By JON REMACHE
Another one bites the dust as a former Apple employee was sentenced on Thursday to three to nine years in prison after he conducted a identity theft ring teaming up with a dental assistant and others to steal a total of $700,00 of apple products in 2012.
Devon Bazile somberly entered the Manhattan courtroom in handcuffs with little regard for Justice Melissa Jackson, referring to her as, “Miss,” after pleading guilty. He was convicted of second degree grand larceny and his defense attorney was denied the request for a surcharge.
The ringleader of the scheme involving the use of over 250 private records of dental patients obtained through Annie Vuong, the receptionist at the Manhattan dental office, according to court records. Bazile then used the patients’ information to apply for Apple credit and gift cards with the assistance of Apple employees.
The four initially pleaded not guilty when charged with 394 counts of identity theft, grand larceny charges among other charges in a crime spree that lasted nearly a year, according to records.
“Using stolen information to purchase Apple products is one of the most common schemes employed by cybercrime and identity theft rings today,” said Manhattan DA Cyrus Vance when he announced the indictment. “We see in case after case how all it takes is single insider at a company – in this instance, allegedly, a receptionist in a dentists’ office – to set an identity theft ring in motion, which then tries to monetize the stolen information by purchasing Apple goods for resale or personal use.”
By ISAAC MONTEROSE
Several South Bronx businesses were visited by City Councilman Rafael Salamanca Jr. and Consumer Affairs Commissioner Lorelei Salas on Thursday in an effort to inform business owners about city regulations regarding their stores.
The pair spent an hour doing a “Business Education Day” tour of stores in the 3rd Avenue South Bronx neighborhood known as “The Hub”. The point of the event was to inform business owners about certain regulations so that they could avoid various penalties. Salamanca described it as an “initiative to continue to promote the economy here in the South Bronx .”
The marketplace is home to many businesses that could be subject to said penalties if, for example, they don’t have the proper signage that indicates their business’ refund policy or if they set up their wares on a sidewalk at the wrong time of day.
Salas said that the purpose behind the event is not penalize store owners but to “be there present with them and telling them, ‘This is what you need to do, this is the kind of poster you need to have or the kind of sign you need to have.’”
As it happened, the stores they visited seemed to have all receipts and signs in order after being asked a few questions by a Department of Consumer Affairs inspector. In all, five businesses were visited including a Cohen Fashion Optical store and a furniture store called Jerusalem Furniture. The employees and owners of the stores were largely receptive to the inspector’s questions but one clothing store employee at Expo 2000 asked that more police be assigned to the area.
“We have a lot of minority businesses, immigrant businesses that have come to this country, worked really hard and they really don’t understand certain rules,” said Salamanca , who represents the area , “and we’re here just to educate them…just the really minor things that we can do to educate them to prevent them from getting summonses.”
Salamanca described the summonses as “costly” for small business owners.
Photo by Isaac Monterose
By ISRAEL SALAS-RODRIGUEZ
The cabbie accused of raping a Brooklyn women inside his green taxi and telling cops that “she wanted it” appeared in Brooklyn Supreme Court Thursday, as he faced first degree rape charges that can send him to prison for 25 years.
The defendant, Esa Alusaimi, wearing a suit and tie, sat quietly alongside his lawyer and Arabic interpreter having made the $100,000 bail set in February 2015. Four police officers stood behind the defendant as Judge William M. Harrington made the decision to set his trial date for April 26th.
The incident occurred on Feb. 1, 2015, when a 33-year-old Carroll Gardens woman jumped in the back of Alusaimi’s taxi after leaving a friend’s house in Fort Greene, Brooklyn. According to the victim, WHO TESTIFIED BEFORE A GRAND JURY, the ride took an ugly detour when the driver began talking about his penis, and then pulled over at a deserted street,
Before she knew it the cabbie climbed in the back and forced her to perform oral sex before raping her. When it was over, he jumped in the front of the car and started driving. Instead of driving for a few blocks, according to the indictment, Alusaimi once again pulled over and told the victim to go buy him a pack of cigarettes at a nearby deli. When the she stepped out of the cab the driver bolted off leaving her in the middle of the street.
When he was confronted with the rape accusations, Alusiami said, “She wanted it,” according to police. He then went on to describe the sex acts he performed that night in detail.
By PAUL FRANGIPANE
A former Brooklyn prosecutor was indicted Monday on federal charges that she forged multiple judges’ signatures to illegally wiretap calls and receive text messages.
Tara Lenich, 41, was accused of illegally wiretapping two cell phones for over a year. She pleaded innocent to the charges at U.S. District Court in Brooklyn on Monday afternoon and was released on $500,000 bond, authorities said.
Lenich was arrested in November and fired from her position as a supervisory assistant district attorney, according to the federal indictment.
Lenich allegedly ripped previous signatures from judges and taped them onto orders for wiretaps that the judges never actually saw.
The wiretaps were used to spy on Det. Jarrett Lemieux, who worked with Lenich for 11 years, according to a report by the Daily News.
Lenich, formerly deputy chief of the Violent Criminal Enterprise Bureau in the Brooklyn District Attorney’s Office, allegedly submitted false documents to secure what were bogus wiretapping warrants. She also allegedly created false orders to intercept text messages from the cell phones.
“In this case, as alleged, Lenich’s illegal wiretapping scheme demonstrates an abuse of power that won’t be tolerated within our criminal justice system,” William F. Sweeney, assistant FBI director in charge of the agency’s New York office, said in a press release. “Unfortunately, sometimes those close to the law stray far from the truth. As demonstrated today, however, everyone is expected to play by the rules; for this we’ll make no exceptions.”
Lenich’s attorney, Gary Farrell, could not be reached for comment.
Lenich is charged with two counts of illegal interception of communications and could face up to five years in prison for each count if convicted.
By ISAAC MONTEROSE
The jury in the murder trial of the 25-year-old nephew of model Tyson Beckford accused of killing an MTA bus driver in a drunk driving accident began deliberations after hearing summations on Thursday.
Before the jury got the case they heard Assistant DA Randolph Clark, Jr. deplore “the defendant’s decadence” as he portrayed in Manhattan Supreme Court the events of the wee hours ofFebruary 12, 2014 when a drunken Dominick Whilby, who had been kicked out of various establishments hours earlier, stole an 18,000-pound truck from a loading dock and drove it through downtown Manhattan, injuring four persons before colliding with a crosstown bus driven by William Pena, a 50-year-old longtime MTA employee, at West 14th Street. Pena was ejected from the driver’s seat due to the impact and died from his injuries.
Pena left behind his marital partner Nancy Rodriguez, 50, who attended the summations and hardly acknowledged Whilby except to glare at him briefly.
Hours before drunkenly walking around downtown Manhattan and stealing a truck, Whilby had been partying with his Beckford, a fashion model and actor, at the 1 Oak nightclub.
After the incident, Whilby was charged with second-degree murder and aggravated vehicular homicide along with several other charges including two grand larceny raps.
In her summation Whilby’s defense lawyer, Laura Miranda, argued that due to his drunkenness her client wasn’t aware of his actions when he stole and drove the large truck from the loading dock. She also argued that Whilby was just trying to find a warm place to stay after being kicked out of various hotels and clubs. She added that Whilby might have blacked out during the drive, citing testimony by William Dunn, a toxicologist. She had also cited Whilby showing remorse while recovering in Bellevue Hospital .
Clarke countered that Whilby was still capable of logical thinking despite being drunk. As to Miranda’s argument that Whilby was just looking for a warm place, Clarke said he didn’t care if Whilby had been “wearing a thong that day.” The people who booted him from their establishments had the right to do so.
“What is clear, what the evidence shows is that defendant is guilty of not only creating the risk of death to anyone in his way but that he completely disregarded that risk and wantonly continuing on his devastating path,” Clarke said.
If convicted, Whilby faces a 25 years to life maximum sentence after previously rejecting a 14 to 24 year plea deal to manslaughter and aggravated vehicular homicide.
By ISRAEL SALAS-RODRIGUEZ
Megabus, the commercial company that offers low-cost express travel service to more than 100 cities across North America, unveiled the new “Empire State Bus” outside the Jacob Javtis Center Thursday afternoon.
Megabus CEO, Linda Burtwistle, invited Governor Kathy Hochul to experience the low fare ride for herself. Because the company receives no federal funding they were expected to seek state money to create a bus terminal in Manhattan’s Port Authority Bus Terminal.
Because of the surprising increase in commercial bus lines in New York City which include Peter Pan Bus, Greyhound, Boltbus, and Megabus, Burtwistle saod she wanted to give customers a steady pick-up location to wait for their ride.
Hochhul appeared receptive.
“It’s a great business model it is a part of the new economy, it’s old school but it’s not it’s creating access in a sense that you are trying to help the environment which people are much more conscientious about today,” she said.
The company offers riders city-to-city bus tickets for travels around North America. A one-way fare starts as low as $1, but the availability of $1 fares is limited. The price of fares varies by day and time of customer’s travel, time of booking, demand for seats, as well as a $2 reservation fee. Megabus provides customers with free Wi-Fi and power outlets. While insuring safety for customers with built in vehicle GPS tracking, as well as monitoring speeding, and engine volts which provides advanced notice if a bus is going to break down.
By ISAAC MONTROSE & DEREK NORMAN
The Maryland man who fatally stabbed a black man in what is being called a hate crime was arraigned Thursday in Manhattan criminal court, after he told police that he travelled to New York City for the sole purpose of killing black men.
James Harris Jackson, 28, did not enter a plea and was charged with second-degree murder as a hate crime. His defense attorney hinted that the defendant was psychologically impaired, requiring mental assessment ordered by the court.
“What we’re going to do is take a few minutes, let the dust settle and figure out what the facts are,” Sam Talkin, the defense attorney, told reporters outside the courthouse. “If the facts are anything near what the allegations are, then we’re going to address the obvious psychological issues that are present in this case.”
The defendant, wearing an all-white jumpsuit, stood silently with his back to the audience, as Assistant DA Joan Illuzzi said the prosecution reserved the right to upgrade the to first-degree murder after arguing that his actions could be seen as an act of terror.
Jackson, a white man and former Army veteran, travelled by bus from Baltimore to Manhattan last Monday, where he checked into a Midtown hotel and wandered a bit just before he fatally stabbed his victim multiple times, officials said.
Jackson told authorities that he had long harbored his racist hatred before arriving in New York. From what he told authorities, he chose the city because it is the “media capital” and he wanted to “make a statement.”
The victim, Timothy Caughman, a 66-year-old Queens native, was rummaging through a trashcan just before the defendant stabbed him several times in the chest and back. After the defendant fled, Caughman walked two blocks to the Times Square police substation. Police called an ambulance and rushed the victim to Bellevue Hospital, where he later died.
Just after midnight on Wednesday, Jackson surrendered to the police after seeing himself in a news video of the earlier attack. Jackson told police of his intentions of killing black men and where he tossed the murder weapon, a 26-inch sword he had concealed in his overcoat.
Video surveillance footage surfaced which showed Jackson shadowing another black man around the city in the days before the incident, but never attacking.
Both Gov. Andrew Cuomo and Mayor Bill de Blasio expressed horror at the incident. De Blasio publically urged residents to “speak clearly and forcefully in the face of intolerance and violence,” according to reports.
“This man committed an evil act and we hope that he is punished to the fullest extent of the law,” said Walter “Hawk” Newsome, president of Black Lives Matter of greater New York. “Make no mistake about it, this is an act of domestic terrorism. There’s no way that Mr. Caughman should’ve had to die like this.”
The defendant was remanded and the court adjourned until March 27.
By STEVEN FERRARO & LOGAN WILBER
A police detective testified on Thursday in Brooklyn Supreme Court that a gun-toting Queens man accused of killing a security guard and severely wounding another in an apparent case of mistaken identity two years ago had confessed to the crime.
In addition to his verbal confession, Det. David Centeno said on the first day of testimony that defendant Antonio Mahon, 22, wrote letters to the families of his two victims apologizing for the incident. Until being alerted to the letters sent to the families, police in Brownsville’s 73rd precinct had no suspect in the shootings.
Mahon allegedly told Centeno that he and friends were driving to his aunt’s house when he saw the two men standing outside the Riverdale Osborne Towers in Brownsville. Mahon confused them for two individuals involved in an earlier dispute and fired shots at them. It was not until he saw news of the shooting, that Mahon realized he had targeted the wrong individuals.
Aaron Locklear was shot in the neck and the second shooting victim, James Merced was shot in the back and ended up paralyzed below the waist. Locklear was removed from life support on Dec. 4, 2014 and died shortly thereafter.Mahon allegedly confessed to the shooting and told Centeno he always carries a gun with him because “he has beef on the street,” Centeno said.
Mahon is charged with second degree murder and 17 other charges, including burglary, criminal possession of a weapon, trespassing and menacing, in connection to the shooting on Nov. 28, 2014.
By RAYCHELLE BALENTIEN
New York City First Lady Chirlane McCray and women entrepreneurs announced Thursday the availability loans of up to $500,000 for low-income minority female entrepreneurs and small business owners.
The loan interest rates are capped at three percent and were available immediately, McCray said in a press conference at the Brooklyn Historical Society.
Deputy Mayor for Strategic Policy Initiatives Richard Buery, told a room of predominantly female entrepreneurs that “women are building the businesses that make this city grow,” and echoed the goals set forth by the mayor’s office to expand the Women/Minorities Business Entrepreneurs program and “double the number business certifications by 2019.”
The news comes in the wake of President Trump’s budget proposal to pull federal funds from programs that promote small businesses and minority entrepreneurs like the Minority Business Development Agency.
“If you don’t have the access to capital, it’s very difficult to grow your business to the next level,” said Rodneyse Bichotte, Chairwoman of the Oversight of Minority and Women-Owned Business Enterprises. “Ninety percent of sole proprietors are women owned businesses.”
The audience included enthusiastic owners of various types of businesses throughout the city. Jen Portland, founder of Excel RainMan, a spread-sheeting business, who said she “really needs to attend more events like this,” to continue to network and learn of the opportunities available because she expects to move her business out of her home by next year and said she wanted to invest in an independent workspace.
“This is the best place in the world to be a female entrepreneur,” said moderator and panelist, Valentina Zarya, Associate Editor for the Most Powerful Women channel at Fortune Magazine, who is from a “family of immigrants.”
Gregg Bishop, Commissioner of the city Department of Small Business Services said that the event was held in honor of Women’s History month, and pledged that because these businesses are strengthening the economy and the impact of women entrepreneurs in New York City brings in $50 billion annually, “we aim to help small businesses start, thrive and grow here.”
The event featured a panel of heavy hitter female business owners who shared their journeys to success and spread awareness of the services offered by the Women’s/Minority Business Entrepreneurs program. They held open sessions for certification and contracting as well as connecting business owners with mentors from the program.
By JOSEPH MODICA
When writer Benjamin Ludwig raised his autistic daughter, he never expected how much he would delve into the lives of children like her. What he learned inspired him to write his debut novel “Ginny Moon.”
Ludwig is a 42-year-old former public school teacher from New Hampshire and father of three who spent many years teaching English in both middle school and high school before moving on to writing. Last year, he signed a book deal with Park Row Books to publish his upcoming young adult novel.
“Ginny Moon is a 14-year-old who is adopted from the foster care system, and as soon she is adopted, she immediately begins plotting her own kidnapping,” said Ludwig. “She wants to get back to her birth mother for a, one would call, a mysterious reason.”
Ludwig’s daughter, who is now 17 years old, was not the basis for his novel, he said, but caring for her exposed Ludwig to the lives of other autistic children. He crafted his protagonist and story around his experiences in meeting and talking to parents who also have special needs children.
“When my wife and I adopted our daughter, that really became our world,” Ludwig said. “We met tons and tons of kids in care and also foster parents, therapists, social workers. So hearing all of their stories really is what inspired the book.”
His publisher, Park Row Books, is a new imprint of Harlequin Books that will specialize in literary fiction. It marks the continued expansion of a New York-based company long known for its romance novels.
The Park Row imprint is named after the lower Manhattan street nicknamed “Newspaper Row” because of a hub of newspaper offices there in the beginning of the 20th century. Aside from “Ginny Moon,” Park Row Books plans to release titles of two unannounced books by New York Times bestselling authors Mary Kubica and Heather Gudenkauf.
For a first-time novelist like Ludwig, it’s a coup to be a major part of such a launch.
While not his first published work, “Ginny Moon” will be his debut novel, which he said does not pressure him.
Ludwig said he was surprised that his book would launch the new imprint, but said the challenge didn’t worry him. He said he felt he had a “good handle” on the publishing industry after dealing with Park Row Books and with the release of his novella “Sourdough,” by Texas Review Press in 2014. Before that, he published in education journals and small literary magazines.
“When I initially signed the contract with my agent, Jeff Kleinman, and the publisher, we were just another title,” Ludwig said. “`Ginny Moon’ was just another book that Park Row had acquired. It took about six months … that’s when they decided to make it the inaugural title.”
The book got off to a good start with Publishers Weekly and Booklist giving it starred reviews. “Ludwig’s excellent debut is both a unique coming-of-age tale and a powerful affirmation of the fragility and strength of families,” Publishers Weekly said.
Ludwig’s advises a would-be author to find an agent, whom you have to pitch your idea to, with some samples and a summary. If the agent likes your idea, you’ll be offered a contract, he said. From there, the agent will take the book and submit it to the publishers.
To amateur writers, he believes that reaching the end of a project is the most important part of writing. To aspiring writers, he stresses that completing the project is the most important step. “You have to see the end of your works, so you can see how you could have improved the beginning … which is unfortunate because novels are so darn long,” he said,
“You have to [write] a whole bunch of books before you become comfortable in that form… but you learn from them, and that’s what is really important.”
“Ginny Moon” is set to release on May 2.
