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09
 KINGS
COUNTY DISTRICT ATTORNEY CHARLES J. HYNES
WARNS PARENTS OF THE RISKS OF
GANG COLORS IN CHILDREN’S CLOTHES
CALLS ON MAJOR LEAGUE
BASEBALL TO PREVENT MARKETING TO GANGS
“MOTHERS AGAINST GANGS”
WILL TAKE ON GANG-FRIENDLY STORES
Brooklyn, March 27, 2008
– Kings County District Attorney Charles J. Hynes today
warned Brooklyn parents that not all baseball caps and
t-shirts are designed only to appeal to fans and to promote
particular teams. Some clothing appears to be intentionally
color coded by sporting goods manufacturers to appeal to
violent street gangs.
“Clothes marketed to gangs only encourage the violent,
murderous behavior that is tearing our communities apart,”
said DA Hynes. “It is not illegal to wear or sell items in
any color, but much of this clothing bears the logo of Major
League Baseball. Today I am calling on Baseball Commissioner
Bud Selig to investigate the situation and put a stop to
it.”
Clothing representing New York sports teams, but produced in
nontraditional colors, is purchased and worn by gang members
to inconspicuously identify themselves to other gang
members.
For instance, New York Yankee memorabilia in red and white
appeals to the Bloods. In royal blue and white it appeals to
the Crips, and in yellow and black it appeals to the Latin
Kings. Items ostensibly promoting teams, but printed in
colors and patterns normally seen on bandanas, also serve as
gang identifiers.
New York is not alone. This
practice is widespread in cities throughout the country.
A detective investigator from the Brooklyn District
Attorney’s Office purchasing a red Yankee cap in Bushwick
was warned by the store manager that by wearing the hat, he
would be identified as a Blood by both other Bloods and by
rival gang members. Another detective investigator was
offered to look at a catalog of gang insignias he could have
embroidered onto a baseball cap he was purchasing at a store
in the Fulton Street Mall.
In every store where detective investigators found the
gang-colored clothing, it was priced significantly higher
than items with the standard colors. Most shocking, however,
was that the clothing marketed to gangs appeared to be
officially licensed by Major League Baseball and sold under
popular brand names, such as New Era and Cooperstown
Collection.
The items are also readily available on the Internet.
The Brooklyn District Attorney’s Office knows of several
cases in which young people have been assaulted or murdered
for unknowingly wearing gang colors. People innocently
wearing gang colors risk attack from both actual members of
the gangs those colors represent and from members of rival
gangs.
To raise public awareness of gangs and the threat they pose
to communities, DA Hynes joined with several local women, to
form “Mothers Against Gangs.” Mothers Against Gangs will
boycott and picket stores where gang merchandise is sold,
until the practice is stopped.
Deanna Rodriguez is Chief of the Gangs Bureau.
Contact: Jonah Bruno
718-250-2300
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08
KINGS
COUNTY DISTRICT ATTORNEY CHARLES J. HYNES ANNOUNCES
CONVICTION OF SERIAL RAPIST
Brooklyn, March 25, 2008 – Kings
County District Attorney Charles J. Hynes today announced
the conviction of Kingsley Ewing, for raping four women
between 2002 and 2006.
Ewing, 36, was convicted of four counts of Rape in the First
Degree. He faces up to 100 years in prison, when he is
sentenced, April 10.
The four victims were all strangers, who Ewing approached on
the street and engaged in conversation, before attacking
them. The first two rapes occurred in April 2002. On two
separate occasions he led different women to a building
under construction on 52nd Street in Sunset Park.
Ewing was able to gain access to the building because he was
a member of a construction crew working on it. The two other
rapes occurred in vacant lots in Bedford-Stuyvesant, one on
Skillman Street, in June 2006, and the other on Herkimer
Street, in August 2003.
DNA matching the defendant’s was found on all four victims.
Sex Crimes Deputy Bureau Chief Rachel Schmidt and Senior
Trial Attorney Elizabeth Doerfler prosecuted the case.
Rhonnie Jaus is Chief of the Sex Crimes Bureau.
Contact: Jonah Bruno
718-250-2300
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07
KINGS
COUNTY DISTRICT ATTORNEY CHARLES J. HYNES ANNOUNCES GUILTY
PLEA IN TISSUE HARVESTING CASE
MASTERMIND, MICHAEL
MASTROMARINO TO SERVE UP TO 54 YEARS
Brooklyn, March 18, 2008
– Kings County District Attorney Charles J. Hynes today
announced that Michael Mastromarino, mastermind behind a
multi-million dollar human tissue theft conspiracy, pleaded
guilty to all the charges he faced, in exchange for a prison
sentence of 18 to 54 years.
He will be sentenced May 21.
Mastromarino, 44, Joseph Nicelli, 52, Lee Cruceta, 35, and
Christopher Aldorasi, 36, were all charged in February 2006,
in a 122-count indictment, with orchestrating a large-scale,
criminal enterprise, 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.
Aldorasi’s trial is currently ongoing. Nicelli’s and
Cruceta’s cases are still pending.
The cases are being prosecuted by Rackets Division Bureau
Chief Patricia McNeil, Deputy Bureau Chief Josh Hanshaft,
Rackets Division First Deputy Bureau Chief Michael Perkins
and Chief Counsel to the Rackets Division Monique Ferrell.
Michael Vecchione is Chief of the Rackets Division.
Contact: Jonah Bruno
718-250-2300
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06
KINGS
COUNTY DISTRICT ATTORNEY CHARLES J. HYNES ANNOUNCES THE
CONVICTION OF CESAR RODRIGUEZ IN DEATH OF HIS SEVEN-YEAR-OLD
STEPDAUGHTER NIXZMARY BROWN
NIXZMARY’S MOTHER,
NIXZALIZ SANTIAGO, TO STAND TRIAL NEXT
Brooklyn, March 18, 2008
– Kings County District Attorney Charles J. Hynes today
announced the conviction of Cesar Rodriguez, 29, on the
charge of Manslaughter in the First Degree, for killing his
seven-year-old stepdaughter, Nixzmary Brown.
When he is sentenced, April 3, Rodriguez will face up to 25
years in prison. He was also convicted of Unlawful
Imprisonment, in the First Degree, a Class-E Felony, and
several misdemeanor counts of Criminal Possession of a
Weapon in the Fourth Degree and Endangering the Welfare of a
Child.
Nixzmary was found dead January
11, 2006, in her mother and stepfather’s Bedford-Stuyvesant
apartment from child abuse syndrome and blunt impact trauma
resulting in brain injuries. Nixzmary’s body showed signs of
long-term abuse, with ligature marks on her ankles – where
she was frequently tied with rope and bungee chords – and
wounds all over her body in various stages of healing.
Nixzmary’s mother, Nixzaliz Santiago, also 29, has a
scheduled court appearance March 26, before Brooklyn Supreme
Court Justice Patricia DiMango. Though a trial date has not
been set yet for Santiago, she is charged with Murder in the
Second Degree.
First Deputy Chief of the Appeals Bureau Anthea Bruffee,
Crimes Against Children Bureau Unit Chief Linda Weinman and
Ama Dwimoh, Chief of the Crimes Against Children Bureau,
prosecuted the case.
Contact: Jonah Bruno
718-250-2300
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05
DISTRICT
ATTORNEY CHARLES J. HYNES KEYNOTES ST. PATRICK’S DAY
CELEBRATION AT BOROUGH HALL, REPORTS ON POLITICAL
STATE OF AFFAIRS IN THE REPUBLIC OF IRELAND
Brooklyn, March 17
- Kings County District Attorney Charles J. Hynes today used
a keynote address delivered at St. Patrick’s Day celebration
at Brooklyn’s Borough to report on the political state of
affairs in Ireland.
When he addressed the same event a year ago, DA Hynes spoke
about hope and cautious optimism. At the time, he said it
remained to be seen whether the Rev. Ian Paisley, once the
notorious Protestant leader Northeast Ireland would give
peace a chance.
Today, DA Hynes said it has been truly remarkable to see
Rev. Paisley sit at the same table with Martin McGuinness
and share leadership in the Irish Assembly.
He reported that the number of Roman Catholics on the police
force in Northeast Ireland continues to rise and that all
vestiges of the 800 year British occupation of Ireland have
virtually disappeared.
DA Hynes announced that he would make his first trip to the
Republic of Ireland in May with a brief stop in Northeast
Island. He will be traveling with Wanda Lucibello, chief of
the Special Victims Division at the Office of the District
Attorney.
DA Hynes said he and Lucibello have been asked to address a
domestic violence conference in Waterford sponsored by the
Republic and aimed at finding ways to contain the nightmare
of domestic violence.
DA Hynes recalled that the invitation to visit Ireland came
exactly a year ago, following the St. Patrick’s Day
celebration at Borough Hall. He said a high-ranking
government delegation from Ireland visited the Family
Justice Center at his office.
The Family Justice Center is an all-in-one location, where
domestic violence victims can access multiple services,
including housing assistance, help with immigration and
child custody issues, and speak with police, prosecutors and
clergy members. Interpreters are available to translate any
language, and victims are not required to press criminal
charges against their batterers to access the Center’s
services.
Contact:
J. Zamgba Browne
(718) 250-3850
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04
KINGS
COUNTY DISTRICT ATTORNEY CHARLES J. HYNES SALUTES TRAILBLAZING
AFRICAN-AMERICAN ATTORNEYS FOR CONTRIBUTIONS TO THE LEGAL
PROFESSION
Brooklyn, March 12
– Kings County District Attorney Charles J. Hynes was joined
yesterday by the Metropolitan Black Bar Association and its
President, Xavier R. Donaldson, as he saluted a group of
trailblazing African-American lawyers, 80-years of age and
older.
The honor roster includes,
Arthur V. Bates, 92, Thornton Meacham, 91, Jeff L. Greenup,
89, Percy E. Sutton, 88, Philip D. Roach, 87, Ermyn Stroud,
86, Judge William C. Thompson, Sr., 83, John L. Edmonds, 82,
and David N. Dinkins, 80.
DA Hynes recognized the
accomplishments of these distinguished individuals and the
quality of excellence they brought to the legal profession
and their roles in paving the path for future generations.
“These individuals, despite the
odds, excelled in their profession and did not forget to
reach back to pave the way for the next generation of
African-American attorneys. I am thrilled and pleased to
honor them,” said DA Hynes.
Each of the recipients praised
DA Hynes for recognizing his hard work and outstanding
contributions to the nation’s legal profession.
Dinkins could not attend, but
sent this congratulatory message to his fellow honorees for
being recognized by DA Hynes and the Metropolitan Black Bar
Association: “In our practice of law, you and I have been
heirs to a tradition among African-American lawyers that
went beyond the mechanics of preparing briefs and arguing
and adjudicating cases.”
“Our work, as the seniors of
our profession, is to encourage those who follow to take up
the task we have chosen and to help them to do it well. We
can do no less for our profession, for our people, for our
children,”
The program was coordinated by Ozzie Fletcher, Senior
Citizen Counsel to the District Attorney. Entertainment was
provided by steel drummer, Curtis Jordan.
Contact: J. Zamgba Browne
(718) 250-3850
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03
KINGS
COUNTY DISTRICT ATTORNEY CHARLES J. HYNES ADDRESSES FORUM AT
MEDGAR EVERS COLLEGE ON
DOMESTIC VIOLENCE
Brooklyn, March 10
– In an address at Medgar Evers College on domestic
violence, Kings County District Attorney Charles J. Hynes
today challenged the student body and the general public to
become active participants in the fight against domestic
violence.
DA Hynes said domestic violence
is a worldwide epidemic that transcends national boundaries
and class distinctions and that countless victims die
horrible deaths at the hands of their abusers.
He said that countless others,
who have managed to escape death with their traumatized
children, are scarred forever. DA Hynes used his own life as
example of this tragic reality, recounting childhood
memories of his mother being beaten by his father.
“The nightmarish images of that
first, terrible assault are the ones that are on my
consciousness, even though it happened some 66 years ago,”
he said. “I will never minimize or downplay the scourge of
domestic violence and the damage that it wreaks on its
victims.” .
DA Hynes also told the students
that when he took office in 1990, one of his first official
acts was to create a Domestic Violence Bureau, the first of
its kind in any major District Attorney’s office in the U.S.
“At that time, while many other
prosecutors’ offices may have had small domestic violence
units – none had a bureau-size initiative like ours,” said
DA Hynes.
DA Hynes said that since then,
his office has made strides in raising the consciousness of
the entire country, especially the law enforcement community
of the need to acknowledge and respond to domestic violence.
DA Hynes discussed the Family Justice Center, which brings
together 37 different public and private agencies at one
location and is based at the District Attorney’s Office.
DA Hynes explained that in a
single visit to the Family Justice Center, victims can meet
with a prosecutor and police, obtain legal representation
for Family Court matters involving custody and visitation,
access social services, obtain long-term counseling, and
meet with a clergy member, all under one roof.
Special services are available
to immigrant women, including language translation and
assistance with visa applications. No victim will be denied
help because of her immigration status.
DA Hynes concluded his remarks
by reporting that he had just signed an agreement to assist
Medgar Evers College in a new campus initiative on violence
against women.
Contact:
J. Zamgba Browne
(718) 250-3850
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02
KINGS
COUNTY DISTRICT ATTORNEY CHARLES J. HYNES ANNOUNCES
SENTENCING IN INTERNATIONAL SECURITIES
FRAUD CASE
Brooklyn, March 5, 2008
– Kings County District Attorney Charles J. Hynes today
announced the sentencing of Damascus Lee, 36, to
three-and-a-half to 10-and-a-half years for his involvement
in an international securities fraud scheme.
He pleaded guilty on September
7, 2007 to all the charges that he was facing, including
Grand Larceny in the Second Degree, Grand Larceny in the
Third Degree, Scheme to Defraud in the First Degree, and
Money Laundering in the Second Degree. In addition, Lee
paid $50,000 in restitution to get his sentence reduced from
four to 12 years to three-and-a-half to 10-and-a-half years.
His co-defendant, Ian Bynoe,
did not pay restitution and was sentenced to the full term
of four to 12 years on December 3, 2007. Lee was sentenced
today before Brooklyn Supreme Court Justice Guy Mangano.
Lee and co-defendant Ian Bynoe,
licensed stockbrokers who ran a Clinton Hill branch of JP
Turner and Company, were accused of creating a fake real
estate investment firm, called Vanguard Development and
Management, to launch a million-dollar securities fraud and
then they sold stock in this company. The company was based
in Wyoming but did no actual business. However, from the
J.P. Turner & Company branch office they operated at 469
Clinton Ave., in Clinton Hill, Lee and Bynoe had other stock
brokers working for them contact potential investors around
the world. The brokers Lee and Bynoe supervised told
potential clients that investments in Vanguard Development
were officially approved by J.P. Turner, when no such
approval existed. They were also told to say the company had
incredible growth potential and would go public within a
year to a year and a half. Lee and Bynoe duped their clients
out of approximately $500,000.
J.P. Turner & Company cooperated
fully in the investigation and is not facing any charges.
The case was prosecuted by Assistant District Attorney
Michael Vaccaro of the Rackets Division. Michael Vecchione
is Chief of the Rackets Division.
Contact: Sandy Silverstein
718-250-2300
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01
KINGS
COUNTY DISTRICT ATTORNEY CHARLES J. HYNES AND
NEW YORK CITY HUMAN RESOURCES ADMINISTRATION
COMMISSIONER ROBERT DOAR ANNOUNCE ARREST AND INDICTMENT OF
REGISTERED NURSE FOR FRAUDULENTLY COLLECTING WELFARE
BENEFITS
Brooklyn, March 4, 2008
– Kings County District Attorney Charles J. Hynes and NYC
Human Resources Administration (HRA) Commissioner Robert
Doar today announced the arrest and indictment of Carolyn
Regina Sowell, 57, for concealing her employment as a
registered nurse while receiving welfare benefits from the
city. She was indicted on charges of Welfare Fraud in the
Third and Fourth Degrees, Grand Larceny in the Third and
Fourth Degrees and Offering a False Instrument for Filing in
the First Degree. If convicted of the top charge, Sowell
faces up to seven years in prison.
The indictment charges that Sowell allegedly took over
$22,000 in public assistance, food stamps and Medicaid
benefits while concealing her employment. She earned well
over $60,000 as a state licensed Registered Professional
Nurse.
From January 2000 to December 2004, Sowell took various paid
nursing assignments through several reputable temporary
nursing agencies and worked in people’s homes, in city
hospitals and with the NYC Board of Education.
District Attorney Hynes said, “The money that Ms. Sowell
stole is intended for the truly needy individuals who rely
on these funds. Consequently, she was also stealing money
from hard working taxpayers. Her unreported income well
exceeded permissible levels which would have disqualified
her from all welfare benefits. I commend HRA for their
cooperation in this investigation. Hopefully this
indictment will serve as an example for individuals who try
to cheat the system by collecting publicly funded benefits
for which they are not entitled.”
HRA Commissioner Doar said,
“Cash assistance, food stamps and public health insurance
are important supports for individuals and families working
towards self-sufficiency. Fraud and abuse of these public
benefits will not be tolerated.”
An indictment is an accusatory
instrument and not proof of a defendant’s guilt.
The case is being prosecuted by
Assistant District Attorney Frank Dudis, Counsel in the DA’s
Public Assistance Crimes Unit. Lauren Mack is Chief of the
Public Assistance Crimes Unit.
Contact: Sandy Silverstein
718-250-2300
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