Drawing settlement cash from a gravestone

 

 NY Daily News

The ghost of Queens District Attorney Richard Brown has cost city taxpayers $17.25 million in the past five months.

The money is being paid to settle three lawsuits alleging prosecutorial misconduct during Brown’s tenure leading the office from 1991 to his death in 2019 — and comes amid growing scrutiny of some New York prosecutors’ pursuit of criminal convictions at all costs.

Brown seems to have been aware of his office’s alleged misconduct, which imprisoned people for years for crimes they were later found not to have committed.

At one point, Brown wrote to a top aide, Jack Ryan: “Jack, I think we’ve been getting away with this sort of thing for a long time.”

That quote comes from a document uncovered by Joel Rudin, a lawyer who represents the three men who won the $17.25 million in legal settlements.

“The issue has been percolating for many years and is suddenly capturing public attention more than it ever has before,” said Bennett Gershman, a Pace University law professor who has studied prosecutorial misconduct for nearly 40 years.

The latest previously undisclosed settlement involving the Queens DA’s office was for Kareem Bellamy, who in July reached an $8 million settlement in a lawsuit that claimed he was wrongly arrested for a 1994 murder and sent to prison for 14 years.

Bellamy’s suit alleged that Queens prosecutors withheld key evidence in the case that might have led a jury to exonerate him.

And late in November, school custodian Julio Negron settled for $6.25 million after he was convicted of a 2005 shooting and spent 10 years behind bars. He alleged Queens prosecutors withheld evidence that would have pointed to another suspect.

Increased scrutiny of city district attorneys’ offices has come from a group of law professors, who are trying to use the state’s courts grievance committees to highlight prosecutorial misconduct cases. The professors are fighting an uphill battle.

The group has filed complaints against 21 current and former Queens prosecutors. The city Law Department countered with a complaint to the grievance committees that says by going public with their complaints about prosecutors, the professors are “misus[ing] and indeed abus[ing] the grievance process to promote a political agenda” in a way that “should not be countenanced.”

D.A. Richard Brown has died

QNS


Richard A. Brown, who served Queens for 28 years as its top law enforcement official, has died, his office announced on Saturday morning.

Brown, 86, had been battling from complications of Parkinson’s disease in recent years and announced in March that he was taking a leave of absence until June 1, when he planned to formally resign the office. He handed over his duties in an interim capacity to Chief District Attorney John Ryan, his top deputy, who announced Brown’s death.

“Judge Brown — as he has long been affectionately called — was a public servant like no other,” Ryan said. “He topped a spectacular judicial career and was appointed the district attorney of Queens County in 1991 by then-Governor Mario Cuomo. He was proud to serve the millions of people of Queens for nearly 28 years and was re-elected to six terms in office.”

NYPD officers ran prostitution and gambling ring

From AM NY:

A retired police detective and his wife are accused of running a massive prostitution ring and illicit gambling business with the help of seven active NYPD members and 40 civilians, Queens District Attorney Richard Brown said on Thursday.

Ludwig Paz, 51, a retired detective from the NYPD’s Vice unit, allegedly ran the day-to-day operations at seven of eight brothels spread out across Queens, Brooklyn and Nassau County. Using his knowledge of the department’s vice protocols when investigating prostitution cases, Paz set up new policies for accepting clients in order to help root out possible undercover cops, according to Brown’s office, and paid his contacts within the NYPD for information that enabled him to thwart raids.

Among the active NYPD members who are accused of helping Paz and his wife, Arelis Peralta, are Brooklyn South Vice Det. Rene Samaniego, 43; Sgt. Carlos Cruz, 41; Det. Giovanny Rojas-Acosta, 40; Sgt. Cliff Nieves, 37; Sgt. Steven Nieves, 32; Officer Giancarlo Raspanti, 43; and Sgt. Louis Failla, 49.

NYPD Commissioner James O’Neill said the officers “tarnished the NYPD shields they wore,” and betrayed the trust of all 8.6 million New Yorkers.

Between August 2016 through September 2018, the prostitution ring — with brothels located on Gates, Foster and Fourth avenues and 42nd Street in Brooklyn; on Liberty and Onderdonk avenues in Queens; and on Front Street in Hempstead — netted over $2 million in revenue, per the district attorney’s office.

Katz looking to run for Brown's seat

From the Queens Chronicle:

Multiple sources have told the Chronicle that Borough President Melinda Katz would be interested in running for District Attorney should DA Richard Brown opt not to seek re-election in 2019; or in an appointment to the post should he choose to retire.

Katz would not dignify the question when asked Wednesday by the Chronicle. “Judge Brown is a great DA, and there’s no indication he intends to retire,” she said.

A source with knowledge of Queens politics partially confirmed both other sources’ accounts and that of the borough president, saying Katz, an attorney, would be interested in the top prosecutor’s office under either scenario.

“But there’s no vacancy; and Brown’s not going anywhere,” the source said.

Brown himself was first appointed to the post in 1991 by then-Gov. Mario Cuomo — district attorney is a state position — and has been repeatedly re-elected with few serious challengers. But he does have health issues.

Katz, who is term-limited out of the Borough President’s Office after 2021, has said in the past that she wants to have a leadership role on matters of importance to the city when her term ends.

Kew Gardens opposed to Dizzy Lizzy's jail plan

STATEMENT BY KEW GARDENS CIVIC ASSOCIATION AND KEW GARDENS IMPROVEMENT ASSOCIATION -- October 4, 2017

The Kew Gardens Civic Association, representing Kew Gardens homeowners for over a century, and the Kew Gardens Improvement Association, representing apartment house dwellers for almost half a century, are united in their strong opposition to the plan offered by Elizabeth Crowley, presumably supported by other Queens City Council members, for situating one of the successors to Rikers Island in Kew Gardens.

The plan was never shared by Crowley with the residents of Kew Gardens and was apparently kept secret until its sudden release this week to the Mayor.

When the benign Queens House of Detention existed as part of our Civic Center until fifteen years ago it housed persons awaiting trial for very short stays; they were not likely to have many family visitors. And for those who came by car, there was plenty of parking nearby in the 900+ car Municipal Garage, now gone. The 307-car parking lot to open next year will be occupied by City and Court employees and by jurors; the streets of Kew Gardens will be scoured for non-existent parking spaces!

Kew Gardens’ residents accepted the House of Detention as a holding facility; it posed no serious problem. When District Attorney Richard Brown suggested that converting the building to office space for his agency would save the City a lot of money it is now paying for rent elsewhere, it seemed to make sense. We respect Judge Brown and think he should be taken seriously.

After the brouhaha last Spring when the distribution of Rikers’ prisoners was a headline topic, it was said that our Kew Gardens facility was not nearly big enough to accommodate enough prisoners from Queens; that the facility was outdated, that it would need to be demolished and rebuilt and that Kew Gardens could not provide enough prisoners to warrant a ”neighborhood prison,” one of the goals voiced for the break-up of Rikers. What happened??

In just the two days since the Crowley letter was made available we have received numerous replies from our members, all of whom are opposed to reopening the House of Detention. If community opinion is to mean anything, this project should be shelved.

Dominick Pistone, President
Kew Gardens Civic Association

Sylvia Hack, President
Kew Gardens Improvement Association

Latin Kings busted in Woodhaven

From the Queens Chronicle:

Seven members and associates of a Latin Kings sect known as the "Woodhaven Mayans" were arrested and now face narcotics and weapons charges, Queens District Attorney Richard Brown announced Friday.

The gang operated primarily within the confines of the 102nd and 106th precincts, according to Brown.

“A morning wake-up call by the police armed with a court-authorized search warrant earlier this week resulted in the arrest of seven individuals – six men and one woman – and the seizure of a large quantity of illicit drugs and a defaced firearm," Brown said in a statement. "These arrests should serve as a warning to other drug dealers and gang members that the law enforcement community will continue to aggressively track down those who traffic in drugs and illegal firearms and seek to put them in prison.”

The defendants were identified as David Golden, Jesus Merced, Janet Rodriguez, Alberto Santiago, Malik Santiago, Edgardo Torres and Travis Gonzales. Torres, Gonazalez and Golden are listed as Queens residents with no specific neighborhood and Merced in from Hempstead, LI. Rodriguez and both Santiagos are from Ozone Park.

Queens County Courthouse gets no respect

From the Daily News:

For over a decade, the sidewalk shedding around the Queens criminal courthouse has cost taxpayers hundreds of thousands of dollars — with no repair work being done to the building.

Queens District Attorney Richard Brown wrote a letter two years ago to the city's Department of Administrative Services (DCAS) requesting an answer as to why the structure was still surrounding the building.

“As a public servant, I am embarrassed and I can only imagine what phrases the public would use to describe the situation," Brown wrote.

Owners of buildings higher than six stories must comply with Local Law 11, which dates back to 1998, requiring an engineer to inspect the structures in order to determine necessary maintenance to protect the public.

Brown said that for more than 10 years his offices have looked like a construction site.

“We have endured more than enough of this eyesore. Repeatedly using this option, rather than making the necessary repairs to the buildings’ facade, is a waste of taxpayer money,” Brown told the Daily News.

The work required for the 61-year-old building is for minor repairs such as pointing, refastening of electrical conduits and repairing cracks, that as of this year have not been tended to, Brown said.

“Perhaps it is my outer-borough outlook, but I believe if this shedding surrounded City Hall or the courthouse at 60 Centre St. in Manhattan the result ... and timeline would be much different,” Brown said.

Prosecutors mum on Queens Machine

From Progress Queens:

Nearly one week after a special report was published by The New York Daily News, raising questions about the political influence wielded by a Queens law firm, Sweeney, Reich & Bolz, LLP, the top prosecutors with jurisdiction over Queens remained mum about whether the report will trigger any investigations. According to the report, three attorneys at the firm earn enormous profits from, or wield considerable influence as a result of, their connections to the Queens County Democratic Committee.

Last week, the press offices for each of Acting U.S. Attorney Bridget Rohde, who is the top Federal prosecutor for New York's eastern district, and District Attorney Richard Brown (D-Queens) declined to answer advance questions submitted for this report.

The special investigation published by The New York Daily News raised questions about how the attorneys, Gerard Sweeney, Michael Reich, and Frank Bolz, are referred cases before the Surrogate's Court, are able to gate-keep political primary races, or are able to exercise discretion over which judicial candidates receive support from the county committee.

Housing inspector illegally converted his cellar

From the DNA Info:

A housing inspector endangered the lives of his tenants by violating the same building codes the city employed him to enforce, the Queens District Attorney’s office announced Tuesday.

Derrick Allen, 58, a Brooklyn inspector for the Department of Housing Preservation and Development who owns two buildings in Queens, was charged Tuesday with illegally converting the cellar space in his Rosedale and St. Albans properties into dangerous living quarters, according to the DA’s office.

The units — hooked up to illegal gas and water lines — lacked adequate exits and natural light, which District Attorney Richard Brown noted made the residencies dangerous not only for tenants, but emergency responders as well.

“Such conversions jeopardize the lives of not only the buildings’ residents but firefighters and other personnel who in responding to an emergency are confronted by a maze of rooms with no way out,” said Brown in a statement.

“As a code enforcement inspector himself, the defendant should have known better.”

The Housing Department first became aware of Allen’s practices as a landlord on Aug. 18 when an illegal tenant in his Rosedale building called 311 to complain about building maintenance, according to the DA.

Housing inspectors arrived one week later to find four illegal single-room residencies in the basement with access to only one exit, as well as a shared kitchen with an illegal gas stove and a bathroom with a hole in the ground where a toilet once stood, the DA said.

Tenants were ordered to vacate the premises immediately due to the unsafe circumstances, the DA said.

Where are Brown's challengers?

From the NY Times:

The challenger, a former state legislator threatening the party favorite, was kicked off the primary ballot in a district attorney race in Queens after a judge ruled that the signatures he had gathered were not valid. The man, seeking to beat Richard A. Brown, lost an appeal, paving the way for Mr. Brown to easily defeat a Republican in the heavily Democratic borough.

That was in 1991, and it was the last time Mr. Brown faced an opponent for the office.

Now 83, Mr. Brown has been re-elected six times, most recently in November, a victory so routine there was no public celebration. Concerns about his health — Mr. Brown has been open about his struggles with Parkinson’s disease — and rumors that his office is increasingly managed by his top associates have done little to churn up opposition.

However, in an era when criminal justice reform is an increasing part of the conversation in New York City, and district attorney seats in Brooklyn and Manhattan have turned over in recent years — or, in the case of Staten Island and the Bronx, will on Jan. 1 — some people have begun asking where Mr. Brown’s challengers are.

“He’s run a good office,” said Arnold N. Kriss, a defense lawyer and political adviser to Mr. Brown. “It’s very hard to be a candidate against a sitting district attorney when there’s nothing to run against.”

Others said his long tenure was a reminder that the city’s antiquated political machines were still a force in Queens.

“It undermines democracy when there is no real challenger to step up to run against incumbents,” said Dick Dadey, the executive director of Citizens Union, a government watchdog.

Big sports gambling bust

From the NY Times:

An illegal gambling ring with more than 2,000 bettors in the United States moved millions of dollars through banks and credit card companies and used an overseas website to place the wagers and keep the accounts, the office of the Queens district attorney, Richard A. Brown, said on Wednesday.

A Queens County grand jury indicted 17 people in the case, and all but three are in custody. The arrests were made by law enforcement officials in New York, Nevada and California, where most of the bookmakers and accountants for the ring were based, the office said. The head of the operation was identified as Cyrus Irani, 37, of Santa Clarita, Calif.

Mr. Brown said the ring had collected $32 million in illegal bets on football, basketball, baseball, hockey and other sports. He said Internet gambling was “a multibillion-dollar, worldwide industry.”

“Internet gambling has been compared by some to the crack cocaine epidemic of the late ’80s and early ’90s,” Mr. Brown said in a statement. “It is highly addictive.”

Weird deed fraud case in Jamaica Estates

From the Daily News:

The strange saga began on April 29 when Anita Chan returned from work to her Jamaica Estates home and found the locks changed — and three strangers inside, according to the complaint.

When she questioned them, the trio told her they were working with the bank that held the mortgage and she would not be allowed inside until she signed some documents, the complaint states.

Chan, 60, then told the intruders her husband, Wah Chan, was the sole property owner and that he was in China.

So they had her call him — then emailed him documents to sign, including a deed transfer.

While Wah Chan signed some of the paperwork, he did not sign the deed transfer, according to the complaint.

The next day, the accused home invaders let the poor woman back inside and gave her 10 minutes to retrieve some of her belongings, Brown said.

Inside, Chan discovered that the house on Grand Central Parkway had been ransacked, he said.

It wasn’t until May 16 that her 73-year-old husband returned from China and arrived at the house with a locksmith of his own.

Not only were jewelry, knives and cash missing, so were documents verifying ownership of his home, Brown said.

It wasn’t immediately clear why the trio allegedly targeted the Chans.

Gang members charged in gun & drug sales

From the Queens Courier:

Eight purported street gang members from Queens have been charged after peddling guns and drugs during undercover buys, prosecutors announced.

“Illegal firearms that flood our streets pose a serious and deadly threat to public safety and the distribution of illegal drugs is a plague on our society. For those arrested, the message could not be clearer: law enforcement has no tolerance for those involved in the weapons and drug trade,” District Attorney Richard Brown said in a statement Tuesday.

According to prosecutors, seven of those arrested were alleged members of the Trinitarios, “a violent New York-based Dominican street gang,” and the eighth defendant is a reputed member of MS-13, another “violent street gang primarily composed of Central Americans.”

The buys, which took place in Queens between November 2012 and June 2014, included a total of 14 guns, with ammunition in some cases, and cocaine, MDPV and marijuana, according to the district attorney’s office. During that time, the members were unknowingly selling to NYPD operatives.

See press release for details on perps. Glendale seems to be a dirtbag magnet lately.

DA races once again have no challengers

DNAinfo/Shayna Jacobs

From the Wall Street Journal:

Long-standing district attorneys in Queens and the Bronx appear to be on paths to easy re-election this fall, with no challengers in the September primary and endorsements from the major political parties.

Candidate petitions, which were due at the city Board of Elections late Thursday night, show no primary challengers to Bronx District Attorney Robert Johnson or Queens District Attorney Richard Brown.

Mr. Johnson, the Bronx’s longest-serving district attorney, took office in 1989. Mr. Brown has been serving as the top prosecutor in Queens since 1991. Both men secured endorsements from the county Democratic, Republican and Conservative parties.

The lack of competition in Queens and the Bronx, albeit expected, raised concerns among some government watchdogs.

“Electoral competition is always good for our democracy, and when longtime sitting elected officials are not challenged at the ballot box, it is unfortunate, even if they are doing a good job,” said Dick Dadey, executive director of Citizens Union, a civic group.

Without a challenger, Mr. Dadey said, “these contests become less an election and more a coronation.”

Fraudulent contractor busted

From the Queens Courier:

A Flushing contractor has been charged with scamming $10,000 in down payments from Queens homeowners for work he never performed, according to Queens District Attorney Richard A. Brown.

Alfred Lakas, 57, allegedly took money from three homeowners for air-conditioning and other work to be done at their residences which he failed to do, and did not return any of the money. Lakas, who operates Al’s Heating on 172nd Street in Flushing, is also being charged with misrepresenting himself as being licensed to do the work, although he is not.

Lakas was arraigned on Tuesday before Queens Criminal Court Judge John Zoll on ten counts, charging him with grand larceny, criminal possession of stolen property and scheme to defraud, among other offenses.

He was ordered to be held on $5,000 bail, and will return to court on Sept. 15. If convicted, he could be sentenced to up to seven years in prison.

According to Brown, Lakas is accused of misrepresenting himself as a licensed professional to perform air-conditioning, heating, and other contracting work from February 2012 to June 2015. His complaining victims are three homeowners respectively from South Ozone Park, Douglaston-Little Neck and Kew Gardens.

Borough Hall parking garage will soon be demolished

From the Forum:

The Queens Borough Hall Municipal Garage remains on track for expedited demolition this spring, according to Borough President Melinda Katz.

In a recent meeting with Katz, representatives from Queens District Attorney Richard Brown’s office, and other agencies that would be affected by the work, city Department of Transportation officials also indicated that construction of a new 300-spot parking lot is still on schedule for the end of 2016.

Additionally, Katz noted that DOT has implemented mitigation efforts during the demolition and construction periods, including additional Police Department traffic agents at Queens Boulevard and 83rd Avenue; 38 new temporary angled parking spaces on 134th Street; and extended hours on meters at 25 spots along Queens Boulevard at 83rd Avenue.

Immigrant defrauds his own

From the Queens Courier:

A Ridgewood-based travel agent allegedly stole thousands of dollars from an undocumented immigrant in return for procuring legal immigration status for the individual, who was actually working as an informant, prosecutors announced Wednesday.

Queens District Attorney Richard Brown identified the travel agent as Dariusz Buczynski, 44, of 65th Place in Maspeth, who owns Anka Travel and Consulting Services located at 65-14 Fresh Pond Rd. and formerly at 71-20 Fresh Pond Rd., both in Ridgewood.

“In this particular case, the defendant is accused of being a con man who unscrupulously exploited an individual looking for help in achieving his American dream but ultimately found only an American nightmare,” Brown said. “Anyone who believes that he or she may have been a victim of the defendant’s alleged scheme is asked to contact my Office of Immigration Affairs at 1-718-286-6690 or my Integrity Unit at 1-718-286-6524.”

Buczynski was arraigned on Tuesday before Queens Criminal Court Judge Bruna DiBiase on a criminal complaint charging him with third-degree grand larceny and second-degree criminal possession of a forged instrument.

Business owner underreported income

From the Daily News:

The owner of an Edible Arrangements store in Queens has admitted to gorging himself on tax money, prosecutors said Thursday.

Maurice Letman, 42, of Springfield Gardens, pleaded guilty to lining his pockets with $185,000 forbidden fruit — money that should have gone to the city and state.

“Sales taxes are meant for the public treasury — not to line the pockets of businessmen,” said Queens District Attorney Richard Brown.

Letman has agreed to repay the full $185,000 plus interest and penalties.

He was charged last year with underreporting income from his Springfield Blvd. franchise of the popular fruit basket chain.

7 Queens residents caught counterfeiting

From the Times Ledger:

Authorities seized more than $2 million worth of counterfeit goods in Queens bearing logos of such designers as Gucci, Chanel, Louis Vuitton, Michael Kors, The North Face and Versace.

Queens District Attorney Richard Brown said seven borough residents were charged in connection with the investigation that enabled authorities to confiscate some 13,000 fake items, ranging from belts and handbags to watches, boots and scarves.

“Trademark counterfeiting is not a victimless crime,” Brown said. “Small counterfeit operations like this one discovered as a result of this investigation fuel an underground economy.”

Dubbed “Operation Treasure Hunt,” the probe began last summer and it was led by the NYPD, U.S. Homeland Security Investigations and Brown’s office.

According to five criminal complaints filed by the DA, the knockoffs were seized from storage facilities located in Jamaica and College Point.

“They are cash businesses that pay no taxes, damage the reputations of reputable brand owners and lower consumer confidence in the name brands by foisting inferior products into the marketplace,” Brown said.

During the operation, police arrested Naqing Zhang, 31 and his wife, Wei Wei Dong, 32, of Whitestone; Chin Chu, 43, and his wife Jian Xia, 38, of Flushing; Sai Chen, 39, of Flushing; Wei Liao, 41, of Jamaica; and Pizhong Zhou, 22, of Douglaston.

The defendants face up to four years in prison if convicted of trademark counterfeiting charges. They were released on their own recognize.

Flushing Meadows idiots busted

From the Queens Courier:

Four men were arrested for what officials describe as “movie-style stunt” performances in a parking lot at Flushing Meadows Corona Park, according to the district attorney’s office.

“Cars are not toys. Driving at high speeds and intentionally skidding a roughly 3,000-pound vehicle, especially where spectators are gathered, is dangerous and can result in tragedy,” District Attorney Richard Brown said. “Following a number of noise complaints from neighborhood residents, the police responded and shut down this illegal and potentially deadly activity. The vehicles have been seized and the drivers have been charged.”

The men used modified vehicles for drifting, a style of driving made popular by the “The Fast and the Furious” movies that combines high-speeds and dangerous turns.

Spectators would watch these stunts, where the cars would sometimes allegedly strike other vehicles and stationary objects in the park’s parking lot, the district attorney said.

The four were busted after area residents called 311 to complain about the excessive noise. In total, 66 calls were received, and none have been logged in the neighborhood in the more than five weeks since the men were arrested.