Governor Hochul Announces $3.75 Million to Support Outreach and Engagement Services for Addiction

Expansion of Street Outreach Services Aimed at Reaching Vulnerable and Underserved Populations

Initiative the Latest to Utilize New York State's Opioid Settlement Fund

Governor Kathy Hochul today announced that up to $3.75 million is available to expand outreach and engagement services designed to connect vulnerable populations with addiction supports and other health services. Administered by the State Office of Addiction Services and Supports, the initiative is the latest to tap New York State's Opioid Settlement Fund and specifically designed to reach individuals in high-need populations that may not have access to care otherwise.

"We are taking an all-hands-on-deck approach to addressing the opioid crisis across New York State, including in underserved areas that are lacking addiction services and supports," Governor Hochul said. "The street outreach services funded through these grants will help marginalized populations access the life-saving care they need to break the vicious cycle of addiction."

The funding will provide up to 12 awards of $250,000 to cover operating expenses for street outreach services. The funding will also provide 10 awards of $75,000 for providers outside of the five-county New York City region to purchase vehicles for use in engaging hard-to-reach populations.

The outreach teams visit areas where high-risk populations tend to congregate — places such as parks and encampments of people experiencing homelessness — to offer overdose prevention and education, naloxone distribution, and basic supplies. During these visits, outreach workers also attempt to identify additional engagement opportunities that can help these individuals mitigate the harm associated with substance use.

OASAS now funds 20 providers offering these services in New York, Bronx, Richmond, Erie, Monroe, Sullivan, Tompkins and Albany counties. The goal through this funding opportunity is to establish one provider each in Kings County and Queens County, with 10 others to serve areas outside of New York City.

Providers certified by OASAS and the State Office of Mental Health, hospitals, syringe service programs, drug user health hubs, and federally qualified health centers are eligible to apply for the funding.

New York State Office of Addiction Services and Supports Commissioner Chinazo Cunningham said, "We are continuing to work on addressing barriers that keep some people from accessing these life-saving services and meeting them wherever they are to connect them to the help that they need. These services have proven successful in the past and their expansion to more parts of this state will enable more people to access critical help and support."

New York State will receive more than $2 billion through various settlement agreements with opioid manufacturers and pharmaceutical companies that were secured by Attorney General Letitia James. A portion of the funding from these settlements will go directly to municipalities, with the remainder deposited into a dedicated fund to support prevention, treatment, harm reduction, and recovery efforts to address the ongoing opioid epidemic.

The same legislation that established the dedicated fund also created the Opioid Settlement Fund Advisory Board, which is tasked with making recommendations on how settlement dollars should be allocated to best serve those in need. Board members issued their first recommendations on November 1, identifying the expansion of harm reduction services and treatment as top priorities.

New York continues to grapple with opioid-related deaths, with fentanyl now involved in most overdose deaths statewide. The latest data from the State Department of Health on opioid-related deaths is available here.

New York State has instituted an aggressive, multi-pronged approach to address the overdose epidemic, and created a nation-leading continuum of addiction care with full prevention, treatment, harm reduction, and recovery services. The state has worked to expand access to traditional services, including crisis services, inpatient, outpatient, and residential treatment programs, as well as medication to treat addiction, mobile treatment, and transportation services.

Governor Hochul was a member of the New York State Heroin and Opioid Task Force, which recommended new, non-traditional services, including recovery centers, youth clubhouses, expanded peer services, and open access centers to provide immediate assessments and referrals to care in 2016. These services have since been established in numerous communities around the state and have helped people in need access care closer to where they live.

New Yorkers struggling with an addiction, or whose loved ones are struggling, can find help and hope by calling the state's toll-free, 24-hour, 7-day-a-week HOPEline at 1-877-8-HOPENY (1-877-846-7369) or by texting HOPENY (Short Code 467369).

Available addiction treatment including crisis/detox, inpatient, residential, or outpatient care can be found using the NYS OASAS Treatment Availability Dashboard at FindAddictionTreatment.ny.gov or through the NYS OASAS website. If you or a loved one have experienced insurance obstacles related to treatment or need help filing an appeal for a denied claim, contact the CHAMP helpline by phone at 888-614-5400 or email at ombuds@oasas.ny.gov.

Operators And Attorney Of Global Multi-Million-Dollar Cryptocurrency Ponzi Scheme “AirBit Club” Plead Guilty

 

 Damian Williams, the United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, announced today the guilty pleas of PABLO RENATO RODRIGUEZ, GUTEMBERG DOS SANTOS, SCOTT HUGHES, CECILIA MILLAN, KARINA CHAIREZ, and JACKIE AGUILAR for their roles in an internationally coordinated fraud and money laundering ring that deceived individuals into investing in AirBit Club, a purported cryptocurrency mining and trading company.  AirBit Club co-founder DOS SANTOS pled guilty before United States District Judge George B. Daniels on October 21, 2021.  Senior AirBit Club promoters CHAIREZ, MILLAN, and AGUILAR pled guilty before Judge Daniels on January 31, February 8, and February 22, 2023, respectively, and are scheduled to be sentenced by Judge Daniels on June 28, July 25, and June 27, 2023, respectively.  SCOTT HUGHES, an attorney who laundered Airbit Club fraud proceeds for RODRIGUEZ and DOS SANTOS, pled guilty before Judge Daniels on March 2, 2023, and is scheduled to be sentenced on August 9, 2023.  Airbit Club co-founder RODRIGUEZ pled guilty before Judge Daniels and is scheduled to be sentenced on July 25, 2023.  As part of their guilty pleas, the defendants collectively have been ordered to forfeit their fraudulent proceeds of Airbit Club, which include seized or restrained assets consisting of U.S. currency, Bitcoin, and real estate currently valued at approximately $100 million.

U.S. Attorney Damian Williams said: “The defendants took advantage of the growing hype around cryptocurrency to con unsuspecting victims around the world out of millions of dollars with false promises that their money was being invested in cryptocurrency trading and mining.  Instead of doing any cryptocurrency trading or mining on behalf of investors, the defendants built a Ponzi scheme and took the victims’ money to line their own pockets. These guilty pleas send a clear message that we are coming after all of those who seek to exploit cryptocurrency to commit fraud.”    

According to the Superseding Indictment, the defendants’ statements when pleading guilty, and statements made in related court filings and proceedings:

RODRIGUEZ, DOS SANTOS, HUGHES, MILLAN, CHAIREZ, and AGUILAR participated in a coordinated scheme in which victim-investors (the “Victims”) were induced to invest in AirBit Club based on the false promise of guaranteed profits in exchange for cash investments in club “memberships” (the “AirBit Club Scheme” or the “Scheme”).  Beginning in late 2015, AirBit Club, through its founders, RODRIGUEZ and DOS SANTOS, as well as its promoters (the “Promoters”), including MILLAN, CHAIREZ, and AGUILAR, marketed AirBit Club as a multilevel marketing club in the cryptocurrency industry.  Promoters falsely promised Victims that AirBit Club earned returns on cryptocurrency mining and trading and that Victims would earn passive, guaranteed daily returns on any membership purchased.

RODRIGUEZ, DOS SANTOS, HUGHES, MILLAN, CHAIREZ, and AGUILAR traveled throughout the United States and around the world to places in Latin America, Asia, and Eastern Europe, where they hosted lavish expos and small community presentations aimed at convincing Victims to purchase AirBit Club memberships.  In furtherance of the AirBit Club Scheme, the Victims were fraudulently induced to buy memberships in cash, including in the Southern District of New York.  Following a Victim’s investment, a Promoter provided the Victim with access to an online AirBit Club portal to view the purported returns on memberships (the “Online Portal”).  While Victims saw “profits” accumulate on their Online Portal, those representations were false; no Bitcoin mining or trading on behalf of Victims in fact took place.  Instead, RODRIGUEZ, DOS SANTOS, MILLAN, and AGUILAR enriched themselves and spent Victim money on cars, jewelry, and luxury homes, and financed more extravagant expos to recruit more Victims. 

HUGHES, an attorney licensed to practice law in California, had previously represented RODRIGUEZ and DOS SANTOS in a Securities and Exchange Commission investigation related to another investment scheme known as Vizinova.  He then aided RODRIGUEZ and DOS SANTOS in perpetrating the AirBit Club Scheme by, among other things, helping to remove negative information about AirBit Club and Vizinova from the internet. 

In many instances, as early as 2016, Victims who attempted to withdraw money from the AirBit Club Online Portal and complained to a Promoter were met with excuses, delays, and hidden fees amounting to more than 50% of the Victim’s requested withdrawal, if they were able to make any withdrawal at all.  In one instance, AGUILAR told one Victim of the AirBit Club Scheme who was complaining about her inability to withdraw AirBit Club returns that she should “bring new blood” into the AirBit Club Scheme in order to receive her returns.

In April 2020, another victim received a notice on the AirBit Club Online Portal that his account was closed – and principal investment lost – due to “execution of financial sustainability Reserve, policy #34 of the Airbit Club Terms and Conditions, due to the economic and financial crisis caused by (Covid-19).”

RODRIGUEZ, DOS SANTOS, HUGHES, CHAIREZ, and MILLAN sought to conceal the AirBit Club Scheme, as well as their respective control of the proceeds of that Scheme, by requesting that Victims purchase memberships in cash, using third-party cryptocurrency brokers, and by laundering the Scheme’s proceeds through several domestic and foreign bank accounts, including an attorney trust account managed by HUGHES (the “Hughes Trust Account”).  The Hughes Trust Account was ostensibly intended to maintain custody of HUGHES’s law practice’s client funds.  Instead, the Hughes Trust Account was used by RODRIGUEZ, DOS SANTOS, HUGHES, CHAIREZ, and MILLAN to conceal the nature and origin of the AirBit Club Scheme’s illicit proceeds.  Through that account, HUGHES directed Victim funds to the personal expenses of RODRIGUEZ, DOS SANTOS, CHAIREZ, MILLAN, and himself, and funded promotional events and sponsorships designed to further promote the AirBit Club Scheme. 

RODRIGUEZ, 40, of Irvine, California, DOS SANTOS, 48, of Panama City, Panama, MILLAN, 41, of Greensboro, North Carolina, CHAIREZ, 47, of Modesto, California, AGUILAR, 58, of Plano, Texas, and HUGHES, 47, of Newport Beach, California, have pled guilty to charges including wire fraud conspiracy, which carries a maximum potential sentence of 20 years in prison; money laundering conspiracy, which carries a maximum potential sentence of 20 years in prison; and bank fraud conspiracy, which carries a maximum potential sentence of 30 years in prison.  

The maximum potential penalties are prescribed by Congress and are provided here for informational purposes only, as the sentencing of the defendants will be determined by the judge.

Mr. Williams praised the outstanding investigative work of Special Agents from Homeland Security Investigations’ (“HSI”) El Dorado Task Force, HSI Panama, the HSI Panama City Transnational Criminal Investigative Unit, and HSI New Orleans.  Mr. Williams further thanked the attorneys and investigators at the Securities and Exchange Commission whose expertise and diligence were integral to the development of this investigation.

If you believe you are a victim of the AirBit Club fraud, updated information regarding the case and victims’ rights as well as contact information for the victim witness coordinator is available here.

Speaker Adams Outlines Vision to Prioritize ‘People Over Everything’ with Focus on Workers and New Yorkers’ Access to Economic Mobility, Fair Housing, and Healthier, Safer Neighborhoods in State of the City Address

 

Council Speaker unveils agenda to expand workforce development and entrepreneurship, increase affordable housing, and improve health and safety with a focus on underserved communities

New York City Council Speaker Adrienne E. Adams delivered her State of the City address today at Justice Sonia Sotomayor Houses and Community Center in the Bronx, outlining her vision to invest in the City’s workers, expand opportunities for entrepreneurship, prioritize affordable housing, and improve the health and safety of neighborhoods.

The full text of the speech can be accessed here.

An accompanying report on the Speaker’s proposals can be found here.

Speaker Adams announced several new proposals, including those to increase industrial development, increase and preserve affordable housing, advance guaranteed income programs to move New Yorkers out of poverty, expand Fair Fares, and fix the City’s 3-K system.

Economic Mobility

Support for our city’s workforce, entrepreneurs and small business owners is essential to expanding economic mobility for more New Yorkers through many diverse pathways. The City must fill understaffed public service roles that provide critical services to New Yorkers, leveraging the job opportunities to employ New Yorkers in need of employment. By removing barriers and providing targeted support to foster economic mobility, the City can unlock new opportunities that help more New Yorkers reach their full potential, strengthening our workforce, I made this exact change in the report too my economy and communities.

The Speaker outlined the following priorities and proposals:

•   Advocating for budget investments in key city agency front-line positions that serve New Yorkers and urging the city to expedite agencies’ abilities to effectively hire.
•   Collaborating with municipal labor unions and the mayoral administration to identify jobs that no longer require college degrees and other unnecessary qualifications, passing legislation that opens more civil service jobs to New Yorkers.
•   Supporting additional resources and pipeline programs for public service occupations with staffing shortages, such as mental health workers, nurses, public defenders, and housing attorneys.
•   Increase city and state resources for public defenders and civil legal services attorneys to hire, provide salary increases to implement discovery laws, address court delays, and ensure legal representation in housing, immigration and other civil proceedings.
•   Establish “Social Worker Fellows” program to cover tuition for those pursuing social work degrees who provide mental health services in public institutions, such as schools.
•   Expanding CUNY Reconnect and Investments in CUNY
  •   Proposing deeper investments to expand CUNY Reconnect to more eligible New Yorkers and broadly increase support for CUNY.
•   Expanding Workforce Development for Disconnected Youth
  •   Expanding the Renaissance Technical Institute’s program that provides free vocational training to young people, particularly disconnected youth, at-risk students, or justice-involved young people.
    •   Expanding to NYCHA’s Sedgwick Houses in the Bronx, Red Hook Houses in Brooklyn, and South Jamaica Houses in Queens.
•   Prioritizing Industrial Development for Jobs, Manufacturing, and Green Energy
  •   Leading on comprehensive reform of the city’s outdated 1961 manufacturing zoning in the upcoming “Zoning for Economic Opportunity” text amendment to foster industrial economic development, protecting industrial areas from commercial intrusions that undermine the sector’s ability to meet the city’s economic, employment, and environmental needs.
  •   Identifying industrial sites in outer-borough neighborhoods that can provide space to cultivate industrial business growth and entrepreneurship opportunities. For example, in Southeast Queens, the 15-acre industrial site that was once home to the Elmhurst Dairy has been vacant and unused for several years. Located in the Jamaica Industrial Business Zone (IBZ), the site’s proximity to Downtown Jamaica and CUNY’s York College presents a major opportunity for industrial job growth and workforce development. Working together with the State and the private property owner, the City can reactivate sites like this with a job-intensive industrial use that also helps fulfill citywide manufacturing or green energy needs.
•   Expanding NYCHA Resident-Owned Businesses 
  •   Advancing legislation requiring the creation of a business directory of NYCHA tenant-owned businesses and a marketing campaign to highlight them. 
  •   Advancing legislation requiring SBS to expand its Business Pathways programs beyond catering and childcare to include creative fields, retail, cosmetology, and others periodically identified as of interest to NYCHA residents.
  •   Advocating for NYCHA and EDC to identify vacant spaces appropriate for commercial pop-ups and business incubators and develop a program to make these available to NYCHA entrepreneurs. 
  •   Collaborating with private partners to launch a NYCHA business competition that provides business development support, networking opportunities, and awards to support entrepreneurs.
  •   Investing in worker cooperatives at NYCHA.
  •   Providing funding to worker training programs at NYCHA to include entrepreneurship programming.

Fair Housing

New York City faces a dire housing crisis that disproportionately burdens low-income and working families and exacerbates homelessness. While the city is growing in population and jobs, available homes and housing production have fallen behind dramatically, resulting in a housing shortage. As a result, competition for affordable housing is fierce and rents continue to reach record highs. The New York Times recently reported that over the last two decades, the city’s Black population has decreased by almost 10 percent, driven out by skyrocketing rent prices and the increasingly elusive dream of owning a home. This exodus is deeply concerning and illustrates the need to confront our housing and opportunity crisis that is costing the city its diversity.

In December 2022, Speaker Adams released “A Housing Agenda to Confront the City’s Crisis,” which details actionable steps to increase housing production with a focus on equity, deepening affordability, preservation, and restoring capacity for housing agencies and staff. As part of affordable housing preservation, the City must also address the poor conditions within NYCHA developments.

In her State of the City, Speaker Adams proposed the following housing proposals:

•  Contribute to safeguarding public housing by combining all of our existing city, state and federal financing tools within a single newly developed NYCHA building to provide new Section 9 units for existing public housing residents living within a development.
  •  The same new building would continue to be owned by NYCHA but would include additional city and state-funded mixed income units developed in partnership with another housing entity. Ground floor usage could include community spaces, healthcare centers, supermarkets, childcare centers, or other commercial uses.  
•   Advance a Fair Housing Framework Law
  •   Introducing legislation establishing a citywide Fair Housing Framework that creates community district-level targets for housing production, preservation, voucher use, and neighborhood investment.
    •   This will help increase housing production and ensure every community equitably contributes to affordable housing production. will be introduced in the coming days.
    •   The criteria for calculating neighborhood goals will be based on several factors, including access to opportunity (jobs, economic development, etc.), services, infrastructure capacity, and displacement risk.
    •  This legislation will help ensure that all neighborhoods throughout New York City address the city’s housing crisis, while delivering investments for local residents. 
•   Increasing Affordable Housing Production through Zoning Changes  
  •   Advocating the State to eliminate the 12 FAR cap to increase density in parts of the City, and pursuing a new city-level framework that utilizes Mandatory Inclusionary Housing to direct more affordable housing in these areas where restrictions currently exist. 
  •   Proposing to allow for reasonable increased density in development beyond what certain types of current zoning permits if it provides housing at deep affordability levels for people with annual incomes of $56,000 and below.
  •   Update Mandatory Inclusionary Housing (MIH) to deepen affordability, reflecting the rapid inflation of Area Median Incomes (AMI) during the last decade that has outpaced actual income inflation. It would require the deeply affordable option of MIH (Option 3) and increase the proportion of units dedicated to the lowest-income households – earning incomes of $48,000 on average and below – from 20 percent to 25 percent. This would be contingent on the state providing the necessary affordable housing credits to facilitate its development in New York City.  
•   Strengthening Housing Preservation 
  •   Advocating to expand funding and improve the effectiveness of existing programs within the City’s Department of Housing Preservation and Development (HPD), including the “Neighborhood Pillars” and “Landlord Ambassador” programs for renters and the “HomeFix” and Homeowner Help Desk programs for small homeowners. 
  •   Pursuing budget, legislative and policy solutions at the city-level and working with our state government partners to address the issue of vacant public housing and rent-stabilized units. 
  •   Increasing community-based ownership and participation by exploring expanded use of community land trusts and other social housing tools.
    •   HDFCs and land trusts can increasingly be used to expand affordable homeownership, similar to a project Speaker Adams helped finance to construct affordable homes through a transfer of distressed property in HPD’s Open Door program. It was the first construction of affordable homes through land transferred to the Interboro Community Land Trust, providing lasting affordable homeownership opportunities to sixteen low-to-middle income households, and can be replicated. 

Healthier, Safer Neighborhoods

Health, safety, and opportunity have been the hallmarks of our city’s first women-majority City Council, and improving the health and safety of our neighborhoods is critical to increasing opportunity for all New Yorkers. Too many communities currently lack access to the basic support services they need to thrive. The City must begin to address long-standing inequities that undermine the health and safety of our neighborhoods through the improvement of current programs and systems, and the implementation of new ideas.

•   Creating year-round public pool access and expanding free swimming programs.
•   Expanding half-price rides on buses, subways, and Access-A-Ride to more low-income New Yorkers by expanding eligibility of the Fair Fares program to New Yorkers with incomes up to 200% of the federal poverty level.
•   Committing $5 million towards guaranteed income programs that provide direct anti-poverty assistance payments to low-income mothers with infants and to vulnerable youth – those at risk of poverty due to engagement with the foster or justice systems.
•   Fixing the City’s 3-K and early childhood education program with reforms and solutions. This includes expanding 3-K programing with new contracts, adequate staffing and capacity to immediately reimburse providers to address the late contract payments that have undermined programs.
•   Elevating proven community safety investments to stop cycles of violence including building on a new Speaker’s initiative for Community Safety and Victim Services providing $100,000 to each Council district.
•   Renewing the City’s Commitment to Close Rikers with Action.

The speech was simultaneously broadcast in Spanish, Mandarin, Bangla, and American Sign Language (ASL).

THREE FORMER NEW YORK CITY CORRECTION OFFICERS PLEAD GUILTY TO SICK LEAVE FRAUD

 

  In federal court in Brooklyn, former New York City correction officer Eduardo Trinidad pleaded guilty to federal program fraud, admitting that he fraudulently obtained his salary from the New York City Department of Correction (DOC) by taking sick leave even though he was able to work. On February 15, 2023, and February 27, 2023, respectively, former New York City correction officers Steven Cange and Monica Coaxum also pleaded guilty to the same charge. This proceeding was held before United States Magistrate Judge Vera M. Scanlon. When sentenced, all three defendants face a maximum sentence of 10 years’ imprisonment.

Breon Peace, United States Attorney for the Eastern District of New York, Michael J. Driscoll, Assistant Director-in-Charge, New York Field Office (FBI), and Jocelyn E. Strauber, Commissioner, New York City Department of Investigation (DOI), announced the guilty pleas.

“The defendants have admitted stealing taxpayer funds by collecting their full salaries while falsely claiming they were too sick to work,” stated United States Attorney Peace. “Sick leave abuse is a plague on the New York City Department of Correction that puts fellow officers and inmates at risk during the ongoing staffing crisis in the jails. This Office is working with our federal and local law enforcement partners to identify those who exploit the sick leave policy and hold them accountable.” 

DOI Commissioner Strauber stated: “These correction officers faked medical documentation to take sick leave they were not entitled to in the midst of a city jail staffing crisis. They violated DOC policy, and they broke the law. Their conduct — including travel around the country, partying, bowling, and home repairs, on stolen sick leave time — is an insult to the correction officers who do their jobs, who show up to work and risk their personal safety on a daily basis. I thank the United States Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of New York and the Federal Bureau of Investigation for their partnership in bringing this case to a close.” 

According to court documents and facts presented at the guilty plea proceedings, Cange fraudulently obtained more than $139,000 in salary while on sick leave from March 2021 to November 2022. During that period of time, Cange submitted more than 100 fraudulent medical notes to DOC claiming that he was at physical therapy or another medical provider when records subpoenaed from those providers demonstrate that Cange was not at those appointments. Law enforcement also observed Cange engaging in normal life activities with no apparent difficulty. 

Coaxum fraudulently obtained more than $80,000 in salary while on sick leave from March 2021 to April 2022, and Trinidad, her fiancée, fraudulently obtained more than $119,000 in salary while on sick leave from June 2021 to October 2022. Although Coaxum claimed to suffer from multiple injuries, evidence collected by investigators showed that she was able to work. During her sick leave, Coaxum submitted nearly 50 fraudulent medical notes to DOC stating that she had gone to a medical appointment at a time when law enforcement determined she was elsewhere. Additionally, evidence showed that on some occasions when Coaxum claimed to be injured and at home, she was traveling and attending parties.  

Trinidad also claimed that he was unable to work for over a year due to an injury. But video and photographic surveillance showed Trinidad performing home improvement work, bowling, and traveling abroad without any difficulty or help from equipment like an orthopedic boot, sling or cane which he used when attending required check-ins with DOC medical officials

The defendants were arrested in November 2022 and resigned from the DOC in January 2023. 

JOSE GONZALEZ FOUND GUILTY OF MURDER IN 2017 DEATH OF FDNY EMT YADIRA ARROYO

 

Jury Convicted Defendant of First-Degree Murder; He Ran Victim Over with Her Ambulance

 Bronx District Attorney Darcel D. Clark announced that Jose Gonzalez has been found guilty by a jury of the murder of FDNY Emergency Medical Technician Yadira Arroyo, who he ran over with her ambulance nearly six years ago.

 District Attorney Clark said, “Jose Gonzalez was convicted today of first-degree Murder in the horrendous death of Yadira Arroyo, a mother of five and 14-year veteran EMT, on March 16, 2017. The road to justice for Yadi was tortuous; this case was delayed because of numerous hearings regarding the defendant’s fitness to stand trial, but her family and FDNY colleagues were patient and steadfast from the beginning until this verdict. I thank the witnesses, who saw Yadi in her final moments, for their testimonies during the trial. Yadi lives on in the legacy of her children, and in the countless New Yorkers she assisted in their time of need.”

 District Attorney Clark said the defendant, Jose Gonzalez, 31, last of 2388 Creston Avenue, was found guilty of first-degree Murder. The verdict was reached after a nearly one-monthlong jury trial before Bronx Supreme Court Justice Martin Marcus. The defendant is scheduled to be sentenced on April 5, 2023. The trial against Gonzalez was delayed after multiple court hearings on the defendant’s mental fitness to stand trial. He was deemed unfit in May 2022 and was sent to a psychiatric facility and was then deemed fit to stand trial in September 2022.

 According to the investigation, on the evening of March 16, 2017 in the vicinity of Watson Avenue and White Plains Road, the defendant grabbed on to the back of the victim’s ambulance and rode on it, then jumped off and stole a backpack from a young man. The robbery victim flagged down EMT Yadira Arroyo’s ambulance and she got out of the vehicle and spoke briefly to Gonzalez. The defendant then jumped into the driver’s seat of the ambulance, and Arroyo and her partner, who was in the passenger seat, told him to get out. Gonzalez put the car in reverse, striking Arroyo, then drove forward, pinning her under the vehicle and dragging her across the intersection. The defendant crashed the vehicle into a snowbank and exited the ambulance.

 An off-duty MTA Police Officer was nearby and saw the defendant drag the victim with the ambulance and confronted him. When Gonzalez tried to run away, the Officer tackled the defendant and handcuffed him, with the help of several civilians.

 Arroyo sustained multiple injuries and was taken to Jacobi Medical Center, where she was pronounced dead.

 District Attorney Clark thanked the 43rd Precinct Detective Squad, specifically NYPD Detective Robert Rentas, and NYPD Detective Christopher Skulsky from Bronx Homicide for their work in the investigation. 

 District Attorney Clark thanked former MTA Police Officer Daniel McDade.

Doctor Sentenced To 12.5 Years In Prison For Illegally Distributing Oxycodone From Midtown Manhattan Practice

 

On February 13, 2023, Adelglass’s Former Office Manager, Marcello Sansone, was Sentenced to 10 Years in Prison

 Damian Williams, the United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, announced that HOWARD ADELGLASS was sentenced today by U.S. District Judge Jed S. Rakoff to 150 months in prison for his participation in a conspiracy to illegally prescribe oxycodone.  ADELGLASS was convicted in November 2022 following a two-week trial before Judge Rakoff. 

U.S. Attorney Damian Williams said: “For years, Howard Adelglass illegally prescribed enormous quantities of highly addictive and deadly opioids to people he knew were suffering from substance abuse disorders or were dealers.  By monetizing his prescription pad and distributing mammoth quantities of oxycodone pills for no legitimate medical purpose, Adelglass practiced as a drug dealer, not a doctor.  Adelglass did not simply betray his medical oath; he destroyed lives and families and helped fuel the opioid epidemic gripping the nation.  Today’s sentence makes clear that this Office and our law enforcement partners will work tirelessly to hold responsible those who have contributed to the national opioid crisis no matter their professional stature.”

According to the allegations contained in the Indictment, the evidence offered at trial, and matters included in public filings:

HOWARD ADELGLASS was a licensed physician.  Together with his office manager, MARCELLO SANSONE, he operated a pain-management clinic located in Midtown Manhattan (the “Clinic”).  The Clinic serviced purported patients seeking oxycodone and other pain-relief medications commonly diverted for illicit purposes.  In exchange for cash payments, sex acts, and cocaine, ADELGLASS wrote thousands of prescriptions for large quantities of oxycodone, many to individuals whom ADELGLASS knew did not need the pills for a legitimate medical purpose.  When they occurred, ADELGLASS’s examinations were perfunctory.  ADELGLASS's purported patients included individuals addicted to opioids and, in some cases, individuals who sold the oxycodone on the street.  Even when faced with clear evidence of his purported patients’ drug abuse and diversion, ADELGLASS continued to prescribe large quantities of oxycodone without a legitimate medical purpose and outside the scope of professional practice.

Initially, ADELGLASS staffed the Clinic with inexperienced young women, some of whom he caused to be addicted to oxycodone through illegal prescriptions.  Around October 2018, after serving as a primary source of patient referrals, SANSONE took over as the Clinic’s office manager.  In that role, SANSONE helped to control access to ADELGLASS and the lucrative prescriptions he wrote for medically unnecessary oxycodone.  With particularly vulnerable patients, ADELGLASS and SANSONE solicited and, in some instances, received sex acts in exchange for illegal oxycodone prescriptions.

Between in or about November 2017 and in or about September 2020, ADELGLASS prescribed more than 1.3 million oxycodone pills. 

In addition to their prison terms, ADELGLASS, 67, of New York, New York, and SANSONE, 37, of Old Bridge, New Jersey, were each sentenced to three years of supervised release.

Mr. Williams praised the outstanding investigative work of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, New York City Police Department, and the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Office of Inspector General.

Governor Hochul Announces $31.4 Million for School Technology and Security Enhancements

 

Funding Secured Through the Smart Schools Bond Act

61 Investment Plans Approved by Smart Schools Review Board

$2 Billion Smart Schools Bond Act Supports Classroom Technology, School Connectivity and High-Tech Security

 Governor Kathy Hochul today announced the approval of 61 Smart Schools Investment Plans focused on reimagining education in an evolving age and boosting school security. The approved plans, totaling $31.4 million, are part of the $2 billion Smart Schools Bond Act, a sweeping education technology program.

"Inefficient technology was a huge hurdle during the COVID-19 pandemic - perhaps nowhere more evident than in our schools - and our students' educational and social experiences suffered," Governor Hochul said. "This $31.4 million investment will allow students to access the technology to bring them the opportunity to learn at their own pace while providing interactive experiences both inside and outside of the classroom."

The Smart Schools Review Board met today for the 19th time to consider investment plans submitted by school districts and special education schools. The Board is composed of the Director of the Budget, the Chancellor of the State University of New York, and the Commissioner of the State Education Department.

The plans approved by the Board were submitted by 57 school districts and one special education school. Projects include $16.6 million for high-tech security, $7.2 million for classroom technology, $7.1 million for school connectivity, and $500,000 for nonpublic schools' classroom technology and school connectivity. A summary of the plans is available here.

The investments authorized today will help ensure student safety and modernize classrooms statewide. High-tech security tools supported by the Smart Schools Bond Act include entry control systems, video systems, and emergency classroom notification systems. These upgrades are critical as the State and local partners work to bolster the safety of all public spaces.

New technology purchases supported by the Smart Schools Bond Act include computer servers, interactive whiteboards, tablets, desktop and laptop computers, and high-speed broadband and wireless connectivity. These tools help students to learn at their own pace, extend opportunities for interactive experiences both inside and outside the classroom, and promote parent-teacher communication. These purchases are particularly vital in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, helping students to learn and succeed under multiple learning models including remote learning when necessary.

In 2014, New York State invested $2 billion in its schools through a Smart Schools Bond Act—an initiative to finance educational technology and infrastructure, providing students access to the latest technology and connectivity needed to succeed and compete in the 21st century economy. New Yorkers agreed, as the voters authorized the Smart Schools Bond Act that November.

Following the proposal of the Bond Act, the Smart Schools Commission was established to gather information on strategies for how schools can most effectively invest the bond funds. This advisory commission recommended a focus on expanding robust broadband and wireless connectivity and utilizing transformative technologies. The plans approved today by the Smart Schools Review Board reflect many of the best practices identified by the Commission.

Department of Justice Announces Review of Memphis Police Department’s Use of Force and De-escalation Policies, and a Separate Review of Specialized Units Across the Country

 

The Department of Justice’s Office of Community Oriented Policing Services (COPS Office) announced it will be undertaking two important reviews: one related to the Memphis Police Department (MPD) and one that will examine the use of specialized units within law enforcement. 

First, the COPS Office, through its Collaborative Reform Initiative Technical Assistance Center (CRI-TAC), will conduct a review of certain policies and practices of the Memphis Police Department. Memphis Mayor Jim Strickland and Memphis Police Chief Cerelyn J. Davis requested this review, which will cover policies, practices, training, data and processes related to MPD’s use of force, de-escalation and specialized units. At the conclusion of the review, the COPS Office will issue a public report outlining its findings and recommendations.

The COPS Office’s CRI-TAC initiative is led and supported by nine leading law enforcement stakeholder associations. CRI-TAC provides a wide array of technical assistance services using a “by the field, for the field” approach. Since its inception in 2017, the program has provided technical assistance for over 800 law enforcement engagements.

Separate from the Memphis review, the COPS Office will produce a guide for police chiefs and mayors across the country to help them assess the appropriateness of the use of specialized units as well as how to ensure necessary management and oversight of such units, including review of policies, tactics, training, supervision, accountability, and transparency.

“In the wake of Tyre Nichols’s tragic death, the Justice Department has heard from police chiefs across the country who are assessing the use of specialized units and, where used, appropriate management, oversight and accountability for such units. The COPS Office guide on specialized units will be a critical resource for law enforcement, mayors and community members committed to effective community policing that respects the dignity of community members and keeps people safe,” said Associate Attorney General Vanita Gupta. “The department is also pleased to be able to fulfill Memphis’s request for technical assistance on the police department’s use of force and de-escalation policies, as well as the use of specialized units.”

“Providing technical assistance to law enforcement agencies so they can continue to improve their practices, while they also develop and maintain healthy relationships with the community, is at the heart of what we do at the COPS Office,” said Director Hugh T. Clements Jr. of the COPS Office. “I know that this opportunity to work with MPD, as well as our examination of specialized units in law enforcement agencies across the country, will be important resources for both law enforcement and the communities they serve.”

The COPS Office is the federal component of the Department of Justice responsible for advancing community policing nationwide. The only Department of Justice agency with policing in its name, the COPS Office was established in 1994 and has been the cornerstone of the nation’s crime fighting strategy with grants, a variety of knowledge resource products, and training and technical assistance. Through the years, the COPS Office has become the go-to organization for law enforcement agencies across the country and continues to listen to the field and provide the resources that are needed to reduce crime and build trust between law enforcement and communities served. The COPS Office has been appropriated more than $20 billion to advance community policing, including grants awarded to over 13,000 state, local and Tribal law enforcement agencies to fund the hiring and redeployment of more than 136,000 officers.