MAYOR DE BLASIO AND NEW YORK STATE NURSES ASSOCIATION ANNOUNCE CONTRACT AGREEMENT

Ratified agreement includes wage increases and changes to address recruitment and retention problems and help nurses deliver quality care

  Mayor Bill de Blasio announced today that the City of New York has reached a contract agreement with the New York State Nurses Association (NYSNA), which represents more than 8,500 nurses across the NYC Health + Hospitals system (H+H) and City Agencies.

The agreement includes compounded wage increases of 2.00%, 2.25%, 0.25%, and 3.00% over nearly 45 months, is retroactive to June 6, 2019, and expires on March 2, 2023.

“Nurses are vital to the health and well-being of our city,” said Mayor Bill de Blasio. “With our agreement with the New York State Nurses Association, we’re paying a fair wage and addressing longstanding issues of recruitment and retention to ensure these nurses have the support they need to continue to provide excellent care to all New Yorkers.”

  

“Nurses are the heart of our mission to care for all New Yorkers without exception. Their professionalism and compassion exemplify the values of our organization,” said Mitchell Katz, MD, President and CEO of NYC Health + Hospitals. “The care of our patients and the people who care for them are a priority in the City’s public health system, and NYSNA and their members are critical in that effort.”

“We are thrilled to have reached an agreement with our partners at NYSNA that’s good for nurses, our health system and the million-plus patients we serve,” said Chief Nurse Executive for NYC Health + Hospitals Natalia Cineas, DNP, RN, NEA-BC. “As a part of our transformation we have hired a significant number of new nurses and look forward to adding to our team as we make our system more attractive for nurses with a passion for excellence and our mission.”

“Throughout this negotiation, Mayor de Blasio and his representatives in the contract negotiation demonstrated a fundamental commitment to the people of New York City.  They listened intently to the nurses and others speak about conditions in the public hospitals and the contract reflects what they heard and learned. ­­ We thank the Mayor for the respect he showed us and for a contract that supports nurses and patients and the many communities we serve.  The respect is very much mutual,” said Jill Furillo, RN, NYSNA Executive Director.

“This is a great win for the nurses of NYC H+H and Mayorals, and the patients we care for.  With this contract and its many important provisions, including nurse-to-patient ratios, we can raise the level of patient care. That’s the real winner. Thanks to my fellow NYSNA nurses for their extraordinarily hard work and devotion to the people of New York City. We greatly appreciate NYC H+H President and CEO Dr. Mitchell Katz for his dedication to the public's health. We are so proud to be a part of a system that stands for healthcare as a human right,” said Judith Cutchin, RN, NYSNA Board Member and President, NYSNA's NYC H+H/Mayoral Executive Council.

The City has agreed to collaboratively address nurse-to-patient staffing ratios with NYSNA and establish an escalation process including non-binding mediation.

  

To address recruitment and retention issues, H+H and NYSNA have agreed to changes in certain salaries and differentials for specific subsets of the bargaining unit which have experienced severe recruitment and retention problems in recent years, such as Nurse Practitioners, and Nurses in certain targeted specialty areas and/or with specific levels of education.

The parties have also collaborated to enhance the employee experience by adding and modifying contract language relating to workplace violence prevention, disaster relief leave, nurse practice councils, floating assignments, safe patient handling and posting and filling of vacancies. In addition, NYSNA will have the right to opt into the NYS Paid Family Leave Program during the term of the contract. 

This agreement has been ratified by NYSNA membership.

The total cost of the NYSNA settlement through Fiscal Year 2023 is $336 million, which is covered by existing resources.

SAVE-THE-DATE - SBX Confronts Asthma Epidemic Head On

SAVE-THE-DATE SBX Confronts Asthma Epidemic Head On Sat, Jan 18, 1-3 pm BronxArtSpace - 305 East 140th Street (at Alexander Avenue)

Join South Bronx Unite and Columbia University's Mailman School of Public Health and Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory for the release of the findings on FreshDirect's impact on levels of black carbon, fine particulate matter (PM2.5) and noise in our community. Then help us: CONSTRUCT mobile air quality monitors as citizen scientists (with Columbia);  BUILD the case for community education and action for/towards environmental mitigation; and  UTILIZE grassroots healing efforts for health and well-being   *LUNCH, TRANSLATION, AND CHILDCARE PROVIDED*

RSVP

ALSO - PLEASE CLICK HERE TO SIGN THE PETITION TO LANDMARK THE HISTORIC PORT MORRIS GANTRIES!

THE RESULTS ARE IN: FOR 2 1/2 YEARS, WE HAVE SCIENTIFICALLY STUDIED AND RECORDED THE IMPACT ON AIR QUALITY OF FRESHDIRECT’S SUBSIDIZED MOVE TO THE SOUTH BRONX.  For the first time ever in the Mott Haven-Port Morris neighborhood, air quality, traffic counting and noise monitoring has occurred in one combined study. Since May 2017, South Bronx Unite has been collaborating with Columbia University's Mailman School of Public Health and Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory* to measure black carbon, fine particulate matter (PM2.5) and noise before and after the opening of the $150 million city- and state-subsidized relocation of FreshDirect and its diesel trucking operation to Mott Haven. We now have the results! Join us to discuss the summary of our findings and the launching of a new citizen scientist pilot project to build and operate mobile air quality monitoring devices.

BECOME A CITIZEN SCIENTIST, BUILD A MOBILE DEVICE AND DOCUMENT AIR QUALITY IN MOTT HAVEN. Join us in the next phase of documenting our air quality crisis to demand active and aggressive mitigation efforts in the South Bronx. We are continuing our collaboration with Columbia researcher to organize - for the first time ever -  an effort that enables our local community to build and operate mobile air quality monitors. Five community members will be the first to participate and record in real time air quality standards that they live and breathe every day.

HUNDREDS OF MILLIONS OF DOLLARS SUBSIDIZE ENVIRONMENTAL DEGRADATION IN MOTT HAVEN-PORT MORRIS - NOT $1 GOES TOWARDS IMPROVING OUR AIR QUALITY! HELP US USE DATA TO ADVOCATE FOR GREEN INFRASTRUCTURE AND OTHER CREATIVE MITIGATION MEASURES! There are more than 3,000 linear miles of noise barriers built along US highways to divert noise. Not one inch is in Mott Haven-Port Morris. And cities all over the world are building green infrastructure - green walls, green roofs, vegetation barriers and street trees -  as one important part of improving air quality. Not one of these efforts have taken place in Mott Haven. Join us to brainstorm these and other outside-the-box solutions to the environmental crisis that exists in the South Bronx.

LEARN OTHER TECHNIQUES FOR HEALTH AND HEALING THROUGH ACUPUNCTURE AND ACUPRESSURE Learn about efforts to build a SAPP Healing in Community/Sanando en Comunidad in the South Bronx (see background here.) Also learn about and receive magnetic bead acupressure from Jo Ann Lenney - the very simple but profound technique of using a magnetic bead on each ear to help with trauma recovery and healing, the quieting of stress and anxiety (which trigger asthma attacks,) and relieving migraines and helping with wellness.  * Full academic collaborators included: Department of Environmental Health Sciences, Mailman School of Public Health, Columbia University, New York, NY, USA; Area of Cardiometabolic and Renal Risk, Institute for Biomedical Research INCLIVA, Valencia, Spain; Department of Statistics and Operational Research, University of Valencia, Valencia, Spain; Department of Sociomedical Sciences, Mailman School of Public Health, Columbia University, New York, NY, USA; Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory of Columbia University, New York, NY, USA.

ASTHMA ALLEY - Why we fight!

ASTHMA ALLEY

NYC Public Advocate - WILLIAMS UNVEILS 2019 WORST LANDLORDS WATCHLIST

 Public Advocate Jumaane D. Williams unveiled the annual Worst Landlords Watchlist today, which spotlights the top 100 most egregiously negligent landlords in New York City as determined by widespread and repeated violations in buildings on the list. 

The 2019 worst individual landlord is Jason Korn, who rose from number 9 in 2018 after holding an average of 2,877 open housing violations each month across more than a dozen buildings over the last year. Also topping the list as the overall worst landlord for the second year in a row is the New York City Housing Authority (NYCHA), with nearly 350,000 current outstanding work orders, over 100,000 more than last year's total following the installation of a federal monitor and new Chairman.

"I've been a tenant organizer, I've been a Housing Chair, and now as Public Advocate, I'm going to use my voice to amplify those of tenants suffering because of the worst landlords in our city," said Public Advocate Jumaane D. Williams. "The landlords on this list have failed to live up to their most basic obligations. Through legislation and organization, through political power and tenant power, we're going to take them on."

The top five worst individual landlords for 2019 are:

1. Jason Korn, average of 2,877 HPD open violations
2. Nathan Montgomery, average of 1,581 HPD open violations
3. Eric Silverstein, average of 1,144 HPD open violations
4. Abdul Khan, average of 1,135 HPD open violations
5. Chris Deangelis, average of 978 HPD open violations

The Public Advocate's Landlord Watchlist is an information-sharing tool intended to allow tenants, public officials, advocates, and other concerned individuals to identify which residential property owners consistently flout the City's laws intended to protect the rights and safety of tenants. Buildings on the watchlist have, on average, the highest levels of open HPD violations per unit, per month. This is the first list from Public Advocate Williams' office following his election to the office earlier this year. 

The number one worst individual landlord on the 2019 list, Jason Korn, oversees sixteen properties on the list with over 700 combined units and averaged nearly 3,000 open HPD violations each month over the past year. Among the HPD Class C Violations on his properties, the most severe category, are lead paint exposure, rodent infestation, mold, electrical failures, heat and hot water failures, and others.

NYCHA, which first topped the watchlist last year, has since had a new Chair and a federal monitor installed. Across all 326 developments, it has 342,840 open work orders as of November 2019, with unsafe and unsanitary conditions impacting the nearly half a million public housing residents in New York City. That represents a sharp increase from last year's 240,120 work orders at the close of November 2018.

"As a long time tenant organizer before joining the office of the Public Advocate, I have seen first hand what tenants live through when they have neglectful landlords as the ones on this list," said Delsenia Glover, Deputy Public Advocate of Housing Equity. "It is shameful. Landlords need more accountability, as well as stiffer penalties for the deliberateness of their neglect of property.  No one deserves to live in the conditions we've seen in these buildings."

The Public Advocate announced the list at a rally in lower Manhattan with tenant organizations and elected officials, highlighting many of the offenses which earned landlords their rank on the list, including inadequate fire exits, rodents, lead-based paint, and lack of heat, hot water, electricity, or gas, among others. The rally kicked off a citywide tour by the Public Advocate, visiting properties across the city owned by the worst landlords. The first site is run by the designated worst landlord, the New York City Housing Authority. While the agency is not included in the methodology used to rank individual property owners, the Public Advocate emphasized that its neglect and mismanagement needs to be spotlighted and combated.

Public Advocate Williams also spotlighted several of the disingenuous tactics employed by the worst landlords in order to remove themselves from the list - including self-certification of repairs without city verification and transfers of ownership among different individuals within the same entity. He announced that his office was pursuing legislation to limit self-certification, to increase penalties for failure to make or to falsely represent the status of critical repairs, and to bring transparency to ownership of properties.

Individual landlords on the list are ranked according to objective criteria based on the number of open housing code violations issued to their buildings by the Department of Housing Preservation and Development (HPD), based on data from December 2019 to November 2019. Also listed are the 10 "worst" buildings for each borough, ranked according to the number of average open violations per month, regardless of ownership. Only Class B and C violations are counted in the calculation of whether a building meets the selection criteria. More on the methodology is available here.

"Technology and data has the power to give voice to those who have historically been ignored," said John Katt, Director of Technology, Development, and Data for the Public Advocate's office. "The Worst Landlord Watchlist is one such technology, giving voice to New Yorkers whose homes are routinely not kept in a living condition."

Expanding on his legislative and advocacy-driven solution to fight the abuses of landlords on the list, the Public Advocate spoke about the need for, and power of, tenant organization. He highlighted his own history as a tenant organizer and pointed to the recent victories in Albany as evidence of the ability for unified tenants to demand change and accountability from the worst landlords in the city, declaring that his office would help connect tenants and enable them to organize on a building, block, and borough basis. 

The Public Advocate will launch a citywide tour Monday of properties owned by the worst landlords, with more information available here.

View the full Worst Landlord Watchlist, as well as borough-specific lists, for 2019 at LandlordWatchlist.com. 

The Food Insecurity Program is part of the Speaker’s plan to combat food inequity

 New York City Council Speaker Corey Johnson and City University of New York (CUNY) Chancellor Félix V. Matos Rodríguez announce a $1 million pilot to address food insecurity among CUNY students. The program, which starts at CUNY’s seven community colleges, is part of the Speaker’s multi-pronged approach to stemming food inequity in New York.

In the fall and spring semesters, 1,250 qualifying students, including CUNY Dreamers, those with Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) status, will get $400 that they can spend in campus cafeterias. The students were selected from a pool of low-income students who met the basic eligibility criteria and had an average family income that was $15,605. 

“College student hunger is a serious problem in New York City. CUNY students should be focused on learning and studying, not where their next meal is coming from. We are one of the richest cities in the world but too many New Yorkers don’t have equitable access to healthy food. The Council is proud to fund this pilot so that more students have access to food instead of skipping meals to survive,” said Council Speaker Corey Johnson. 

“A student dealing with hardships outside of the classroom can be quickly overwhelmed by the demands of college. I applaud Speaker Johnson for his leadership on this critical issue and I thank the City Council for supporting this important pilot program. The initiative will be a valuable addition to CUNY’s leading-edge efforts to address food insecurity and connect students to life-changing resources that will contribute to their physical and mental well-being and academic success,” said Chancellor Félix V. Matos Rodríguez. 

Students were notified in October that they were eligible for the fall semester. Determinations are made per semester, therefore the group in the spring may be different as population and need shifts. Students are given $400 vouchers or swipe cards – equivalent to three $10 meals weekly for 13 weeks – to spend on any food items in participating cafeterias.

The basic eligibility criteria to qualify is:

• Significant financial need
• Resident of the five boroughs
• Enrolled at CUNY for at least 9 credits
• Obtaining first college degree
• Not currently a recipient of the Supplemental
  Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP)
• Maintaining a satisfactory grade point average

Participating colleges are: Borough of Manhattan Community College (BMCC), Bronx Community College (BCC), Hostos Community College, Kingsborough Community College (KBCC), LaGuardia Community College, Queensborough Community College (QCC) and Guttman Community College.

Priority was given to student parents, students who completed at least 45 credits and first year students. One survey of CUNY students found that nearly half of respondents said they had been food insecure in the prior 30 days.

The Speaker’s pilot builds on CUNY’s efforts to guide more students to available resources and address food insecurity. These efforts range from opening food pantries or offering food vouchers at all 18 undergraduate colleges to growing food on three campuses, including Kingsborough’s quarter-acre Urban Farm that produces thousands of pounds of fresh organic produce each year to distribute to students in need.

Another CUNY effort to help alleviate stressors that can hinder a student’s academic career are campus-based offices that assist students in obtaining nutrition benefits, health insurance, legal and financial services and tax preparation. These offices also manage campus food pantries and operate at every CUNY community college and at John Jay College of Criminal Justice.

“We know that to be successful in college, students must have their basic needs met, including having enough food to eat. We are committed to working with our partners to prevent food insecurity among our students. In addition to the recently opened food pantry on campus, these emergency food vouchers will help give our students the support they need to complete their degrees and achieve their dreams. We thank the Speaker, the City Council, and CUNY, for their visionary leadership on this critical issue,” said Karrin E. Wilks, Interim President of BMCC.

SEVEN INDICTED IN DRUG PACKAGING MILL OPERATION: MAN CHARGED WITH ASSAULTING OFFICERS BY THROWING TOXIC FENTANYL

Bridget G. Brennan, New York City’s Special Narcotics Prosecutor, Ray Donovan, Special Agent in Charge of the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration’s (DEA) New York Division, New York City Police Commissioner Dermot F. Shea, Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) New York Special Agent in Charge Peter C. Fitzhugh, New York State Police Superintendent Keith M. Corlett and Bronx District Attorney Darcel D. Clark announced the indictment of seven individuals charged with operating a fentanyl packaging operation in the Mott Haven neighborhood of the Bronx. One defendant faces assault charges for allegedly throwing fentanyl at a law enforcement officer with the intent to cause serious injury.

Members of the New York Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Strike Force, Group Z-21, obtained a court authorized search warrant for a suspected narcotics packaging location at 304 Willis Avenue, Apt. 4D on November 7, 2019. Upon entering the apartment, agents and officers encountered six individuals in the living room along with a large quantity of suspected heroin and fentanyl packaged into nearly 20,000 individual dose glassine envelopes, as well as additional quantities of narcotics in loose powder form.

Before Strike Force members could secure the apartment, defendant CHRISTIAN ROJAS allegedly threw loose fentanyl at the head of one of the officers, striking him with powder and causing dust to become airborne.  The officer exhibited fentanyl-related symptoms, including nausea and shortness of breath and was treated by emergency responders. A second officer who was immediately behind this officer also experienced nausea and shortness of breath, and momentarily lost consciousness while being transported to a hospital via ambulance. A total of four officers experienced fentanyl-related symptoms as a result of being inside the apartment at 304 Willis Avenue, which is across the street from a public elementary school.

The defendants are scheduled for arraignment today before Manhattan Supreme Court Justice Abraham Clott, 111 Centre Street, Part 61. An indictment filed by the Office of the Special Narcotics Prosecutor charges CHRISTIAN ROJAS with two counts of Attempted Aggravated Assault Upon a Police Officer, two counts of Assault in the Second Degree and one count of Reckless Endangerment in the Second Degree. All seven defendants allegedly present in the apartment are charged with Criminal Possession of a Controlled Substance in the First Degree, two counts of Criminal Possession of a Controlled Substance in the Third Degree and two counts of Criminally Using Drug Paraphernalia in the Second Degree.

Defendants JOSE GONZALEZ, FREDDY ROJAS, NASSAR LACEWELL, MARIO GUERRERO and FRANCISCO PAYANO were allegedly in the living room along with CHRISTIAN ROJAS at the time of the court authorized search. Defendant MARGARET PAYANO was in a bedroom.

Special Narcotics Prosecutor Bridget G. Brennan thanked Bronx District Attorney Darcel D. Clark and commended members of her office’s Special Investigations Bureau and the New York Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Strike Force, a crime-fighting unit comprising federal, state and local law enforcement agencies supported by the New York/New Jersey High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area.

The Strike Force is housed at the DEA’s New York Division and includes agents and officers of the DEA; the New York City Police Department; the New York State Police; Immigration and Customs Enforcement – Homeland Security Investigations; the U.S. Internal Revenue Service Criminal Investigation Division; the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives; U.S. Customs and Border Protection; U.S. Secret Service; the U.S. Marshals Service; New York National Guard; the Clarkstown Police Department; U.S. Coast Guard; Port Washington Police Department; and New York State Department of Corrections and Community Supervision.

1	Nassar Lacewell; Newark, NJ; 2/24/1983	CPCS 1st – 1 ct; CPCS 3rd – 2 cts; Criminally Using Drug Paraphernalia 2nd – 2 cts
2	Christian Rojas; Brooklyn, NY; 6/27/1975	Attempted Aggravated Assault Upon a Police Officer – 2 cts; Assault 2nd – 2 cts; Reckless  Endangerment 2nd – 1 ct; CPCS 1st – 1 ct; CPCS 3rd – 2 cts; Criminally Using Drug Paraphernalia 2nd – 2 cts
3	Francisco Payano; Bronx, NY; 12/30/1983	CPCS 1st – 1 ct; CPCS 3rd – 2 cts; Criminally Using Drug Paraphernalia 2nd – 2 cts
4	Mario Guerrero; Bronx, NY; 5/25/1979	CPCS 1st – 1 ct; CPCS 3rd – 2 cts; Criminally Using Drug Paraphernalia 2nd – 2 cts
5	Jose Gonzalez; Bronx, NY; 7/16/1970	CPCS 1st – 1 ct; CPCS 3rd – 2 cts; Criminally Using Drug Paraphernalia 2nd – 2 cts
6	Freddy Rojas; Brooklyn, NY; 4/22/1972	CPCS 1st – 1 ct; CPCS 3rd – 2 cts; Criminally  Using Drug Paraphernalia 2nd – 2 cts
7	Margaret Payano; Bronx, NY; 9/27/1973	CPCS 1st – 1 ct; CPCS 3rd – 2 cts; Criminally  Using Drug Paraphernalia 2nd – 2 cts

The charges and allegations are merely accusations and the defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty.

Young Israel Of Pelham Parkway :

Please join us at The Young Israel of Pelham Parkway located at 900 Pelham Parkway South/ corner of Muliner Ave. on Sunday Dec.22,2019 starting at 2:00 pm for a festive Chanukah Party and Concert starring the wonderfully talented Aaron Alexander and The Klez Messengers Band. This is a FREE event. Refreshments will be served. Come ,enjoy and have FUN.

Former Vice President Of Teamsters Labor Union Pleads Guilty To Bribery

  Geoffrey S. Berman, the United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, announced that JOHN ULRICH, who previously served as the vice president of the International Brotherhood of Teamsters Local 812 (the “Union”) and as a trustee of the Union’s employee health benefit plan (the “Plan”), pled guilty today to soliciting tens of thousands of dollars in bribe payments from an executive with the Plan’s Third Party Administrator (the “TPA-1”), in exchange for using his influence to ensure the Union’s continued retention of TPA-1 as its Plan administrator.  ULRICH pled guilty before United States District Judge Analisa Torres.

U.S. Attorney Geoffrey S. Berman said:  “As he admitted in court today, John Ulrich betrayed the trust of the Union members who elected him in order to line his pockets with bribe money.  This Office is committed to prosecuting corrupt union officials who abuse their positions of trust for their own financial benefit.”

According to the allegations in the Indictment, other public filings, and statements made during the plea proceeding:

The Union has more than approximately 3,000 members, and represents workers in the beverage industry throughout the New York metropolitan area.  The Union’s members are covered by the Plan, which provides, among other things, life insurance, health insurance, dental, vision, and disability benefits to Union members and their families.  As the Plan’s third-party administrator, TPA-1 processed health insurance claims for participants in the Plan.  At all times relevant to the Indictment, ULRICH was a member and officer of the Union and a trustee of the Plan.

In or about 2013, ULRICH  solicited bribe payments from an executive with TPA-1 (“Executive-1”) of $5,000 per quarter in exchange for using his influence to maintain TPA-1 as the Plan’s third-party administrator.  Before ULRICH solicited these bribes, the Plan had issued a request for proposals for a new third-party administrator, and TPA-1 was at risk of losing the Plan’s business.  ULRICH told Executive-1 that ULRICH would use his influence with the Union to ensure that the Plan continued to use TPA-1 to administer the Union’s health care plan.  Executive-1 agreed to make $5,000 quarterly payments to ULRICH, and began doing so.  Subsequently, despite receiving multiple bids from other third-party administrators, the Plan then continued to work with TPA-1.   

In or about 2014, ULRICH demanded increased bribe payments from Executive-1.  In part, ULRICH told Executive-1 that these increased bribe payments were needed for another trustee of the Plan, and Executive-1 began making such increased payments.  On or about September 19, 2015, ULRICH again solicited additional bribe payments for this trustee.

After a special board meeting convened by the Plan in February 2016, ULRICH was terminated as vice president and trustee of the Union and Plan, respectively.  In total, ULRICH demanded, and Executive-1 paid, tens of thousands in bribes before ULRICH was removed from office.

ULRICH, 48, of Newburgh, New York, pled guilty to one count of conspiracy to solicit and receive bribe payments to influence the operation of an employee benefit plan, which carries a maximum penalty of five years in prison.  The maximum potential sentence in this case is prescribed by Congress and is provided here for informational purposes only, as any sentencing of the defendant will be determined by the judge. 

ULRICH is scheduled to be sentenced by Judge Torres on April 23, 2020, at 2:00 p.m.

Mr. Berman praised the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the U.S. Department of Labor Office of Inspector General, the U.S. Department of Labor Employee Benefits Security Administration, and the U.S. Department of Labor Office of Labor-Management Standards for their outstanding investigative work in this case.

Executive Of Purported Caffeinated Snack Company Sentenced To 4 Years In Prison For Defrauding Investors Of More Than $2.3 Million

  Geoffrey S. Berman, the United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, announced that BARRY SCHWARTZ was sentenced to four years in prison today by U.S. District Judge Jed S. Rakoff for participating in a conspiracy to defraud more than 50 investors in the Starship Snacks Corporation of more than $2.3 million, by making false and fraudulent representations about, among other things, the status of the company’s products, guarantees that purportedly backed the investments, and the interest of large multi-national corporations in acquiring the companies.

U.S. Attorney Geoffrey Berman said:  “Barry Schwartz participated in a conspiracy to defraud investors, telling them their investments were safe and guaranteed when, in fact, he and his co-conspirators had misappropriated investor funds to support their lavish lifestyles.  Schwartz lied about the readiness of his company’s products and about the claim that two large multi-national companies were vying to buy the company.  Schwartz’s house of lies eventually collapsed, bringing financial devastation to many of its victims.  Today Schwartz was held accountable for the criminal conduct that defrauded more than 50 investors of more than $2.3 million.”

According to the allegations contained in the Indictment filed against SCHWARTZ and statements made in related court filings and proceedings, including the trial of co-defendant Joel Margulies:

The Starship Snack Corporation Fraud Scheme

From approximately August 2015 through August 2017, SCHWARTZ, Margulies, and a co-conspirator, Lisa Bershan, raised more than $2.3 million from investors in a company originally called the Awake Company and later renamed Starship Snacks Corporation (“Starship”), which purported to be in the business of developing and manufacturing caffeinated snack products, based on the following misrepresentations, among others: (a) that investments in Starship were guaranteed against losses by Bershan; (b) that Starship was going to be acquired by Monster Beverage (“Monster”) in a one-for-one stock exchange; (c) that Starship was engaged in actual product development and had procured samples of candies infused with caffeine; (d) that SCHWARTZ and others at Starship had entered into non-disclosure agreements with Monster that prohibited them from discussing Starship’s purported acquisition by Monster and its purported product development.  SCHWARTZ held himself out as Starship’s corporate secretary.   

After receiving funds from Starship investors, SCHWARTZ and his co-conspirators used those funds to maintain their own extravagant lifestyles, spending hundreds of thousands of dollars on things like luxury clothing, plastic surgery, interior decorating, the rental of a high-end apartment in New York City, and the down payment for a multimillion-dollar house in Florida. 

In addition to the prison term, SCHWARTZ, 73, was sentenced to two years of supervised release.  SCHWARTZ was also ordered to forfeit $2,163,214.  A restitution order will be entered within 90 days.

Lisa Bershan was convicted upon a guilty plea, and sentenced by Judge Rakoff on November 22, 2019, principally to a term of seven years in prison.  Joel Margulies was convicted following a seven-day jury trial before Judge Rakoff and is scheduled to be sentenced on December 16, 2019. 

Mr. Berman praised the work of the Federal