Dirty Pervy Dan

QNS

Former Queens Council Member Dan Halloran, who was convicted in 2014 for his role in two bribery and corruption schemes and served five years in federal prison, is in trouble with the law again.

Halloran was arrested at Miami International Airport on Saturday, March 29, and charged with possessing child pornography and transporting child pornography after U.S. Customs and Border Protection officers inspected his Apple iPhone 14 Pro Max and an Apple iPad 6th Generation tablet and discovered several videos of suspected child pornography located in a hidden folder album on the phone’s photos application, according to the criminal complaint filed in the Southern District of Florida.

Halloran told officers he owned the devices and provided the passcode to unlock them. At least 35 videos showed young children performing various sex acts. One video showed a prepubescent girl disrobing and masturbating with exposed genitalia and another video showed a partially nude prepubescent girl performing oral sex on an adult man.

A CBP officer discovered on Halloran’s Apple iPhone a text conversation on Telegram, a messaging app, that indicated he had purchased child pornography after he had received different pricing packages. Halloran wrote back and asked, “What’s the delivery platform” and “What are the differences between reg. Premium, VIP?”

When asked by CBP officers how many of the videos in the hidden folder in his phone depicted child pornography, Halloran told the officers that approximately two-thirds to three-quarters of the videos depicted child pornography.

According to the criminal complaint, a total of 1,362 videos are stored in the hidden folder of a photo album on Halloran’s Apple iPhone.

The 54-year-old Halloran, who currently resides in Floral Park, was traveling home from Camaguey, Cuba, when he had a layover in Miami. He was taken into custody and booked at the Broward County Main Jail. His arraignment is scheduled for April 14.

 

McMansion to replace former Halloran house

Ex-Council Member Dan Halloran is still in the clink, but his former Whitestone home won't be waiting for him when he gets out.

The property was sold and is in the process of being redeveloped.

One last pagan parting gift.

Malcolm Smith probe may not yet be over

From Lohud:

The FBI and U.S. Attorney's Office used an Orthodox Jewish radio program in an elaborate sting operation that helped the government convict Malcolm Smith and other New York politicians in a corruption scandal, a four-month investigation by The Journal News/lohud revealed.

It is unclear whether there are other targets, including New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman, who appeared on the show as a state senator prior to the 2010 election with Moses Stern, later revealed to be an FBI cooperator. Stern appeared twice on the show prior to election day using aliases, posing as both a political analyst and a resident from Brooklyn. He urged listeners to vote for Schneiderman.

Prosecutors disclosed little about the New York Jewish Communications Channel to defense lawyers for two people convicted in the sting operation. The show was hosted by longtime Orthodox radio personality Zev Brenner, who owns Talkline Communications Network, and registered with the state by Joseph Markowitz, whose name was linked to thousands in campaign donations to Schneiderman, who has not been accused of wrongdoing, and an illegal donation to Halloran. After the Smith arrests, Schneiderman pledged to donate the contributions from Markowitz and Markowitz's wife to charity.

Destruction of Judge Garaufis' house proves need for landmarking

"This house, along with all of the houses on 40th Avenue from All Saints Church to 223rd Street, were included in a proposed historic district. It was ignored by then-Councilmember now-convicted felon doing jail time Dan Halloran. The current Councilmember, Paul Vallone, is also generally opposed to protecting our neighborhoods from destruction, as can be seen from his support to not allow the Douglaston Historic District Extension (along Douglaston Parkway north of the LIRR) to go forward. His press release stated that "landmark status imposes undue restrictions on the rights of homeowners to renovate, modify, or even sell their properties as they wish." This is total NONSENSE and typical of an elected official who got most of his campaign contributions from the real estate industry.

As for the specifics of this property: I just looked up what the plans are for "renovating" it. The house will be utterly destroyed. It will look like a brick box from the outside with an addition to the rear. Also, the property will be subdivided to include another detached brick box immediately next to it.

When Tony Avella, myself and the community worked to rezone Bayside a decade ago, it was only part of the story: if you don't landmark buildings or create historic districts along with it, zoning only has limited power to regulate what happens in your neighborhood. Yes, we stopped some of the worst abuses from occurring by changing the zoning in many areas from R3-2 and R4 (multi-family attached buildings) to R2A and R1-2 (detached one-family houses only). But, as can be seen, any property larger than the minimum like this beautiful house can immediately be subdivided and utterly destroyed." - Paul Graziano

More house destruction photos here.

And here's another example of the destruction of Bayside:

This is why something asinine like a "landmark compromise" as suggested by the Queens Chronicle won't work to preserve architecture that has historical and aesthetic value. The law needs to be have teeth to be effective.

Halloran disbarred

From NY Law Journal:

A former New York City councilman from Queens who was convicted of bribery last year and sentenced to 10 years in federal prison in March has been disbarred.

Daniel Halloran, 44, who was found guilty in July 2014 for his role in a scheme to get former Democratic state Sen. Malcolm Smith to run as a Republican in the 2013 race for New York City mayor, was automatically disbarred, said an Appellate Division, Second Department panel on July 1, which ordered his name stricken from the roll of attorneys.

Halloran releases manifesto before reporting to prison

From the Queens Gazette:

Disgraced former City Councilmember Dan Halloran surrendered to federal prison officials on June 8, approximately one week after a Federal Appeals Court nixed his bid to remain free on bail while he appeals his bribery conviction.

Halloran, who was supposed to surrender to authorities on June 1, was granted an extra week of freedom before starting his 10-year prison sentence for masterminding a scheme to help former State Sen. Malcom Smith buy his way onto the 2013 New York City mayoral ballot.

In a May 29 letter to Federal Judge Kenneth Karas, Halloran’s attorney, Jonathan Edelstein, requested a one week extension of his client’s surrender date, until June 8, saying Halloran needed “a short time to put his affairs in order,” including time to pack his personal effects, surrender his license plates, file paperwork with the state Bar Association, book a flight to Kentucky and get his dog settled in a new home,” court papers state.

Halloran turned himself in to a federal prison in Kentucky on June 8, where the Federal Bureau of Prisons had already assigned Halloran his register number, 68384-054, which will also serve as his prisoner identification number.

But before he turned himself in, he sent the following 8-page rant to his close friends:

Halloran edit 04-26-15

Bayside malls may finally be fixed

From the Queens Chronicle:

After being in financial purgatory for four years, the iconic medians and malls that make up Bayside Hills may finally be repaired.

“There are craters and all kinds of crazy looking things along the malls,” said Bayside Hills Civic Association President Michael Feiner during the group’s meeting on Tuesday night. “We’ve been lucky that Joe Black from the Parks Department put some wood chips in recently to fill in those holes, but the problems that were there years ago are still there and still worsening.”

The area’s former councilman, Dan Halloran, allocated $50,000 in 2011 for the Department of Transportation to make repairs. However, according to Feiner, the DOT and the Parks Department are debating over which agency is responsible for the malls and the original allocation is not enough to significantly rehabilitate the area.

But now, Borough President Melinda Katz is stepping in. According to Barry Grodenchik, director of community boards, and Budget Director Richard Lee, Katz has agreed to allocate $450,000 to the project.

“Ounce for ounce, Bayside Hills probably has more malls than any other area in Queens,” Grodenchik said. “The borough president has heard your complaints and she wants to make these malls as beautiful as they once were. She really wants to turn this area into something special.”

In addition, state Sen. Tony Avella (D-Bayside) allocated $275,000 last year for renovations at Capt. Dermody Triangle, located at 48th Avenue and 216th Street in Bayside Hills. The green space, named after the abolitionist William Dermody, is in need of repairs to its sidewalk, lawn and monument.

“If you notice, we have some money over here and some over there,” Feiner said. “It just seems like there isn’t a lot of communications going on between our elected officials.”

10 years in the slammer for Halloran

From the NY Post:

Saying former City Councilman Dan Halloran knowingly perjured himself at trial, a federal judge threw the book at the disgraced politician on Wednesday — sentencing him to 10 years behind bars for masterminding a failed $200,000 bribery scheme to buy the 2013 Republican mayoral line for then-Democratic state Sen. Malcolm Smith.

“For five days, he lied on the stand,” White Plains federal Judge Kenneth Karas said of Halloran. “It was egregious.

“There was overwhelming evidence of his guilt,” added the judge as a stone-faced Halloran took a deep breath and nodded. “I saw him squirm and look uncomfortable on the stand … He lied and lied repeatedly. It was grotesque and offensive.”

The US Probation Department had recommended 6 ½ to 8 years of prison for Halloran, who tried to claim insanity as a defense at trial and is a “prince” in a pagan order that includes public floggings.

But Karas agreed with prosecutors that the Queens Republican deserved a harsher sentence because he “quarterbacked” the bribery scheme and lied under oath. The feds had asked Karas to hand Halloran a sentence of 12 ½ to 15 ½ years behind bars.

From the Daily News:

At that Halloran turned red in the face and put his quivering hand over his mouth.

From the Queens Courier:

“His life, except for this offense, has been good,” Edelstein said. “Obviously there’s a crime here that requires punishment, but all of his character should be considered.”

“He’s very sorry he made these choices. He’s very sorry he ran for City Council in the first place,” he said.

Halloran convicted; faces 20 years in the clink

From Crains:

A jury took only about 90 minutes Tuesday to convict former New York City Councilman Daniel Halloran of bribery charges in a scheme to buy a spot on the mayoral ballot for state Sen. Malcolm Smith.

Mr. Halloran was also found guilty of taking payoffs from what he thought were developers who wanted him to funnel city money their way. The men were actually an FBI agent and an FBI informant.

The 42-year-old Mr. Halloran spent five days on the witness stand in federal court in White Plains, N.Y. He faces up to 20 years in prison when he's sentenced Dec. 12.

Paul caught playing Pinocchio

From the Queens Gazette:

On June 27, the City Council passed the fiscal budget for 2015. This budget was significant on many fronts as our children, seniors, schools, cultural institutions and many new initiatives were included and protected in the $75 billion budget. However, for residents of District 19, history was made. Councilmember Paul Vallone secured more than $6.7 million for much needed capital and expense projects throughout his communities. To put this year’s budget in perspective, the amount is triple that was received from the previous Councilmember, Dan Halloran ($2.2 million). This increase in funding will allow Vallone to provide nearly $3 million for his district’s schools and more than $1 million each to both libraries and parks in his district.

So Vallone insults his constituents' intelligence by insinuating that it was his great skills as a negotiator that got him triple the funding of what Halloran had received, when, in fact, it was because of new council rules that divided the funding evenly between the council districts? And the Gazette goes along with this?

Mistrial for Tabone & Smith

From Pix11:

A federal judge has declared a mistrial for a state senator and a former Queens Republican leader.

A New York City councilman has opted to go forward with his trial.

Federal Judge Kenneth Karas declared the mistrial Tuesday for state Sen. Malcolm Smith and ex-GOP leader Vincent Tabone. Their retrial is scheduled to start Jan. 5, 2015.

Former New York City Councilman Daniel Halloran is due back in court next week.

Halloran, Smith trial on hold

From the Times Ledger:

Hours of conversations and hundreds of text messages in Yiddish have stalled the federal corruption trial of state Sen. Malcolm Smith (D-Hollis), former Bayside Councilman Daniel Halloran and the ex-vice chairman of the Queens Republican Party, Vincent Tabone.

Attorneys representing the Queens trio, who are charged with participating in Smith’s alleged scheme to bribe his way onto the GOP line for the 2013 mayoral election, have urged the judge to dismiss the indictments and call a mistrial because they say the government did not turn over Yiddish conversations quickly enough for them to prepare for proceedings.

Judge Kenneth Karas instructed prosecutors and defense attorneys to submit documents detailing their arguments over the weekend and planned to resolve the dispute during a Monday conference in federal court in White Plains, according to Herb Hadad, a spokesman for prosecutors in the U.S. Attorney’s Office.

Hadad said the judge intended to call the jury back Tuesday and inquire whether the jurors could remain in court past June, when he had initially planned to wrap up the trial.

Karas then will decide how to proceed.

Dan's dirty hands exposed in court

From the NY Post:

Former City Councilman Dan Halloran offered to dole out tens of thousands of dollars in no-show city consulting work to an undercover agent in exchange for funds to boost a congressional run — and then demanded to be paid even after losing the race, the federal agent told jurors Monday.

Jurors at the White Plains federal corruption trial of Halloran, state Sen. Malcolm Smith and Queens GOP operative Vincent Tabone also heard audiotape of Halloran telling the agent that he’ll take his money in cash.

“Look, at this point, we don’t need all of it in checks. We can take green now,” he says in a Nov. 15, 2012, meeting at the Ritz-Carlton hotel in White Plains also attended by crooked developer-turned-FBI-informant Moses Stern.

“Cause now I can . . . I can pay vendors off,” he says. “Before, I had to show money coming in to help my campaign. Now, I don’t have to.”

Later that same day, Halloran (R-Queens) sent the agent — whose real name wasn’t provided to jurors — an e-mail containing a commitment letter pre-dated four days and promising $40,000 to $80,000 for consulting work on a Queens YMCA.

“I was being very clear that I was going to take his money,” the agent testified. “I expected we would do zero work related to that.”

The agent also said he previously gave Stern $6,500 in cash to create checks in others people’s names for Halloran’s campaign.

Halloran is also accused of pocketing $20,500 in cash bribes for masterminding cross-party negotiations for a failed bid to get Smith — one of the state’s top Democrats — the Republican line in last year’s mayoral race.

Photo from the Daily News

Dan tries to plead insanity

From the NY Post:

Former City Councilman and “pagan prince” Dan Halloran now says he’s crazy — but it’s only to stall his trial next week on charges that he aided in Rep. Malcolm Smith’s plan to rig the mayoral race, prosecutors say.

Halloran (R-Queens) notified White Plains federal Judge Kenneth Karas this week that he “underwent surgery to remove a brain tumor” in May 2012 and wants to use insanity as a defense for his alleged aberrant ­behavior.

Assistant US Attorneys Douglas Bloom and Justin Anderson fired back with a letter to Karas, accusing Halloran of doing whatever it takes to delay the trial.

“Pretrial motions were due six months ago” but Halloran waited “until the week before trial to request an insanity instruction,” prosecutors wrote.

“Brain surgery, in and of ­itself, is not a basis for an ­insanity defense. Halloran does not allege that the surgery — which, based on press reports, involved the removal of a benign tumor from
above his ear two years ago — affected his cognition in any way. To the contrary, at the time, he claimed to have recovered well.

“Given that Halloran’s request was filed simultaneously with his application for a six-month continuance, it appears to be nothing more than an attempt to ­delay the trial,” the prosecutors said.

Halloran, Vallone team up to screw Bayside

Senator Tony Avella expressed his total dismay that, despite assurance from City Council Members to the contrary, the City Council’s Land Use committee approved today the proposed construction of a 416-Seat Primary School Facility on 48th Avenue, between 210th and 211th Street, where Keil Brothers is currently located. According to the committee members, Council Member Daniel Halloran and Council Member-elect Paul Vallone both came out in support of the proposed school. The full Council will vote tomorrow on the proposal.

While a new school facility may be beneficial, the proposed site is situated in the middle of a quiet, residential neighborhood that already includes PS 31 a few blocks away. The school would be facing the backyards of 31 homes and will significantly alter the quality of life of residents. Neither Council Member Halloran nor Council Member-elect Vallone had solicited the community’s input before making a deal with the School Construction Authority to move ahead with the proposed school location.

Avella stated, “I think it is a disgrace that both the Council Member and the Council Member-elect, went behind the community’s back and made a deal to have the proposed school approved, while ignoring the will of the people who will be most affected by the new school.”

“I simply do not understand why Council Member Daniel Halloran's opinion was even taken into account in this situation, seeing as he is busy fighting disturbing corruption charges and is obviously out of touch. It is even more saddening to see a newly elected City Council member going against the local community before even taking office! I am afraid this just sets an extremely bad precedent for the duration of Paul Vallone's tenure in public office,” concluded Avella.



"...the community's voice isn't being heard, and that it's coming up for a vote in a month and we might get a school that we don't want." - Paul Vallone's lie about opposing Kiel Bros. school

Halloran Endorses Paul Vallone for City Council

This was posted on Facebook 15 minutes ago. Apparently, Mr. Halloran is endorsing his poker buddy Paul Vallone. He feels that "as a kindred spirit" Paul Vallone will be the best person to fill his shoes after he goes away for a long, long time.

Now more than ever!

Hit piece sent out by Vallone supporters

The FBI didn't exactly arrest these two for betraying Queens, but whatever.
While not untrue, these 2 candidates were never implicated in any wrongdoing. This hit piece had to have come from either John Duane, Paul Graziano or Paul Vallone. Of course, it doesn't identify on which candidate's behalf it was sent.

Jobs for New York is the Real Estate Board of New York's PAC. Jobs4NY endorsed Paul Vallone.
When you have skeletons in your closet, such as being poker buddies with one of the accused, you might want to think twice about giving your blessing to literature such as this.

By the way, Paul Vallone gave one excuse to the organizers of Monday night's Bayside Historical Society event: "A client of mine passed away, and I am helping with funeral arrangements." And another excuse to the Queens Courier: "He was comforting the family of his 'good friend and mentor' Judge Joseph Risi, who had just passed away, a campaign spokesperson said."

The judge actually passed away on Saturday and his son is an attorney and likely does not require the legal services of Mr. Vallone.

Whoops.

Halloran says Wilson-Pakula bribery is not criminal

From CBS New York:

New York City Councilman Daniel Halloran (R-19th) wants bribery charges against him dismissed.

Halloran filed a motion this week claiming that the laws cited in a federal corruption indictment don’t apply to the allegations against him.

He is under indictment with state Sen. Malcolm Smith (D-Queens) on charges of trying to fix the 2013 New York City mayoral race. He has defended his actions.

Halloran allegedly schemed with Smith to bribe Republican leaders in an effort to win a spot on the city’s mayoral ballot for Smith.

But Halloran said the indictment does not actually charge him with trying to get Smith the nomination.

Rather, he said, it charges that he tried to get GOP permission for Smith to seek the nomination. He said that is a step removed from the nomination and is not prohibited by the bribery statutes.

Halloran's side gigs

I thought you might like Halloran's new Endeavor.

What I found most interesting is Halloran claiming it is his " turn to kick back in life after politics and discuss the things that matter to me "

Isn't he still on the public payroll?

Are we paying him to "kick back"? - anonymous

He's also started his own law practice.

Quite a busy fellow, that indicted one.

Paul Vallone plans to use Independence line as a bartering tool

Remember the revelation that Paul Vallone's name is on a list of potential judges even though he alleges that he's been focused since 2009 on running for City Council? Well, as expected, the judgeship is plan B. As per Crains:

If Mr. Vallone wins a hotly contested Democratic primary in September, the Independence Party ballot line would be a major leg up in a battle against Mr. Saffran, as Republicans often rely on votes from the Independence line in Democrat-heavy New York City. But if Mr. Vallone does not win the Democratic primary, his presence on the Independence line in November could split Democratic votes between his supporters and those of the Democratic nominee. Mr. Vallone's main opponent in the race appears to be former Empire State Development spokesman Austin Shafran, who has lined up the bulk of the labor support in the race, as well as the Working Families Party endorsement.

As an attorney who has been a member of the New York bar association since 1992, if Mr. Vallone lost the Democratic primary, he could be nominated for a judgeship and cede the ballot line in the council race to the Democratic nominee. Asked if Mr. Vallone would definitely run on the Independence line in November, a campaign spokesman answered obliquely.

"When Paul Vallone wins the Democratic Primary in September, he will occupy both the Democratic and Independence Party lines in November," the spokesman said.

The Independence Line almost always goes to the Republican in the race. Last time Dennis Saffran ran, he got their endorsement, so it doesn't make sense that they wouldn't give it to him this time. Therefore, Joe Crowley must have made a deal with the Party. As he made a deal with the Vallones. Let's not forget that the GOP was once considering giving Paul Vallone their line and he was once considering accepting it.

Best quote ever: “Paul is really like a kindred spirit,” said Halloran.