New York Paralegal Blog

Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus R. Vance, Jr., announced the guilty pleas of AMERICAN STANDARD TESTING AND CONSULTING LABORATORIES (ASTC), its owner, ALAN FORTICH, 44, and five other defendants for falsifying concrete testing and inspection reports. ALAN and ALVARO FORTICH also pleaded guilty to manipulating government programs to obtain jobs for which they were otherwise ineligible.

Earlier today, Vincent McCrudden, a former commodities trader, pleaded guilty to two counts of transmitting threats to kill more than 40 current and former officials of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”), the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (“FINRA”), the National Futures Association (“NFA”) and the U.S. Commodities Futures Trading Commission (“CFTC”). McCrudden has been in custody since his arrest on January 14, 2011.

Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus R. Vance, Jr., today announced the guilty plea of MBAREK LAFREM, 32, relating to an attack on a woman in the restroom of a bar in Hell’s Kitchen. The defendant pled guilty to Assault in the First Degree and Attempted Sexual Abuse in the First Degree. The defendant is expected to be sentenced on September 1, 2011.

PREET BHARARA, the United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, announced that ARMEN KAZARIAN pled guilty today in Manhattan federal court to racketeering in connection with his involvement with the Mirzoyan-Terdjanian Organization, an Armenian-American organized crime enterprise engaged in a wide range of criminal activity. KAZARIAN pled guilty before U.S. District Judge PAUL A. GARDEPHE. Manhattan U.S. Attorney PREET BHARARA said: “International organized crime has emerged as one of the most serious law enforcement problems of the 21st century. It is a problem that this office—and the Department of Justice as a whole—is committed to rooting out. Today, crime boss Armen Kazarian becomes the first known “Vor” to have been convicted of racketeering, but he will not be the last. His guilty plea should send a strong message to international gangsters all over the world that if you commit crimes in this country, we will find you, and we will prosecute you with the full f...

Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus R. Vance, Jr., today announced the guilty plea of WILLIAM EISEMAN, 39, a Sergeant in the New York City Police Department (“NYPD”), for lying under oath and conducting unlawful searches and seizures in Northern Manhattan. EISEMAN pled guilty to the top charge in his indictment, Perjury in the First Degree, as well as three counts of Official Misconduct. He is expected to be sentenced on September 6, 2011. A separately charged defendant, NYPD Officer MICHAEL CARSEY, 30, has been charged with Perjury, Offering a False Instrument for Filing, and Official Misconduct, and is next due in court on August 29, 2011. “Perjury is an extremely serious crime,” said District Attorney Vance. “This defendant was supposed to train the next generation of police officers to patrol high-crime areas. Instead, he abused his authority and lied under oath, violating the public’s trust. His guilty plea to a felony means that he will be removed from the police force, and will...