New York Paralegal Blog

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.

TRENTON –Attorney General Paula T. Dow and Criminal Justice Director Stephen J. Taylor announced that a Trenton man pleaded guilty today to leading a network that trafficked guns to Trenton from the Eastern Shore of Virginia. The defendant was linked to guns recovered in connection with several homicide investigations and a narcotics investigation. According to Director Taylor, Trayle Beasley, 30, of Trenton, pleaded guilty to a first-degree charge of leader of a firearms trafficking network before Superior Court Judge Pedro J. Jimenez Jr. in Mercer County. In pleading guilty, Beasley admitted that he trafficked approximately 50 guns to Trenton from Virginia, including at least one AK-47 assault weapon. The state will recommend that he be sentenced to 12 to 14 years in prison. The charge was contained in a May 21, 2010 indictment that also charged a second New Jersey man and three Virginia men. Beasley is scheduled to be sentenced on May 31 by Superior Court Judge Mitchel E. Ostrer...

Cuomo Sends Cease-and-Desist Letters to Prevent “Tragedy Waiting to Happen” NEW YORK, NY (July 28, 2009) - Attorney General Andrew M. Cuomo today announced his office has sent cease-and-desist letters to over 100 companies demanding that they immediately stop selling imitation toy guns that are easily confused with real weapons in New York State. New York State law prohibits the sale of imitation guns without proper markings that distinguish them as toys. “Realistic toy guns are a tragedy waiting to happen,” said Attorney General Cuomo. “Every day, these imitation weapons put the lives of both law enforcement and civilians at risk. This is a public safety matter, plain and simple, and we will not permit these companies to profit by making our streets more dangerous.” According to the letters sent by Attorney General Cuomo today, the companies must immediately cease the sale of imitation or toy guns that do not have the requisite markings. The Attorney General also reserved the right t...