YONKERS MAN SENTENCED TO 25 YEARS TO LIFE IN PRISON FOR EXECUTION-STYLE SHOOTING

Defendant Found Guilty of Second-Degree Murder

  Bronx District Attorney Darcel D. Clark today announced a Yonkers man has been sentenced to 25 years to life in prison for the fatal shooting of a 23-year-old Bronx man. 

 District Attorney Clark said, “The defendant knew the victim and shot him execution-style over a previous dispute, and will now spend many years in prison. This act of senseless gun violence has destroyed the lives of two young men.” 

 District Attorney Clark said the defendant, Michael Canaj, 25, of 6 Ramsen Road, Yonkers, N.Y., was sentenced to 25 years to life in prison by Bronx Supreme Court Justice Martin Marcus on March 22, 2019. The jury found the defendant guilty of second-degree Murder on January 18, 2019.

 According to the investigation, shortly after midnight on December 31, 2012 at 2324 Boston Road, the defendant shot Erion Mecani, 23, multiple times, causing his death. The defendant and the victim had a disagreement two years prior to the shooting, when the defendant stole the victim’s car and wrecked it while driving it. The defendant had promised to pay the victim for the damages, but instead shot him. Mecani was found dead with two gunshot wounds in the head in his father’s car about an hour after the incident.

 District Attorney Clark thanked to Detective Steven Smith of Bronx Homicide and United States Marshals Service Analyst John Heintz for their assistance in the case.

Owner Of Medical Technology Company Sentenced To 30 Months In Prison For Evading Taxes On Over $21 Million In Business Income

  Geoffrey S. Berman, the United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, announced today that LEWIS STAHL, the owner of a Manhattan medical technology company, was sentenced to 30 months in prison for evading federal income taxes on more than $21 million in business income, which resulted in a loss to the U.S. Treasury of more than $6.3 million in taxes due and owing.  STAHL pled guilty to one count of tax evasion on September 27, 2018, before U.S. District Judge Ronnie Abrams, who imposed today’s sentence.  

Manhattan U.S. Attorney Geoffrey S. Berman said:  “Lewis Stahl flagrantly evaded paying taxes on his business income, denying the federal government more than $6 million in taxes.  Knowing full well that he was committing a crime, Stahl will spend time behind bars for his wrongdoing.”

According to the Information to which STAHL pled guilty, court filings, and statements made in public court proceedings:

STAHL is an experienced businessperson who owns and operates a Manhattan medical software company (the “Medical Technology Company”) that develops and sells medical software applications.  The Medical Technology Company holds itself out as a provider of “computer ready” and “fully mobile” applications that allow physicians to prescribe medications and to order and view diagnostic information, lab results, and cardiology/radiology images.

Between 2010 and 2014, the Medical Technology Company earned more than $32 million in gross income.  Less business expenses, these earnings resulted in over $21 million in business income to STAHL, which he accessed by using business bank accounts and business credit cards.  STAHL used this money to fund the purchase of personal items for himself, such as clothing, jewelry, watches, real estate rentals, country club benefits, and a firearms collection.  Prior to 2015, despite earning this business income from the Medical Technology Company, STAHL deliberately avoided filing tax returns, and did not report any of the income to the Internal Revenue Service (the “IRS”). 

In March of 2015, an IRS revenue agent (the “IRS Revenue Agent”) contacted STAHL regarding his failure to file for the tax years 2010 through 2014, and asked STAHL to address the situation by filing delinquent Forms 1040 for those years (the “Delinquent Returns”).  Shortly thereafter, STAHL retained a certified public accountant (the “Accountant”) to file the Delinquent Returns for STAHL.  STAHL told the Accountant that he had failed to file tax returns in the past because he had payroll tax problems with the IRS and “stuck his head in the sand.”  He also told the Accountant that he did not have any personal bank accounts in his name because he believed the IRS would seize any such accounts.  STAHL further stated to the Accountant, falsely, that he was a “W-2” employee only of the Medical Technology Company, that his W-2 income was his only income, and that he had no ownership interest in the Medical Technology Company.  In truth and in fact, STAHL had an ownership interest in the Medical Technology Company, and had earned over $21 million in business income from the company, well beyond the income of a few hundred thousand dollars that was reflected on his W-2s.

The Accountant subsequently filed the Delinquent Returns for STAHL, which, as a result of the lies that STAHL told the Accountant, were false and fraudulent.  Specifically, the Delinquent Returns falsely claimed that STAHL’s total income was $38,652 in 2010; $7,115 in 2011; $84,615 in 2012; $100,000 in 2013; and $100,000 in 2014.  The Delinquent Returns further falsely reported that STAHL did not receive any business income in any of these years, and failed to include a Schedule C detailing the significant amount of business income that STAHL earned from the Medical Technology Company.  STAHL’s failure to report over $21 million in business income to the IRS – first by deliberately failing to file returns, and then by causing the false Delinquent Returns to be filed by the Accountant – resulted in a loss to the IRS of over $6.3 million in taxes due and owing. 

In addition to the prison term, Judge Abrams ordered STAHL, 63, of Boca Raton, Florida, to serve three years of supervised release, and to make court-ordered restitution to the IRS. 

Mr. Berman praised the outstanding investigative work of the IRS Criminal Investigation Division in this case.

Attorney General James Takes Action To Protect Liberian Residents Of New York

   Attorney General Letitia James has joined a coalition of attorneys general from nine states and the District of Columbia, led by Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison and Massachusetts Attorney General Maura Healey, in supporting Liberians who have filed suit to block President Trump’s termination of their Deferred Enforcement Departure (DED) status. 

DED allows foreign nationals whose countries have experienced armed conflict, civil unrest, natural disasters, or public health crises to stay in the country lawfully. Liberian nationals have been protected either by or DED or Temporary Protected Status at various times since 1991, following the outbreak of civil war in Liberia in 1989 that led to many Liberians fleeing to the U.S. for their safety and that of their families. Subsequent presidents have extended DED for Liberians. 

On March 27, 2018, President Trump issued a direction terminating DED protections for Liberians, effective next Sunday, March 31, 2019. Starting on that date, Liberian immigrants who have been DED beneficiaries — some for more than two decades — may be subject to deportation. 

“This is yet another backwards attempt by the Trump Administration to terminate the lawful immigration status of long-term residents who came to America seeking safety,” said Attorney General Letitia James. “These residents have contributed greatly to the economic and cultural fabric of New York and states throughout the country and deserve a pathway to citizenship, not to be put back into harm’s way. We stand together to support their right to remain in their home.” 

A group of plaintiffs who are scheduled to lose DED protections because of President Trump’s directive filed suit on March 8, 2019 in the U.S. District Court for the District of Massachusetts. In ACT vs. Trump, they claim that President Trump’s change to DED policy for Liberians is unconstitutional because it was based on racial animus and national-origin discrimination, deprived DED beneficiaries of due process under the Constitution, and violates their constitutional rights to family integrity. They have filed a motion for the court to enjoin the Trump Administration from enforcing the President’s directive by removing Liberian immigrants who are DED beneficiaries. If granted, the injunction would prevent the administration from implementing the President’s directive, at least until the plaintiffs’ constitutional rights are fully adjudicated in federal court.  

In their brief in support of the plaintiffs, the states argue that their economies and communities would be harmed by the deportation of Liberians, who are hardworking colleagues and civic-minded community members. The healthcare sectors in these states and the people who benefit from them would be particularly harmed, as many Liberians are valued healthcare workers. The amici states also argue that they have interest in protecting the welfare of children born to Liberian parents and raised in this country as U.S. citizens and in ensuring that these children continue to live in stable and loving homes with their parents. 

Attorney General James is joined in this action by the attorneys general of California, the District of Columbia, Illinois, Maryland, Massachusetts, Minnesota, New Jersey, New York, Rhode Island, and Virginia. 

House Dems Introduce the Protecting Pre-Existing Conditions & Making Health Care More Affordable Act

  Congressman Eliot Engel, a top member on the House Energy and Commerce Committee, has joined House Democratic colleagues in cosponsoring theProtecting Pre-Existing Conditions & Making Health Care More Affordable Act, sweeping new legislation that will lower health insurance premiums, crack down on junk health insurance plans, strengthen protections for people with pre-existing conditions, and reverse the Trump Administration’s health care sabotage. The introduction of the bill comes on the heels of the President’s latest attempt to repeal the Affordable Care Act in federal court.

“If only this Administration were as relentless in protecting our elections from foreign interference as it is with trying to steal people’s health insurance, we may actually be able to solve some of our health care woes,” Engel said. “Unfortunately, President Trump and his GOP cronies are only fixated on repealing the ACA, not helping the American people who are struggling to pay for their prescription medications. Therefore, it is up to House Democrats to work toward improving care, while also fighting to preserve the vital protections that are already in place.

“With the Protecting Pre-Existing Conditions & Making Health Care Affordable Act, Democrats are taking another step forward to meet our promise to lower health costs, while also ensuring sure those with pre-existing conditions remain fully covered. I am proud to cosponsor this important legislation.”

The Protecting Pre-Existing Conditions & Making Health Care More Affordable Act of 2019 includes provisions that will:

Lower health insurance premiums with strengthened and expanded affordability assistance

• Strengthening tax credits in the Marketplace to lower Americans’ health insurance premiums and allows more middle-class individuals and families to qualify for subsidies;
• Ensuring that families who don’t have an offer of affordable coverage from an employer can still qualify for subsidies in the Marketplace; and,
• Providing funding for reinsurance, to help with high cost claims, improve Marketplace stability, and prevent the Trump Administration’s sabotage from raising premiums.

Strengthen protections for people with pre-existing conditions

• Curtailing the Trump Administration’s efforts to give states waivers to undermine protections for people with pre-existing conditions and weaken standards for essential health benefits, which would leave consumers with less comprehensive plans that do not cover needed services, such as prescription drugs, maternity care, and substance use disorder treatment.

Stop insurance companies from selling junk health insurance plans

• Stopping the Trump Administration’s efforts to push Americans into junk health insurance plans that do not provide coverage for essential medical treatments and drugs, and that are allowed to discriminate against people with pre-existing medical conditions.

Reverse the GOP’s health care sabotage that has needlessly driven up premiums and uninsured rates, and empower states to innovate and invest in enrolling more people in affordable health coverage

• Reversing the Trump Administration’s sabotage by requiring open enrollment outreach, education, and funding for navigators;
• Investing in state efforts to conduct outreach to increase enrollment, educate consumers of their rights, and help individuals navigate the health insurance system;
• Empowering states to implement new approaches to increasing enrollment and allows states to set up their own Marketplaces; and
• Holding the Administration accountable for its use of federal dollars dedicated to increasing enrollment, outreach and running the federal exchange.

Join us as we celebrate  the Best of The Bronx! Keynote Speaker NYC Public Advocate  Jumaane Williams Master of Ceremonies Joe Torres, WABC-TV Please join us! Reserve your spot or reserve a table at 718-828-3900 or events@bronxchamber.org Reserve Your Spot Online Bronx Chamber of Commerce 1200 Waters Place • Bronx, NY 10461 Bronxchamber.org

YANKEES OPENING DAY and NEXT DAY PARADE

  The 161st Street Business Improvement District is preparing for the return of the Yankees and the start of the 2019 baseball season. The streets are being swept and sports bars like Stan’s, Billy’s, the Dugout and Yankee Tavern are filled with Opening Day memorabilia. And, the parade route is being cleared.

  More than 1,000 students are getting ready to march down the Concourse, the day after the Opener, from 10 AM - 12 Noon, Friday March 29, to showcase their teams, their talents and their support for the Bronx Bombers. The parade features Congressmen Serrano and Espaillat, Grandmaster Caz and Mellie Mel as Grand Marshals. It will march down the Concourse from 165th Street to Lou Gehrig Plaza and turn west towards Yankee Stadium. The Bronx Museum of the Arts, The Bronx Children’s Museum, the Marching Cobras and the Patriot Band and the DSNY bagpipe unit will be featured in the parade.

  The students at PS 294, for example, are busy learning the words to “Take Me Out to the Ballgame,” and “Yankee Doodle Dandy.” Other students at the Andrew Freedman Head Start are painting signs and a banner. All Hallows’ baseball teams are adjusting their uniforms to look spiffy for the parade.

  The BID has added a CC mural, touched up the Mantle, Paige and Clemente murals. The BID has also created an Instagram account that features a different Yankee legend every day through the parade on Friday. And, a murals map of the entire district including Joe Di Maggio, Derek Jeter and Mariano will be available electronically and in print by mid-April.

House Committee Chairs Demand DOJ Release Full Mueller Report & Underlying Evidence to Congress

Six House Chairs: “We look forward to receiving the report in full no later than April 2, and to begin receiving the underlying evidence and documents that same day.”

  The chairs of six committees in the U.S. House of Representatives wrote to U.S. Attorney General William Barr to demand that Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s report be made available to Congress together with the underlying evidence. The letter was signed by House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jerrold Nadler, Committee on Oversight and Reform Chairman Elijah E. Cummings, Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence Chairman Adam B. Schiff, Committee on Financial Services Chairwoman Maxine Waters, Committee on Ways and Means Chairman Richard E. Neal and Committee on Foreign Affairs Chairman Eliot L. Engel.

In their letter, the Members wrote, “Your four-page summary of the Special Counsel’s review is not sufficient for Congress, as a coequal branch of government, to perform [its] critical work. The release of the full report and the underlying evidence and documents is urgently needed by our committees to perform their duties under the Constitution.  Those duties include evaluating the underlying facts and determining whether legislative or other reforms are required—both to ensure that the Justice Department is able to carry out investigations without interference or obstruction by the President and to protect our future elections from foreign interference…We look forward to receiving the report in full no later than April 2, and to begin receiving the underlying evidence and documents that same day.”

On March 14, 2019, the House unanimously passed H. Con. Res. 24, a resolution expressing the sense of the Congress, that when completed, Special Counsel Mueller’s report should be made available to the public and to Congress.

On February 22, 2019, the Members wrote to Attorney General William Barr to inform him of their expectation that he will make Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s report public “without delay and to the maximum extent permitted by law.”

The governing Special Counsel regulations were designed to ensure “congressional and public confidence in the integrity of the process.”  Special Counsel Mueller was appointed by the Justice Department “in order for the American people to have full confidence in the outcome” of the investigation. 

Full text of today’s letter is below.

March 25, 2019

The Honorable William P. Barr

Attorney General

U.S. Department of Justice

950 Pennsylvania Avenue, N.W.

Washington, D.C. 20530

Dear Attorney General Barr:

Your March 24 letter concerning Special Counsel Mueller’s report leaves open many questions concerning the conduct of the President and his closest advisors, as well as that of the Russian government during the 2016 presidential election.  Accordingly, we formally request that you release the Special Counsel’s full report to Congress no later than Tuesday, April 2.  We also ask that you begin transmitting the underlying evidence and materials to the relevant committees at that time.

As you know, on March 14, the full House of Representatives approved H. Con. Res. 24, calling for the release of the Special Counsel’s report by a vote of 420-0.[1]  Each of our committees is currently engaged in oversight activities that go directly to the President’s conduct, his attempts to interfere with federal and congressional investigations, his relationships and communications with the Russian government and other foreign powers, and/or other alleged instances of misconduct. 

Your four-page summary of the Special Counsel’s review is not sufficient for Congress, as a coequal branch of government, to perform this critical work.  The release of the full report and the underlying evidence and documents is urgently needed by our committees to perform their duties under the Constitution.  Those duties include evaluating the underlying facts and determining whether legislative or other reforms are required—both to ensure that the Justice Department is able to carry out investigations without interference or obstruction by the President and to protect our future elections from foreign interference.

First, Congress must be permitted to make an independent assessment of the evidence regarding obstruction of justice.  The determinations you have reached regarding obstruction and the manner in which you chose to characterize the Special Counsel’s investigation only raise further questions, particularly in light of the Special Counsel’s decision to refrain from making “a traditional prosecutorial judgment.”[2]  We also cannot evaluate your determination that “the report identifies no actions” that meet the elements of obstruction in the absence of the report, evidence and other materials.[3]

Second, we have no reason to question that Special Counsel Mueller made a well-considered prosecutorial judgment in two specific and narrow areas—whether the Trump campaign conspired to join Russia’s election-related online disinformation and hacking and dissemination efforts.  But it is vital for national security purposes that Congress be able to evaluate the full body of facts and evidence collected and evaluated by the Special Counsel, including all information gathered of a counterintelligence nature.

The provision of the report—in complete and unredacted form—and the underlying evidence and materials would be fully consistent with the Justice Department’s practice and precedent with Congress, which the Department reinforced in recent years.  With respect to the Hillary Clinton email investigation, the Department and the FBI released more than 880,000 pages of documents, publicly identified career officials involved in the case, and produced volumes of internal deliberative materials, including sensitive investigatory and classified materials.[4]  In response to congressional requests and subpoenas regarding allegations of bias in the Russia investigation, the Department produced to congressional committees thousands of pages of highly sensitive law enforcement and classified investigatory and deliberative records related to that investigation—which remained open and ongoing at the time.  Moreover, the Department produced to congressional committees in full, and then took the unprecedented step of releasing to the public in redacted form, multiple documents related to the surveillance of a United States person under the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act.[5] 

We look forward to receiving the report in full no later than April 2, and to begin receiving the underlying evidence and documents that same day.[6]  To the extent that you believe applicable law limits your ability to comply, we urge you to begin the process of consultation with us immediately in order to establish shared parameters for resolving those issues without delay.

Sincerely,

_________________________________                               

                    Jerrold Nadler                                                                      

                       Chairman                                                                             

     House Committee on the Judiciary                             

________________________________                     

                     Adam Schiff                                                                

                      Chairman                                                                           

House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence         

________________________________                           

                    Richard E. Neal                                                                    

                     Chairman                                                                               

 House Committee on Ways and Means                                 

________________________________ 

              Elijah E. Cummings  

               Chairman

House Committee on Oversight and Reform

________________________________

              Maxine Waters

               Chairwoman 

House Committee on Financial Services

________________________________

             Eliot L. Engel

               Chairman

House Committee on Foreign Affairs

Bronx Metro-North Station Area Study - Public Open House: Morris Park and Parkchester

FINAL REMINDER Join us TOMORROW TONIGHT for our first in a series of two events to present draft recommendations for the Morris Park and Parkchester/Van Nest station areas! Please join us and help plan around coming Metro-North service in your neighborhood!

Let's continue the conversation! Learn about draft recommendations for Morris Park and Parkchester/Van Nest Share your perspective and priorities Guide investments and strategies

To ensure all members of the community have an opportunity to participate, we will be holding two events.

FIRST EVENT

WHEN Wednesday, March 27, 2019 4PM–7PM (Self-paced activities. Come when you wish and stay for long as you are able to.)

WHERE 1300 Morris Park Ave Lubin Hall Albert Einstein College of Medicine

SECOND EVENT

WHEN Saturday, March 30, 2019 10AM–1PM (Self-paced activities. Come when you wish and stay for long as you are able to.)

WHERE 2380 E Tremont Ave St Raymond's Elementary School Monsignor Tierney Auditorium (Enter at corner of E Tremont Ave and Purdy St)

Light refreshments will be provided. For any questions or special needs, please email bmns@planning.nyc.gov or call 718 220 8500

Find Out More

Bronx Metro-North in the News! Profile on planning efforts around the coming Bronx Metro-North station areas: "Relief for New York City’s Transit Deserts? Commuter Trains Might Help" New York Times, January 10, 2019 Information on agreements between Amtrak and the MTA that pave the path forward for the new service: "Amtrak, Metro-North Reach Deal on Bronx Expansion Plans" WNYC, January 22, 2019