White Plains, NY
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19 Accused Of Sex Trafficking At Westchester Residential Treatment Center 19 Accused Of Sex Trafficking At Westchester Residential Treatment Center
19 Accused Of Sex Trafficking At Westchester Residential Treatment Center At least nine girls at a Westchester County residential treatment facility were trafficked or recruited to engage in prostitution, U.S. Attorney Geoffrey Berman announced. Charges have been brought against 19 men who allegedly trafficked minors and young women who were in the New York State child welfare system. Eighteen of the suspects have been arrested, one remains at large. As alleged, the men “trafficked or recruited to engage in prostitution at least 15 minor girls in the child welfare system, including at least nine minors who resided at a particular non-incarceratory residential tre…

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by Zak Failla
New City, NY
News
Ex-Rockland Bus Company Magnate Sentenced For Bribery, Theft, Fraud Ex-Rockland Bus Company Magnate Sentenced For Bribery, Theft, Fraud
Ex-Rockland Bus Company Magnate Sentenced For Bribery, Theft, Fraud The former owner of a local bus repair and transportation company has been sentenced to time in prison for fraud, bribery and theft. Richard Brega, who owned Brega D.O.T. Maintenance Corp. in Rockland County, has been sentenced to 50 months in prison after he was found guilty by a federal jury in White Plains, following a three-week trial. The convictions were for Brega’s billing the Rockland Board of Cooperative Educational Services (BOCES) for maintenance of school buses that were never performed, and bribery of a Rockland BOCES official. U.S. Attorney Geoffrey Berman said that Brega, 51…

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by Zak Failla
Mount Pleasant, NY
News
Westchester Man Charged With Four Armed Carjackings Westchester Man Charged With Four Armed Carjackings
Westchester Man Charged With Four Armed Carjackings A 32-year-old man is facing more than a decade behind bars after allegedly terrorizing four cab drivers with a gun on two separate nights. Samir Sullivan of Mount Vernon has been charged with committing four armed carjackings on cabs in Mount Vernon and the Bronx, U.S. Attorney Geoffrey Berman announced on Friday. The charges come following complaints from drivers in the early morning hours of Sunday, Nov. 25 and Thursday, Nov. 29. Berman said that Sullivan was arrested on Tuesday, Dec. 4 and appeared in White Plains federal court. Sullivan has been charged with four counts of carjacki…

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by Zak Failla
Mount Pleasant, NY
News
Four Charged With Gun Trafficking, Drug Distribution In Westchester Four Charged With Gun Trafficking, Drug Distribution In Westchester
Four Charged With Gun Trafficking, Drug Distribution In Westchester Four men are facing federal charges for allegedly trafficking firearms and distributing crack cocaine in and around the southern border of Westchester and Fairfield counties. U.S. Attorney Geoffrey Berman and the FBI announced that Walter Jones, Frank Maxwell, Markel Calhoun and Jamar Calhoun have been charged with weapon and drug charges for alleged offenses that centered in Port Chester. In March and February last year, Jones and Markel Calhoun allegedly conspired to traffic weapons and sold four firearms in Port Chester and Riverside in Greenwich. During that same period, the two were un…

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by Zak Failla
Mount Pleasant, NY
News
Genovese Crime Family Member From Westchester Destroys Evidence, Obstructs Justice, Feds Say Genovese Crime Family Member From Westchester Destroys Evidence, Obstructs Justice, Feds Say
Genovese Crime Family Member From Westchester Destroys Evidence, Obstructs Justice, Feds Say A member of the Genevose Crime Family of La Cosa Nostra already charged with the stabbing death of a Westchester man is now facing new charges for destroying evidence and obstructing justice, prosecutors announced. John Tortora Jr., known as "Johnny T," was arrested in August by FBI agents and Yonkers Police in connection with the 1997 death of 29-year-old Richard Ortiz in Yonkers. Tortora, 61, of Yonkers, had previously been indicted on charges of racketeering conspiracy, murder in the aid of racketeering and murder for hire. He was arrested on Aug. 3 and has been remanded in cus…

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by Zak Failla
Mount Pleasant, NY
News
Westchester Heroin Dealer Facing Decades In Prison After Guilty Verdict In White Plains Trial Westchester Heroin Dealer Facing Decades In Prison After Guilty Verdict In White Plains Trial
Westchester Heroin Dealer Facing Decades In Prison After Guilty Verdict In White Plains Trial A drug dealer in Westchester is facing decades in prison for distributing heroin throughout the area. Leibys “Celly” Mercedes of the Bronx was found guilty of conspiring to distribute more than 100 grams of heroin in Yonkers following a four-day trial. The jury unanimously found him guilty of distributing the heroin to other dealers in the area. Mercedes was one of six dealers who conspired to distribute more than 100 grams of heroin in the area. “As proven at trial, Leibys Mercedes contributed to the rising tide of heroin that is plaguing Westchester County and its vicinity,” U.S. At…

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by Zak Failla
White Plains, NY
News
Four Charged In White Plains Federal Court With Defrauding Users Of Dating Website Four Charged In White Plains Federal Court With Defrauding Users Of Dating Website
Four Charged In White Plains Federal Court With Defrauding Users Of Dating Website Four suspects are facing federal charges for allegedly engaging in a scheme to dupe their victims into believing that they had sent sexually explicit images to underage children and faced criminal prosecution if they did not pay to avoid involvement by law enforcement.  U.S. Attorney Geoffrey Berman announced that four suspects from South Carolina have been charged in White Plains federal court with participating in a scheme to defraud users of a dating website. Beginning in August last year, Homeland Security Investigations began investigating several people who reported they had…

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by Zak Failla
White Plains, NY
News
10 Charged In White Plains Court With Distributing Cocaine, Crack 10 Charged In White Plains Court With Distributing Cocaine, Crack
10 Charged In White Plains Court With Distributing Cocaine, Crack Ten men have been charged in White Plains Federal Court for their roles in a scheme to distribute crack cocaine and cocaine in the area. U.S. Attorney Geoffrey Berman announced this week that 10 people have been indicted for participating in an alleged narcotics conspiracy in Sullivan County. Seven of the men were taken into federal custody last week, while two others were arrested in August. Suspect Jhoan “Chelo” Adames remains at large. According to the indictment, over the last two years, Adames, Rolando “Rolo” Nieves, Jason Nieves-Pino, Jose Nieves-Herrera, Jose Rubert, Pervis Marcus, J…

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by Zak Failla
Mount Pleasant, NY
News
Pair Convicted Of Kidnapping, Killing Hudson Valley Man Who Was Federal Cooperating Witness Pair Convicted Of Kidnapping, Killing Hudson Valley Man Who Was Federal Cooperating Witness
Pair Convicted Of Kidnapping, Killing Hudson Valley Man Who Was Federal Cooperating Witness Two men will spend the rest of their lives in prison after being convicted of kidnapping and murdering a federal cooperating witness from Rockland in a violent armed robbery more than two years ago. Bronx residents Robert Pizarro and Juan Rivera were convicted of murdering a witness to prevent him from reporting to law enforcement, kidnapping conspiracy, kidnapping resulting in death, robbery conspiracy, robbery, and weapons offenses, arising out of the murder of federal cooperating witness and Garnerville resident Robert Bishun on Sept. 20, 2016. On the day of Bishun’s murder, Pizarro and …

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by Zak Failla
Mount Pleasant, NY
News
Ex-Cuomo Aide From Northern Westchester Sentenced For Taking $300K In Bribes Ex-Cuomo Aide From Northern Westchester Sentenced For Taking $300K In Bribes
Ex-Cuomo Aide From Northern Westchester Sentenced For Taking $300K In Bribes A former top aide to New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo who lives in Northern Westchester and was convicted of accepting $300,000 in bribes from an energy company and developer has been sentenced. Joseph Percoco, a South Salem resident, was sentenced to six years in prison in federal court in Manhattan on Thursday afternoon. The 49-year-old Percoco has been ordered to surrender himself into custody on Dec. 28, after the holidays.  At his sentencing, U.S. District Judge Valerie Caproni said Percoco was motivated by "greed and arrogance."  Along with the prison time, Percoco also received…

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by Zak Failla
Mount Pleasant, NY
News
Ex-Cuomo Aide From Northern Westchester To Be Sentenced For Taking $300K In Bribes Ex-Cuomo Aide From Northern Westchester To Be Sentenced For Taking $300K In Bribes
Ex-Cuomo Aide From Northern Westchester To Be Sentenced For Taking $300K In Bribes Joseph Percoco, a former top aide to New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo who lives in Northern Westchester and was convicted of three felonies earlier this year is scheduled to be sentenced on Thursday. Percoco, a South Salem resident, was found guilty of two counts of conspiracy to commit honest services wire fraud and one count of solicitation of bribes or gratuities and acquitted of two extortion charges in March related to his acceptance of $300,000 in bribes to benefit Competitive Power Ventures, an energy company that sought to build the power plant in the Hudson Valley. He was cleared of any …

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by Joe Lombardi
Armonk, NY
News
Seven Charged In Elaborate, Multi-Million Dollar Scam Involving Hudson Valley Schools Seven Charged In Elaborate, Multi-Million Dollar Scam Involving Hudson Valley Schools
Seven Charged In Elaborate, Multi-Million Dollar Scam Involving Hudson Valley Schools Seven Hudson Valley residents have been charged in a “wide-ranging” multi-million dollar scheme to defraud a federal “E Rate” subsidy program involving school technology funding earmarked for underprivileged children. Geoffrey Berman, the United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, announced the unsealing of an indictment, which charges seven Monsey, Monroe and Spring Valley residents with conspiracy to commit wire fraud and wire fraud charges. Those charged include Monsey residents Simon Goldbrenner, 55, Ben Klein, 39, Sholem Steinberg, 39, and Aron Melber, 42. Monroe res…

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by Zak Failla