of the
Community and How Can the Community help our Youth,” is
particularly important to him because the success of this
effort translates into public safety for the people of
Brooklyn, which is his principal responsibility as their
District Attorney.
“I look forward to a day when
these children – your children and grandchildren – enter the
criminal justice system not as defendants, but as police
officers, court officers, correction officers, lawyers and
judges,” said DA Hynes.
DA Hynes spoke of his
experience growing up as a “child at risk.” He described
himself as a survivor of domestic violence who suffered the
frustration and anger of helplessly watching his mother
being regularly beaten by his alcoholic father.
“That nightmarish
experience I share with thousands of incarcerated and
formerly incarcerated men and women who constitute the
majority who pass through the prison in New York where we
have the unfortunate distinction of imprisoning more men and
women than anywhere else in the world,” said DA Hynes.
He said he was able to
escape becoming one of the “lost souls,” and gave thanks to
his mother and his Faith. DA Hynes said he has devoted
nearly 19 years as District Attorney to providing
opportunities and hope to those whom hope is denied.
DA Hynes spoke about the
Family Justice Center which he established, and the
far-ranging series of initiatives it provides to contain
domestic violence. .
“For six years we have gone
to community groups, faith-based institutions and the school
of Brooklyn warning of the dangers which exist on the
Internet,” said DA Hynes. “We found that ‘at risk’ children
are particularly susceptible to sexual predators.”
“Our obligation as a
community to guide our children on the right path to peace,
justice and success has the moral authority and mandate of
our Lord Himself who is quoted in the Gospel of St. Luke as
saying, ‘Suffer the Little Children to come unto me and
forbid them not. For of such is the Kingdom of God.’”
Contact:
J. Zamgba Browne
(718) 250-3850
05
KINGS
COUNTY DISTRICT ATTORNEY CHARLES J. HYNES, NEW YORK CITY
POLICE COMMISSIONER RAYMOND W. KELLY, AND US REP. EDOLPHUS
TOWNS ANNOUNCE GUN BUYBACK INITIATIVE
SIX BROOKLYN PASTORS OPEN
CHURCHES TO GET GUNS OFF STREETS
A $200 CASH CARD FOR FUNCTIONING GUNS
Brooklyn, July
16, 2008 – Kings
County District Attorney Charles J. Hynes, New York City
Police Commissioner Raymond W. Kelly, US Rep. Edolphus Towns
(D-Brooklyn) and six Brooklyn pastors today announced a gun
buyback program aimed at taking illegal, functioning guns
off the streets by offering a $200 cash reward for each
eligible weapon surrendered.
“There are many initiatives
and programs responsible for our success in reducing violent
crime and getting illegal guns off the streets is essential
to continued success,” said District Attorney Hynes. “I
want to thank Police Commissioner Kelly, Congressman Towns
and the dedicated pastors for their support in creating this
buyback program.”
As of July 14, there were 95
homicides in Brooklyn, compared to 111 homicides during the
same period in 2007, a reduction of 14%. Of those
statistics, in 2008, 62.1% of those homicides were by guns.
In comparison, in 2007 year to date, 73.9% of the homicides
were by guns.
“I want to commend District Attorney Hynes for spearheading this
special effort, and the ministers for supporting it. If
just one gun is surrendered, one or more lives may be
saved,” Commissioner Kelly said.
Commissioner Kelly reminded the public that a citywide “cash for
guns” program provides $100 to anyone who turns in a gun,
no questions asked, at police station houses and police
facilities in the transit system and housing developments in
the five boroughs on any day.
“I am proud to join DA Hynes
and Police Commissioner Kelly to address the issue of
illegal guns. This initiative sends a positive message that
we do not want guns on Brooklyn streets. We will not accept
guns on Brooklyn streets, and we will ban together to remove
guns off Brooklyn streets. That is the message we want to
send, and that is the message we will defend,” said
Congressman Towns.
For one day, this Saturday,
people who own illegal guns will be able to trade them for
$200 bank cards at six churches in northern and central
Brooklyn. All transactions will be completely anonymous – no
questions asked. The bank cards, issued by Chase Bank, can
be used as a debit card or money can be withdrawn at any
ATM. There is no limit to the number of guns participants
can surrender, but they will only be paid for three.
Handguns, rifles and shotguns
will be accepted. Functional BB guns and air pistols can be
exchanged for a $20 bank card. The guns must be functional.
No guns will be accepted from active or retired
law-enforcement officials.
Plain clothes police officers
will be on hand in the churches to accept the firearms. Guns
must be in a paper or plastic bags or shoe boxes when
brought to the churches. If transported by car, they must be
in the trunk of the car.
Funding for the event is
being provided jointly, by the Brooklyn District Attorney’s
Office and the NYPD.
Participating
churches and their pastors include:
- Helping Hands Ministries,
326 Junius St.
Pastor Randolph Ferdinand
- First Baptist Church of
Brownsville, 357 Chester St.
Reverend A.D. Lyons
- Grace Baptist Church, 181
New Jersey Ave.
Reverend Jacob N. Underwood
- First AME Zion Church, 54
MacDonough St.
Pastor Daran Mitchell
- Southern Baptist Church,
798 Stanley Ave.
Pastor Clarence Williams
- Brown Memorial Baptist
Church, 484 Washington Ave.
Pastor Clinton Miller
Contact: Sandy
Silverstein
718-250-2300
04
KINGS
COUNTY DISTRICT ATTORNEY CHARLES J. HYNES ANNOUNCES
INDICTMENT OF DEFENDANT WHO HAD POSSESSION OF HOMEMADE
EXPLOSIVES
Brooklyn, July 14, 2008
– Kings County District Attorney Charles J. Hynes today
announced the indictment of Yung Tang, 38, on six counts of
Criminal Possession of a Weapon in the Third Degree, and two
counts each of Reckless Endangerment in the First Degree and
Reckless Endangerment in the Second Degree. He faces up to
seven years in prison if convicted of the top count.
The indictment charges that Tang had six
incendiary devices in a parked van which was found on 53rd
Street and 3rd Avenue under the Gowanus
Expressway. Investigators believe that the van, which
belongs to Tang, was parked there since January. In
addition to the bombs found in the van, there was a big
plastic tub found in the back of the van which contained
containers of sulfuric acid. Evidence that was recovered
included receipts for batteries in the engine and the back
of the van that were attached to the bombs. In addition,
one of Tang’s fingerprints was found on one of the bombs.
In May, Tang was indicted for using a homemade
bomb in an attempt to kill a tenant that he wanted evicted
from a commercial building. He faces up to 50 years in
prison on that case.
Tang is currently being held on federal charges
in Rhode Island.
An indictment is an accusatory instrument and
not proof of a defendant’s guilt.
The NYPD’s Arson & Explosion Squad and Bomb
Squad investigated the case. The case is being prosecuted
by Joseph DiBenedetto, Deputy Bureau Chief in the Rackets
Division; Gavin Miles, Bureau Chief in the Rackets Division;
and Joseph Petrosino, Deputy District Attorney in the
Rackets Division. Michael Vecchione in Chief of the Rackets
Division.
Contact: Sandy
Silverstein
718-250-2300
03
DA HYNES ADDRESSES
CONFERENCE ON STRANGULATION
AT NEW YORK CITY COLLEGE OF TECHNOLOGY IN BROOKLYN
Brooklyn, July 2, 2008
– Kings County District Attorney Charles J. Hynes yesterday
drew attention to the danger of strangulation at a
conference he convened at New York City College of
Technology, titled, “He Choked Me.”
Participants included prosecutors, domestic violence
counselors, forensic pathologists, victims of domestic
violence, and representatives from the Office of New York
City’s Chief Medical Examiner.
“In the past decade,” DA Hynes said, “fifteen women in the
Borough of Brooklyn died of strangulation at the hands of
their intimate partner.
“Our speakers today have left all of you better prepared to
address these cases with a greatly expanded toolbox of
knowledge and awareness,” said District Attorney Hynes.
“Hopefully, in light of these presentations, all
of you will be better able to address the full range of
criminal behavior that offenders engage in when they commit
these heinous acts,” said DA Hynes. He challenged the
conference participants to make every intervention count.
“A team of well trained and committed
professionals, working together,” said DA Hynes, “will
afford us the greatest opportunity for positive change.”
DA Hynes related a tragic incident – one which he
said occurs all too often in domestic violence cases.
He said several years ago, a teenager ran up to a uniformed
police officer outside a Brooklyn precinct. Out of breath
and hysterically crying the girl told the officer that her
father was chocking her mother and she was afraid he was
going to kill her.
The police officer and a partner ran to the apartment, two
blocks away. “The door to the apartment was open, and the
officers could hear the angry shouts of a male coming from
behind the closed bedroom door,” said DA Hynes.
When their commands to open the door went
unanswered, DA Hynes said the officers pushed in the door.
“At that moment the defendant was on top of the victim,
straddling her, his two hands around her neck,” he said
DA Hynes said it took the strength of both
officers to pull the defendant off the victim. An ambulance
responded and treated the victim at the scene. The defendant
was arrested, and indicted for attempted murder.
District Attorney Hynes said he was confident
that following the conference no one will take the words “He
Choked Me” lightly.
Contact: J. Zamgba Browne
(718)
250-3850
02
KINGS COUNTY
DISTRICT ATTORNEY CHARLES J. HYNES ANNOUNCES HUGE SEIZURE OF
COUNTERFEIT CLOTHES, BAGS AND HOUSEHOLD ITEMS
KNOCKOFFS
INCLUDE NIKE, MAJOR LEAGUE BASEBALL, DOVE SOAP, THE GAP, AND
GILLETTE
BUSINESS GROSSED MILLIONS
EACH YEAR
Brooklyn, July 2, 2008 – Kings County District Attorney Charles J. Hynes today announced the
arrest of Jianfeng Guo, 29, who ran a major smuggling and
counterfeiting business, and Saile Gao, 27, Guo’s
girlfriend, who was also an employee of his. The arrest was
accompanied by the seizure of truckloads of bogus products,
which, if genuine would be worth approximately $4 million.
“This type of counterfeiting and black-market
dealing affects everybody’s bottom line,” said DA Hynes.
“Merchants operating in this underground economy are able to
sell their goods at lower prices than legitimate shopkeepers
and deprive the city of millions of dollars in lost tax
revenue.”
The investigation was spurred
by complaints from Mothers Against Gangs, formed in
conjunction with Deanna Rodriguez, Chief of the District
Attorney’s Gang Bureau, about baseball caps designed by
appeal to street gangs being sold in local stores. With the
assistance of Major League Baseball, Detective Investigators
from the District Attorney’s Office began making purchases
from those stores, looking for counterfeits.
Both defendants are charged with Trademark
Counterfeiting in the First Degree, Trademark Counterfeiting
in the Second Degree, and Trademark Counterfeiting in the
Third Degree. They face up to 15 years in prison, if
convicted.
Guo is charged with running his operation,
Eastern Trading Company, out of a warehouse, at 50-03
Metropolitan Ave. in Queens, where he filled all three
floors and a basement with counterfeit goods. Items included
baseball caps, high-end clothing, duffel bags, batteries,
soap, razors, sunglasses, toys and cell phone cases. The
brand names counterfeited include Major League Baseball, the
Yankees, the NFL, Duracell, Gillette, Dove Soap, Chanel,
Crazy Glue, Nikelodeon, Nike, Northface, and Dolce & Gabana.
When the warehouse was emptied by Detective Investigators
from the Brooklyn District Attorney’s Office, the inventory
filled one 40-foot tractor trailer and a 20-foot box truck.
The items were destined for
sale across the city, by sidewalk vendors and dollar stores.
Guo’s inventory was manufactured in China and shipped by
boat through the Panama Canal and up to New York.
Receipts seized during Guo’s
arrest indicate that his illicit trade grossed roughly $16
million, so far, in 2008. The legitimate retail value of the
items seized is estimated at $4 million, but sold on the
street, they would likely fetch $600,000, resulting in a
$340,000 sales-tax loss to the city. Guo’s records show that
since 2005, his gross profit was $61 million, resulting in
$7.6 million in lost corporate and personal income tax
revenues to the city and state.
DA Hynes warns that
counterfeit goods can be dangerous to consumers. Knockoff
batteries often contain mercury, and counterfeit clothing is
unlikely to conform to American fire-safety regulations.
Painted items may contain lead. Samples of items recovered
are now being tested for heavy metals and other dangerous
compounds.
The investigative team was
led by Detective Investigator Thomas Farley and included
Detective Investigators Radmila Aliyev and Anabell Talavera.
The investigation was supervised by George Terra, Assistant
Chief of the Special Investigations Division, and
Supervising Detective Investigator Gregory Deboer. Joe Ponzi
is Chief of Investigators.
Prosecutors who worked on the case include
Assistant District Attorneys Karen Turner, Joseph
DiBenedetto, Michael Ryan, and Stephanie Cone, all of the
Rackets Bureau; and Gregory Mitchell, Robert Renzulli and
Steven Kramer, from the Money Laundering and Revenue Crimes
Bureau. Michael Vecchione is Chief of the Rackets Division.
Contact:
Jonah Bruno
718-250-2300
01
KINGS COUNTY
DISTRICT ATTORNEY CHARLES J. HYNES ANNOUNCES SENTENCING OF
FORMER BROOKLYN
SUPREME COURT JUSTICE
MICHAEL GARSON
Brooklyn, July 1, 2008 – Kings County District Attorney Charles J. Hynes today announced the
sentencing of former Brooklyn Supreme Court Justice Michael
Garson, who pleaded guilty in April to possessing a forged
document giving him unlimited power of attorney over an
elderly aunt’s assets. The document was to be filed in
Manhattan Supreme Court, in a proceeding to determine
whether his aunt was competent to manage her affairs.
Garson, 63, pleaded guilty April 22, to
Criminal Possession of a Forged Instrument in the Second
Degree, a Class-A Misdemeanor. As part of the plea deal, he
was ordered to pay full restitution, plus interest, to the
estate of his now-deceased aunt, Sarah Gershenoff. The
estate had been looted of more than $160,000. Additionally,
he waived his right to any inheritance from the estate and
resigned from the New York State Bar. In April, Garson made
his final restitution payment, of $48,000, bringing the
total paid to $219,000.
Rackets Division Bureau Chief Gavin Miles,
Deputy Bureau Chief Joseph DiBenedetto and Executive
District Attorney Anne Gutmann prosecuted the case. Michael
Vecchione is Chief of the Rackets Division.
Contact: Jonah
Bruno
718-250-2300
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