New York Paralegal Blog

Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus R. Vance, Jr., announced the guilty plea of NICHOLAS MINA, 32, a New York City police officer, for stealing police-issued firearms from his colleagues’ lockers in the 9th Precinct Station House and selling them on the underground market. MINA pleaded guilty to Criminal Sale of a Firearm in the Second Degree, Criminal Sale of a Controlled Substance in the Fourth Degree, Conspiracy in the Fourth Degree, Grand Larceny in the Fourth Degree, and Criminal Sale of a Firearm in the Third Degree. The defendant is expected to be sentenced on November 7, 2012.

GARY ORTIZ, a former New York City Police Department (NYPD) officer, was sentenced today to one year and one day in prison for engaging in a scheme involving the illegal interstate transport of firearms and stolen goods. ORTIZ was sentenced in Manhattan federal court by U.S. District Judge Paul G. Gardephe.

Preet Bharara, the United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York announced that William Masso, a former New York City Police Department (NYPD) officer, was sentenced today to 57 months in prison for leading a group of active and retired NYPD officers and others in a scheme involving the illegal interstate transportation of firearms and stolen goods.

Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus R. Vance, Jr., today announced the indictment of NICHOLAS MINA, 31, a New York City police officer, for stealing police-issued firearms from his colleagues’ lockers in the 9th Precinct Station House and selling them on the underground market.

Early this morning, FBI agents and detectives from the NYPD’s Internal Affairs Bureau effected the arrests of 12 men, all but two of whom are current or former law enforcement officers. The arrests are the culmination of a long-term FBI undercover investigation.

PREET BHARARA, the United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, JANICE K. FEDARCYK, the Assistant Director-in-Charge of the New York Office of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (“FBI”), and RAYMOND W. KELLY, the Police Commissioner of the City of New York (“NYPD”), today announced charges against 12 defendants, including eight active-duty and retired NYPD Officers, for participating in a variety of schemes involving the illegal interstate transportation of stolen goods. According to the Complaint filed today in Manhattan federal court, from September 2010 to the present, some or all of the defendants conspired to transport across state lines: stolen slot machines; firearms, including three M-16 rifles, one shotgun, and 16 handguns, the majority of which had been defaced to remove or alter the serial number; and stolen cigarettes and counterfeit goods. In total, the goods that the defendants allegedly illegally transported carried a street value of over $1 million.

Earlier today in federal court in Brooklyn, Emmanuel Tavarez pleaded guilty to Hobbs Act robbery conspiracy, conspiracy to distribute heroin and cocaine, and the use of a firearm in relation to these crimes for his participation in multiple armed robberies of narcotics traffickers in the New York City metropolitan area and elsewhere while he was employed as a police officer in the New York City Police Department. The guilty plea proceeding was held before United States Magistrate Judge Viktor V. Pohorelsky. When sentenced by United States District Judge Sandra L. Townes, Tavarez faces a maximum sentence of life imprisonment. The conviction was announced by Loretta E. Lynch, United States Attorney for the Eastern District of New York As alleged in the indictment and other court filings by the government, Tavarez participated in a violent robbery crew responsible for more than 100 armed robberies of narcotics traffickers that netted more than 250 kilograms of cocaine and $1 million i...

Earlier today, Luis M. Batista, a former New York City Police Department detective, was sentenced by United States District Judge Dora L. Irizarry at the federal courthouse in Brooklyn to 15 years of imprisonment for his convictions, following trial, of conspiracy to distribute narcotics, bank fraud and conspiracy to commit bank fraud, and obstruction of justice. The sentence was announced by Loretta E. Lynch, United States Attorney for the Eastern District of New York, George Venizelos, Acting Assistant Director-in-Charge, Federal Bureau of Investigation, New York Field Office, and Raymond W. Kelly, Commissioner, New York City Police Department.

PREET BHARARA, the United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, JOSEPH DEMAREST, JR., the Assistant Director-in-Charge of the New York Office of the Federal Bureau of Investigation ("FBI"), and RAYMOND W. KELLY, the Police Commissioner of the City of New York, announced today the arrests of JUAN ACOSTA, a police officer with the New York City Police Department ("NYPD"), and YORICK RAFAEL CORNIEL-PEREZ, on charges stemming from their participation in cocaine distribution and extortion crimes. ACOSTA additionally was charged with unlawfully possessing a firearm in furtherance of the narcotics and extortion offenses. CORNIEL-PEREZ was presented in Manhattan federal court yesterday and ordered detained. ACOSTA is expected to be presented in Manhattan federal court later today. According to the Indictment unsealed today in Manhattan federal court: ACOSTA has been employed as an NYPD police officer since March 2000. ACOSTA's most recent assignment was...

19 Individuals Charged in Connection With Illegal Gambling Enterprise that Bribed Undercover NYPD Offficers Arrests Include Several Members of Luchese Crime Family NEW YORK, NY (October 1, 2009) - Attorney General Andrew M. Cuomo, along with Southern District of New York United States Attorney Preet Bharara, New York City Police Commissioner Raymond W. Kelly, and Westchester County District Attorney Janet DiFiore, today announced the indictment of 19 individuals on charges relating to an illegal gambling, sports betting and loan sharking enterprise controlled by the Luchese Organized Crime Family. This morning’s raids capped a two-year investigation dubbed “Operation Crooked House,” which uncovered that members of the Luchese enterprise bribed undercover members of the NYPD for protection of their illegal card clubs. In total, 19 individuals were indicted on federal felony charges filed in the Southern District of New York. Twelve of them were charged in the federal indictment with pa...