Surinamese Man Sentenced In Manhattan Federal Court To More Than 11 Years In Prison For Conspiring To Import Cocaine

  Preet Bharara, the United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, announced that EDMUND QUINCY MUNTSLAG, a citizen of Suriname, was sentenced yesterday in Manhattan federal court to 135 months in prison for conspiring to import cocaine into the United States.  MUNTSLAG was convicted on March 22, 2016, after a four-day jury trial before former U.S. District Judge Shira A. Scheindlin.  Sentence was imposed yesterday by U.S. District Judge Alison J. Nathan.

Manhattan U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara said:  “Edmund Muntslag conspired to create a drug route for hundreds of kilograms of cocaine from his home country of Suriname to the streets of New York City.  Thanks to the outstanding work of the Drug Enforcement Administration, Muntslag will join co-defendant Dino Bouterse in serving a long sentence in a federal prison.”

According to the allegations contained in the Indictment, other documents publicly filed in Manhattan federal court, and the evidence introduced at trial:

In 2013, MUNSTLAG, along with co-defendant Dino Bouterse, the son of the President of Suriname who declared himself the head of that country’s Counterterrorism Unit, conspired to sell hundreds of kilograms of cocaine to a purported Mexican cartel for importation to the U.S. In furtherance of this conspiracy, Bouterse supplied to individuals that he and MUNTSLAG believed to be representatives of the cartel, but who in fact were confidential sources working at the direction and under the supervision of the Drug Enforcement Administration (“DEA”), with genuine Surinamese passports bearing false identification information. 

Approximately three weeks later, MUNTSLAG received $60,000 in cash as a payment to allow a 10-kilogram “test load” of cocaine to pass through the airport in Paramaribo, Suriname, where it was to be loaded onto a commercial airline flight concealed inside luggage.  Thereafter, MUNTSLAG worked with corrupt airport employees in Suriname to send the 10-kilogram test load to Port-of-Spain, Trinidad and Tobago, from where MUNTSLAG and Bouterse believed it would be further transported and sold by the purported cartel in New York, New York. MUNTSLAG and Bouterse expected to receive proceeds from the sale of the cocaine in New York, and also expected to send additional, 100-kilogram cocaine shipments to the purported cartel using a similar method upon the successful completion of the test load. 

The cocaine was seized by Trinidadian law enforcement officers, in coordination with agents of the DEA, in Port-of-Spain on July 27, 2013.  MUNTSLAG was arrested in Port-of-Spain on August 29, 2013, and Bouterse was arrested in Panama City, Panama, on August 29, 2013.

MUNTSLAG was convicted of conspiring to import five kilograms and more of cocaine into the United States.  In addition to his prison term, MUNTSLAG, 33, of Suriname, was ordered to pay a $100 special assessment.

On August 29, 2014, Bouterse, 43, also of Suriname, pled guilty to attempting to provide material support to Hezbollah, a Foreign Terrorist Organization; using and carrying a firearm or during and in relation to a drug-trafficking crime; and conspiring to import five kilograms and more of cocaine into the United States.  On March 10, 2015, Bouterse was sentenced principally to a term of 195 months in prison.

Mr. Bharara praised the outstanding efforts of the Special Operations Division of the DEA.  Mr. Bharara also thanked the DEA’s Miami Field Division, Panama City Country Office, Port-of-Spain Country Office, and Bogota Country Office; the Government of Trinidad and Tobago; and the U.S. Department of Justice’s Office of International Affairs.

Bahamas Man Sentenced To 5 Years In Prison For Cyber Hacking Scheme To Steal Celebrities’ Personal And Copyrighted Information

  Preet Bharara, the United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, announced that ALONZO KNOWLES, a/k/a “Jeff Moxey,” was sentenced today to five years in prison for criminal copyright infringement of scripts of movies and television shows that had not yet aired, as well as theft of personally identifiable information, all of which KNOWLES obtained by hacking into the email accounts of numerous individuals in the entertainment, sports, and media industries.  KNOWLES pled guilty on May 9, 2016, before U.S. District Judge Paul A. Engelmayer, who imposed today’s sentence.

Manhattan U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara said:   “Alonzo Knowles hacked into the private emails of entertainment and sports celebrities, stole personal information and property, including unreleased movie and television scripts, and attempted to sell them to the highest bidder.  For his frightful violation of privacy, Knowles has been sentenced to substantial term of imprisonment.”

According to the Indictment, other documents filed in Manhattan federal court, and statements made at various proceedings in this case, including the guilty plea:

KNOWLES unlawfully accessed the personal email accounts of numerous individuals in the entertainment, sports, and media industries (the “Victims”).  As a result of this hacking scheme, KNOWLES obtained Victims’ copyrighted and confidential documents, including scripts of movies and television shows that had not yet been publicly released, personal identifying information such as Social Security numbers, and private sexually explicit photographs and videos. 

Over the course of two weeks in December 2015, KNOWLES and an undercover law enforcement agent (the “UC”) communicated about the stolen materials KNOWLES sought to sell to the UC.  KNOWLES claimed to the UC that he had “exclusive content” that was “really profitable” and worth “hundreds of thousands of dollars.”  KNOWLES stated that he obtained the material directly from the Victims without their knowledge, and claimed to be able to acquire such material from at least some of the approximately 130 Victims whose email addresses and phone numbers he had in his possession. 

On December 21, 2015, KNOWLES met with the UC in New York, New York.  During their meeting, KNOWLES described two methods he used to hack each Victim’s email account.  The easier method involved sending a virus to the Victim’s computer that would enable KNOWLES to access it.  The more difficult method involved KNOWLES sending a false hacking notification to the Victim and asking the Victim for his passcodes.  Once KNOWLES had used the Victim’s passcodes to successfully access the Victim’s email account, KNOWLES, unbeknownst to the Victim, would change the settings in the Victim’s email account in order to continue to access to the email account.  In order to avoid detection from the Victim, KNOWLES would delete notifications from the email service provider regarding changes to the settings of the Victim’s email account.  On December 21, 2015, KNOWLES attempted to sell numerous movie and television scripts and personally identifiable information that he had unlawfully obtained from the Victims to the UC in exchange for thousands of dollars, whereupon KNOWLES was arrested.

KNOWLES possessed a laptop computer in the Bahamas (the “Computer”), which he did not bring to New York in December 2015.  According to KNOWLES, the Computer contained confidential information, which he obtained via hacking, relating to various celebrities.  KNOWLES intended to sell this confidential information after serving a prison term for the instant offense.  After his arrest in December 2015 and before his sentencing, KNOWLES stated in his prison correspondence that he was willing to serve additional time in prison in order to retain the Computer.  Pursuant to a Consent Preliminary Order of Forfeiture issued by Judge Engelmayer, KNOWLES produced a laptop computer to a court-appointed receiver, which the receiver concluded was the Computer containing stolen materials at issue in this case.  Pursuant to Judge Engelmayer’s order, KNOWLES’s laptop has been subsequently destroyed.

In addition to the prison term, KNOWLES, 24, of Freeport, Bahamas, was ordered to pay a $200 special assessment.  A money judgment in the amount of $1,982.71 was also entered, and the defendant’s right, title, and interest in specific property seized by the Department of Homeland Security – including copyrighted materials, personally identifiable information of others, sexually explicit content of others, an iPad, and a phone – were ordered to be forfeited to the United States.

Mr. Bharara praised the investigative work of the Department of Homeland Security.

BRONX MAN INDICTED IN TWO BRUTAL ATTACKS: SEXUAL ABUSE, STRANGULATION AND ATTEMPTED RAPE OF 15-YEAR-OLD GIRL; ROBBERY AND SEXUALLY MOTIVATED FELONY OF WOMAN

Defendant Allegedly Knocked Victims Unconscious 

  Bronx District Attorney Darcel D. Clark today announced that a Bronx man has been indicted in two attacks in which he knocked the victims unconscious. In one attack, he is charged with Assault, Attempted Rape and various other charges for breaking the jaw of a 15- year-old girl near Bronx Park in October. 

  District Attorney Clark said, “The defendant allegedly brutally beat this young girl, inflicting severe injuries that she continues to recover from. She fought very hard against her attacker and we will fight just as hard to get justice for her, and for the second victim who suffered a vicious beating when he allegedly robbed her cell phone.” 

  District Attorney Clark said the defendant, Shaun Lewis, 27, of Lurting Avenue, is charged in a 21-count indictment. For the October 24, 2016 incident, he is charged with two counts of first-degree Assault, first-degree Attempted Rape, first-degree Sexual Abuse, first degree Attempted Sexual Abuse, second-degree Assault, second-degree Strangulation, third degree Attempted Rape, Forcible Touching, Criminal Obstruction of Breathing or Blood Circulation and Endangering the Welfare of a Child. 

  Lewis is also charged in the indictment with first-degree Robbery, four counts of Sexually Motivated Felony, second and third-degree Robbery, and second- and third-degree Assault for an April 21, 2016 cell phone robbery of a woman in the Bronx who was knocked unconscious and awoke with her pants removed. 

  Lewis was arraigned today, December 6, 2016 before Bronx Supreme Court Justice William Mogulescu. He was remanded and is due back in court on March 7, 2017. Lewis faces up to 25 years in prison on the top count in each incident if convicted. At the time of the attacks, he was on parole after serving time for a robbery in which he beat a woman.

  District Attorney Clark said that according to the investigation, on the early morning of October 24, 2016, Lewis allegedly exposed himself to the girl and demanded she “touch it” while in the vicinity of Bronx Park. 

  According to the investigation, when the girl refused, Lewis allegedly beat her and choked her into unconsciousness. When she awoke her pants and underwear had been removed. He then grabbed her breast before she was able to flee. 

  The case is being prosecuted by Assistant District Attorney Jill Starishevsky, a Senior Trial Assistant in the Child Abuse/ Sex Crimes Bureau under the supervision of Joseph Muroff, Chief of the Child Abuse/Sex Crimes Bureau. 

An indictment is an accusatory instrument and not proof of a defendant’s guilt.

Bronx Dems Annual Holiday Party

Bronx Dems Annual Holiday PartyWhen:  Tue. 12/13/16 from 6 - 8p Where: 1450 Commerce Ave.
Chairman Marcos A. Crespo & The Bronx Democratic Party invite you to our Annual Holiday event. Let's come together over warm food and drinks as we remember the best of the past year and take a look at the year ahead. Though not required, everyone is strongly encouraged to have a little fun and come wearing an "ugly" holiday sweater. If you have any questions, please call us at 347-281-9759

STATEMENT FROM MAYOR BILL DE BLASIO ON TRUMP TOWER SECURITY COSTS

  “New York City taxpayers should not be on the hook for 80 percent of the national bill to protect our President-elect and his family’s residence. We are counting on Congress to step up in the coming months to pay back what it owes our city. This is a national responsibility and the burden cannot fall alone on our city and police department."

Congressman Engel Statement On Funding For Presidential Security at Trump Tower

  Congressman Eliot L. Engel, a senior member of the House Energy and Commerce Committee and the incoming Dean of the New York City Congressional Delegation, issued the following statement today on funding for Presidential security at Trump Tower: 

“Congress is currently debating legislation to fund the government through April. The City asked for $35 million to help cover the costs of securing the building through the inauguration, but the bill released by Congressional Republicans last night included only a fifth of that.

“I am insulted, and all New Yorkers should feel insulted, that the Republicans in Congress are offering only $7 million dollars to New York City for the cost of securing Trump Tower for the incoming first family. After our years-long struggle to secure funds for 9/11 first responders and Sandy recovery, New Yorkers are being asked once again to foot the bill for a federal responsibility.

“The President-elect and his family have every right to continue to live in their private residences – whether in Midtown, Bedminster, New Jersey, or at Mar-a-Lago in Florida – and to send their young son to school in a comfortable setting. I am confident New York’s Finest will do an excellent job protecting the incoming first family in full cooperation with the U.S. Secret Service, but NYPD outlays based on Secret Service requirements have run in excess of $1 million per day, to say nothing of lost economic activity and tax revenue as a result of traffic restrictions along 5th Avenue. Especially if Mr. Trump does split time between the White House and Trump Tower for his entire term, as he has said he plans to do, Republican leadership will have to address this eventually. Full funding for security at Trump Tower through the inauguration is the only reasonable place to start.”

FIRST LADY CHIRLANE MCCRAY LAUNCHES MENTAL HEALTH PROGRAMS FOR SENIORS WITH NYC DEPARTMENT FOR THE AGING

  First Lady Chirlane McCray, Deputy Mayor Richard Buery and Department for the Aging Commissioner Donna Corrado today launched ThriveNYC’s Geriatric Mental Health Initiative, a package of mental health services that will be offered at 15 senior centers this year and at an additional ten centers in 2017. Mental health clinicians will provide on-site therapy, as well as educational workshops, mental health screening, referrals, and engagement activities that help de-stigmatize mental illness. Through ThriveNYC, the Department for the Aging will also launch friendly visiting to homebound seniors to help prevent social isolation, which increases the risk of chronic health conditions, depression, anxiety and other serious health issues.

First Lady Chirlane McCray, who spearheads the City’s mental health and substance misuse efforts, said, “My own parents suffered from untreated mental health problems that prevented them from fully enjoying the success they earned through many years of hard work. Stigma and lack of resources kept mental health in the shadows and kept my parents from seeking out support that could have improved their lives. For too long, seniors have suffered from mental illnesses with shame and few options to help them get well. But we’re changing that. People get stronger and stigma weakens with every open and honest conversation, and we are creating more resources to make sure those conversations continue. Through the ThriveNYC Geriatric Mental Health Initiative, we’re putting clinicians at dozens of senior centers across the city and launching home visits to decrease social isolation. The lived experience, wisdom and work of our elders are an important resource for our city. We’re proud to have another tool to support them.”

Deputy Mayor for Strategic Policy Initiatives Richard Buery said, “ThriveNYC is a comprehensive plan to strengthen New York City’s mental health system for everyone. That includes thinking about mental health and wellbeing at every stage of life – from early childhood to the senior years. The Department for the Aging’s Geriatric Mental Health and friendly visiting initiatives are directed toward the unique needs of NYC seniors – a segment of our population that is most vulnerable to the impacts of untreated and undertreated mental health challenges. New Yorkers are living longer, and they are choosing to stay in the city. Our job is to make sure they can thrive as they do so.”  

Department for the Aging Commissioner Donna Corrado said, “The further away older adults need to go to obtain mental health services, the less likely they are to follow through and use services. Research has shown that integrating mental health services into non-traditional settings improves services access, receipt of services and positive outcomes. Our Geriatric Mental Health Initiative follows this model by embedding mental health professionals in our centers. The embedded practitioners will become familiar faces seniors can trust. We are also so pleased to be able to offer friendly visiting through our case management agencies to homebound older adults at risk of social isolation.”   

Prevalence estimates suggest that 20 to 22 percent of older adults meet criteria for a mental disorder nationally. Within New York State, the number is expected to increase by 56 percent, from 495,000 persons in 2000 to 772,000 by 2030, as the number of older adults in the general population increases. Many older adults are not diagnosed, are misdiagnosed, or do not seek treatment. Some older adults may have histories of psychological disorders, while others may develop new problems related to aging. 

By stationing clinicians on site, the Geriatric Mental Health Initiative makes treatment more accessible and thus helps to overcome a major barrier. The mental health clinicians will also actively engage seniors in informal activities that help raise awareness about mental wellbeing and to de-stigmatize mental health treatment

The Department for the Aging is partnering on this initiative with four community-based providers of mental health services – CAPE at the Samuel Field Y, JASA, SPOP and Weill Cornell Medical Center. Each program will station one or more of their clinicians at assigned centers. JASA will be working with centers in the Bronx; SPOP with centers in Manhattan; CAPE with centers in Queens; and Weill Cornell with centers in Brooklyn and Staten Island.

As part of the ThriveNYC program, the City is also launching an initiative with the Department for the Aging to offer friendly visiting service to elders who live alone and are at risk of social isolation. Social isolation – the absence of a supportive network of family and friends and of opportunities to be connected and engaged  – puts those who experience it at risk of higher rates of chronic health conditions, depression, anxiety, institutionalization and even death. In the past, this important preventive measure was not provided on a large scale by DFTA-funded programs, mainly due to a lack of resources. The service will now be available to many more vulnerable seniors through DFTA’s case management agencies. 

The service will be provided through trained volunteers working with coordinators at the case management agencies.  The volunteers will seek to develop meaningful relationships with the individuals they visit and to engage them in activities like shopping, library visits, and local senior center visits. To enrich the service, volunteers and friendly visiting coordinators will be trained on mental health first-aid because social isolation can put seniors at risk for mental health problems. An important purpose of the visiting service will be to link clients identified by their visitors as needing mental health intervention to appropriate resources. 

"As Chair of the City Council's Committee on Aging, I see the need for mental health support amongst our senior population almost every day. ‎This important effort to provide more health resources and to destigmatize mental health issues will literally save lives and increase elder adults' quality of life, their sense of well-being, and their connections with each other and their neighborhoods. I thank Mayor de Blasio, the First Lady, and Commissioner Corrado for their commitment to the health and well-being of seniors and all New Yorkers," saidCouncil Member Margaret Chin, Chair of the Committee on Aging.

“I commend the First Lady, Deputy Mayor, and Department for the Aging for their success on the Geriatric Mental Health Initiative. The New York City Council has always had a strong commitment to assisting seniors whose mental health needs can often be hard to reach through traditional treatment models and the ThriveNYC initiative will continue to serve this important population. I am glad to see that the initiative has achieved funding at a level that will allow implementation throughout the city,” said Council Member Andrew Cohen, Chair of the Committee on Mental Health, Developmental Disability, Alcoholism, Substance Abuse and Disability Services.

Are County Committees all They are Petitioned to be?

  In an investigative report today City and State reporter Sarina Triangle reports the Bronx Democratic Party has 1,653 members of its County Committee. The County Committee meets every two years to decide who will rule the county party, and do select the party candidate if a special election is called in an assembly district. 

   In each election district (which can be made up of many blocks in the assembly district) there may be two to four county committee members depending on the population, and the amount of election districts in the assembly district. County Committee candidates are placed on petitions with candidates for office, but generally are only on Bronx Democratic County organization candidate petitions. Challengers to the county organization will have a candidate for the office of assembly and maybe district leaders on them, but rarely county committee candidates. 

   In one such Assembly District it is written that a 62 unit building just south of Fordham Road in the district has 17 of the districts county committee members. County committee members are elected in the September primary for the County Committee meeting a few weeks later. Notices are sent out to winning County Committee members as to just when and where the County Committee meeting is to be held. 

  The City and State article goes on to say that people are placed as candidates usually not in their own election district, but in other areas of the assembly district where they do not live. That practise is legal as all one has to do to be a county committee member is to live anywhere in that assembly district. City and State however writes that they found people who did not know they were county committee candidates. Should an elected County Committee member be absent at the meeting they can be replaced by anyone who lives in the assembly district, again perfectly legal. 

  City and State goes on to say that almost all Bronx Democratic County organization candidates give the county organization their petitions to hand in to the Board of Elections. That is so the Crack lawyers of the county organization can give the petitions a final go over to see that all the i's are dotted and the t's are crossed. Only two Bronx Democratic County organization candidates did not hand their petitions to the county organization this past year City and State writes, that being State Senator Gustavo J. Rivera and Assemblyman Michael Blake. 

  City and State investigates claims that names of county committee candidates were added to the petitions after the petitions were handed to the Bronx Democratic County organization, as well as interviewing several people who said they never knew they were candidates for the county committee in their districts. 

   I went to the Bronx Board of Elections today to view some of the petitions from the September Democratic Primary, and was told that they have not been declared official yet. I was also told that both the Democratic and Republican heads of the Bronx Board of Elections were downtown at a meeting, and that I should come back tomorrow to view any petitions. I tried calling Ms. Valarie Vazquez of the Board of Elections Press office to ask why I could not see the petitions that I was told are in the borough offices, but only got a voicemail, and have not received a call back yet. A call to the Executive Director of the Bronx Democratic County organization Mr. Anthony Perez was answered that he was not in the office and would get my message asking him to call me. A final call to Assemblyman Marcos Crespo the current Bronx Democratic County Leader received a similar response. Last week in my column 100 PERCENT in the Bronx Voice I wrote that Assemblyman Jeffrey Dinowitz stepped down as the Bronx Democratic County Committee Chair due to the fact that he has not gotten a raise in over 20 years, to continue to be able to receive certain outside income that he said he could no longer receive if he remained the County Committee Chair. I now wonder if there is an investigation into the selection of county committee members which may have added to Assemblyman Dinowitz's departure as the County Committee Chair. 

   Here is the link to story on County Committees by City and State.

Join FVCP As We Get Ready to Celebrate 25 Years

Season’s Greetings from the Friends of Van Cortlandt Park!   It was great to see you and your family in the Park in 2016.   More than 6,500 of you participated in programs initiated by the Friends, including 1,661 volunteers for garden, forest, wetland, and trail restoration projects and2,368 students through our Van Cortlandt Adventures educational programs.  

Please consider making a donation today to help us grow in 2017.

Many of you enjoyed moments of respite from the heat under the shade of a tree or joined us for family hikes along our famous trails.  You may have sampled local fresh produce sold by interns at one of our farm stands or listened as the New York Philharmonic played under the stars.

The Friends of Van Cortlandt Park are excited to be celebrating our 25^thAnniversary of Bringing Youth, Community and Nature Together in Van Cortlandt Park.  Please consider purchasing a special Bronx Pass Membership to help us celebrate. 

In 2017 and beyond, the Friends of Van Cortlandt Park has exciting plans to further improve the Park and the health of our local community. The Master Plan for the Park, approved by NYC Parks, will add a pedestrian bridge across the Major Deegan Expressway, a new children’s playground in the Northwest Corner of the Park, and major improvements to the John Kieran Trail. In addition, we launched a new project where we are collecting weekly water quality data to help us make improvements throughout Tibbetts Watershed.

And now, we hope you will consider partnering with us during our 25^thAnniversary year in support of our cherished programming and advocacy for Van Cortlandt Park.  Without your kind help, The Friends could not improve the Park or provide educational opportunities for our youth.  NYC Parks budgets alone cannot sustain all of these programs.  Your contribution to the Park is essential to ensure that future generations of Bronx residents enjoy this urban oasis.

Please take a moment to send a tax deductible, end-of-year contribution.  With your generosity, the Friends of Van Cortlandt Park will enter the New Year with resources to ensure Van Cortlandt Park is even more vibrant in 2017.

Thank you and best wishes,

Christopher Rizzo, Chairman & Christina Taylor, Executive Director