BRONX WOMAN AND HER TEEN SON INDICTED IN MURDER OF HER 7-YEAR-OLD DAUGHTER JULISSIA BATTIES

 

Child Was Beaten and Sexually Abused; Defendants Failed to Seek Medical Attention

 Bronx District Attorney Darcel D. Clark today announced that a Bronx woman and her 17- year-old son have been indicted on Murder, Manslaughter and additional charges in the August 2021 death of her seven-year-old daughter, Julissia Batties.

 District Attorney Clark said, “A woman and her teenage son caused the death of her innocent, defenseless seven-year-old daughter, Julissia, in their Bronx home. The child was beaten and sexually abused and denied medical attention. This is a revolting, disturbing case of brutality and callousness. A 10-month investigation with the NYPD led to the indictments charging the defendants with Murder. The investigation revealed that Julissia was failed throughout her brief life. The signs of her torment were there but not acted on. We send our condolences to Julissia’s father and grandmother, who remain devastated by the loss of this beautiful, little girl.”

 District Attorney Clark said the defendants, Navasia Jones, 36, last of Brooklyn N.Y., and Paul Fine Jr., 18, of Brooklyn, N.Y., were arraigned today on an indictment charging two counts of second-degree Murder, under circumstances evincing a depraved indifference to human life, two counts of second-degree Manslaughter, three counts of Endangering the Welfare of a Child, and Fine Jr. was additionally charged with first-degree Assault, and first-degree Sexual Abuse. The defendants were arraigned before Bronx Supreme Court Justice Marsha Michael. They were remanded and Jones is due back in court on September 12, 2022, and Fine Jr. on July 5, 2022.

 Between August 8, 2021 and August 10, 2021, Julissia Batties, 7, was beaten and died while in the care of her mother and half-brother in their apartment in 175 Alexander Avenue. According to the investigation, Jones called 911 at 8:06 a.m. on August 10, 2021, after being urged by a family member to do so. When first responders arrived, Julissia had no pulse and no vital signs. The child was taken to Lincoln Hospital where she was pronounced dead.

 After her death, the defendants told police Julissia had fallen down and was vomiting and urinating on herself at about 5:00 a.m. They also said the child fell against various items in the apartment or on the floor. Those statements were inconsistent with the fatal and nonfatal injuries on Julissia’s body.

 Fine Jr. later confessed to ACS that he had assaulted the child all over her body between August 8 and August 10, 2021, and admitted to punching Julissia multiple times on the day of her death.

 The Office of the Chief Medical Examiner determined the child died by homicide caused by blunt force trauma to her abdomen. Examiners concluded she was struck with enough force to cause her internal organs to tear and bleed, filling her abdomen with blood. Examiners also found multiple bruises visible about the child’s entire face, chin, and back of right ear. The Medical Examiner determined the bruises on Julissia’s face are consistent with pattern bruising, likely caused by a fist or hand. There were additional injuries, visible bruises, marks, and scratches on Julissia’s body, including on both wrists, her clavicle, upper thigh and mouth.

 According to the investigation, Fine Jr. allegedly sexually abused Julissia. The child had injuries that were consistent with sexual assault. Those injuries were inflicted after Julissia had already begun to experience symptoms caused by the assaults to her abdomen.

 District Attorney Clark thanked NYPD Detective Jeff Grater of the 40th Precinct and Detective Colin Higgins of Bronx Homicide for their work in the investigation. 

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

Governor Hochul Signs Legislative Package to Empower Victims of Crime

 

Legislation (S.9359/A.7487) Expands Which Documents Can be Used to Show Identity Theft in Certain Circumstances Relating to Debt Collection

Legislation (S.8975/A.7489) Expands the Eligibility of Victims of Unlawful Dissemination or Publication of an Intimate Image, also Known as "Revenge Porn"

Legislation (S.8976/A.7502) Expands the Eligibility of Victims of the Crimes of Reckless Endangerment in the Second and First Degree

 Governor Kathy Hochul today signed a legislative package to empower victims of crime. This sweeping package of bills expands what qualifies as documentation of identity theft and expands the eligibility of victims of unlawful dissemination of intimate images, as well as reckless endangerment. These bills will help to lift up victims of these heinous acts and give them the opportunity to seek justice.

"In New York we believe strongly in protecting and uplifting all victims," Governor Hochul said. "This legislative package allows victims that have not been physically injured to still obtain compensation for other impacts of various crimes - taking an important step to help victims seek the justice they deserve."

Legislation (S.9359/A.7487) expands which documents can be used to show identity theft in certain circumstances relating to debt collection. These materials can now include Federal Trade Commission and Law enforcement reports, as well as criminal and family court documents. This increases protection for victims of identity theft by requiring creditors to cease collection activities until completion of their review of certain information. Under existing law, victims of identity theft must have filed a police report for a creditor to cease collection, with there being no alternative if a police report was not filed. This will allow more victims of identity theft to put these heinous acts behind them.

Legislation (S.8975/A.7489) expands the eligibility of victims of unlawful dissemination or publication of an intimate image as defined in section 245.15 of the Penal Law (Revenge Porn). Under current law, to be eligible for reimbursement for certain crime-related expenses, one must be a physically injured victim of a crime. This bill allows uninjured victims of unlawful dissemination of intimate images to be reimbursed. This gives more power to victims of revenge porn acts and allows them to collect damages for what they endured.

Legislation (S.8976/A.7502) expands the eligibility of victims of the crimes of reckless endangerment in the second and first degree. Under current law, to be eligible for reimbursement victims must be physically injured by reckless endangerment. This bill allows victims the ability to obtain compensation without having been physically injured, giving victims more power.

New York City Comptroller Lander Statement on West Virginia v. Environmental Protection Agency Supreme Court Decision

 

New York City Comptroller Brad Lander released the following statement in reaction to the Supreme Court’s decision in West Virginia v. Environmental Protection Agency:

“Today’s decision is yet another blow by our nation’s highest court with far-reaching impacts for our collective future. We cannot confront the scale of the risks the climate crisis poses to our communities and the global economy without strong, concerted action by both the federal government and the private sector. Today’s decision undermines the federal government’s ability to set critical standards for meaningful reductions in our greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and to provide for a just transition to a low-carbon economy.

“This ruling underscores how important it is that New York City continues to lead on climate and do everything within our power to limit emissions and accelerate our transition away from dirty energy. Thanks to the leadership of the trustees of the Teachers’ Retirement System, New York City Employees’ Retirement System, and Board of Education Retirement System, we are divesting from fossil fuel reserve owner companies, increasing investments in climate solutions, and working to achieve our goal of net zero GHG emissions by 2040 to reduce emissions across our managed assets. We will continue to review the implications of this decision for our work to confront the climate crisis using all the tools available to us.”

Rep. Jamaal Bowman Leads NYC Congressmembers in Criticizing NYC Mayor Eric Adams on School Budget Cuts

 

Today, Congressman Jamaal Bowman, led 7 of his colleagues in writing a letter to New York City Mayor Eric Adams underscoring the need to prioritize our public schools in the city’s FY 2023 budget. 

 The NYC Comptroller’s office has reported that 77% of our public schools in New York City will experience budget cuts in this next school year totaling more than $469 million. These cuts come at a time when the NYC Department of Education (DoE) has $4.3 billion of unused funds from the $7 billion it received from federal stimulus money included in the Coronavirus Response and Relief Supplemental Appropriations Act (CRRSAA) and the American Rescue Plan (ARP). These funds need to be utilized to support our children and our school communities holistically and we deserve full transparency into the city’s plan to allocate money across our schools. 

 

“There is no excuse for cutting our public school budgets,” said Congressman Jamaal Bowman, Ed.D (NY-16). “Our teachers, faculty, students and their families would be severely impacted by any reduction in school budgets - especially those learning or working at schools in predominantly low-income areas or communities of color. The impact of this pandemic on our youth can not be understated and our schools have a responsibility to meet their needs during very formative periods of their lives - it is the responsibility of our governments to properly fund and equip our schools to do so. Defunding education is unjustifiable. At the very least, the City and Mayor Adams need to direct remaining COVID relief funds into our public schools. Our youth are already struggling to keep up in large classes with limited resources. I voted in Congress to send billions of dollars to our schools for New York City so we could actually support the whole child and make evidence-based improvements to the learning environment, such as adopting the community school model, reducing class size, and more -- not to rollback funding in our public schools as the Adams Administration has. It is unacceptable and my colleagues and I will not tolerate it.”

 

“Budgets are a reflection of priorities and these budget cuts fall far short of the investment our children deserve,” said Reps. Jerrold Nadler, Nydia M. Velázquez, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, Grace Meng, Carolyn B. Maloney, Ritchie Torres and Yvette D. Clarke. “We therefore respectfully ask that you utilize DOE’s federal stimulus funding to restore NYC public school budgets and allow our educators to fully support their students with all the resources at their disposal.”

 

To read the full letter, please click here. 

 

Co-signers of the letter include: Reps. Jerrold Nadler, Nydia M. Velázquez, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, Grace Meng, Carolyn B. Maloney, Ritchie Torres and Yvette D. Clarke

 

Attorney General James Secures $400,000 From Wegmans After Data Breach Exposed Consumers’ Personal Information

 

AG James Requires Wegmans to Improve Data Storage Security Practices to Protect Consumers

 New York Attorney General Letitia James today secured $400,000 from grocery store chain, Wegmans, for exposing the personal information of more than three million consumers nationwide, including more than 830,000 New Yorkers. For years, Wegmans kept consumers’ personal information in misconfigured cloud storage containers that were open, making it easy for hackers or others to potentially access the information. The compromised data included usernames and passwords for Wegmans accounts, as well as customers’ names, email addresses, mailing addresses, and additional data derived from drivers’ license numbers. As a result of Attorney General James’ action, Wegmans is also required to upgrade its data security practices to protect consumers.

“Wegmans failed to safely store and seal its consumers’ personal information, instead it left sensitive information out in the open for years,” said Attorney General James. “Today, Wegmans is paying the price for recklessly handling and exposing millions of consumers’ personal information on the internet. In the 21^st century, there’s no excuse for companies to have poor cybersecurity systems and practices that hurt consumers.”

In April 2021, a security researcher informed Wegmans that a cloud storage container hosted on Microsoft Azure was left unsecured and open to public access, potentially exposing consumers’ sensitive information. Wegmans immediately reviewed its cloud environment and identified the container, which had a database backup file with over three million records of customer email addresses and account passwords. The container was misconfigured from its creation in January 2018 until April 2021. During this time, an unauthorized actor could have accessed and cracked account credentials, using them to log in to a customer’s Wegmans account or to access a customer’s account on a different website if the customer had reused their password. In May 2021, Wegmans discovered a second cloud storage container that was also misconfigured. The storage container, which was left publicly accessible since it was set up in November 2018, housed a database that included customers’ names, email addresses, mailing addresses, and additional data derived from drivers’ license numbers. 

In June 2021, Wegmans began notifying affected consumers whose personal information was compromised during the incident. The Office of the Attorney General (OAG) determined that, in addition to failing to appropriately configure the cloud storage containers to limit access to its contents, at the time of the incident, Wegmans failed to inventory its cloud assets containing personal information, secure all user passwords, and regularly conduct security testing of its cloud assets. In addition, Wegmans maintained checksums derived from customers’ driver’s license numbers without a reasonable business purpose to maintain any form of driver’s license information indefinitely. Wegmans also failed to maintain long-term logs of its cloud assets, which made it difficult to investigate security incidents.

As a result of today’s agreement, Wegmans is required to pay New York $400,000 in penalties. In addition, Wegmans must adopt new measures to protect consumers’ personal information going forward, including:

•  Maintaining a comprehensive information security program that includes regular updates to keep pace with changes in technology and security threats and reporting security risks to the company's leadership;
•  Maintaining appropriate asset management practices, including maintaining an inventory of all cloud assets;
•  Establishing policies and procedures to ensure all cloud assets containing personal information have appropriate access controls to limit access to such information;
•  Developing a penetration testing program that includes at least one annual comprehensive penetration test of Wegmans’ cloud environment;
•  Implementing centralized logging and monitoring of cloud asset activity, including logs that are readily accessible for a period of at least 90 days and stored for at least one year from the date the activity was logged;
•  Establishing appropriate password policies and procedures for customer accounts, including hashing stored passwords with a hashing algorithm and salting policy commensurate with NIST standards, encouraging customers to use strong passwords, educating customers on the benefits of multifactor authentication, and prohibiting password reuse;
•  Maintaining a reasonable vulnerability disclosure program that allows third parties, such as security researchers, to disclose vulnerabilities;
•  Establishing appropriate practices for customer account management and authentication, including notice, a security challenge, or re-authentication for account changes; and,
•  Updating its data collection and retention practices, including only collecting a customer’s personal information when there is a reasonable business purpose for collection and deleting personal information when there is no longer a reasonable business purpose to retain such information — for information collected prior to the effective date of the agreement, Wegmans will permanently delete all personal information for which no reasonable purpose exists within 240 days of the effective date.

Lev Parnas Sentenced To 20 Months In Prison For Campaign Finance, Wire Fraud, And False Statements Offenses

 

 Damian Williams, the United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, announced that LEV PARNAS was sentenced in Manhattan federal court by United States District Judge J. Paul Oetken to 20 months in prison for conspiring to make political contributions by a foreign national along with solicitation and aiding and abetting the making of the same, conspiring to make straw donations, participating in a wire fraud conspiracy, and making false statements and falsifying records.  PARNAS was previously found guilty on October 22, 2021 following a two-week jury trial on campaign finance and false statements offenses, and pled guilty to participating in a wire fraud conspiracy on March 25, 2022. 

U.S. Attorney Damian Williams said:  “Parnas will now serve time in prison for his many crimes.  Not content to defraud investors in his business, Fraud Guarantee, out of more than $2 million dollars, Parnas also defrauded the American public by pumping Russian money into U.S. elections and lying about the source of funds for political contributions.  My office will continue to aggressively prosecute those who put their personal and financial gain above their country and their investors.”

According to the allegations in the Indictment, court documents, and evidence presented at trial:

The Foreign Donor Scheme

In the spring of 2018, PARNAS, Igor Fruman, Andrey Kukushkin and Andrey Muraviev, a Russian oligarch, decided to launch a business aimed at acquiring retail cannabis licenses in the United States. As part of that plan, Muraviev agreed to wire $1 million, through a series of bank accounts, to Fruman and PARNAS to fund hundreds of thousands of dollars in political contributions they had made or promised to make before the election in November 2018.  The purpose of the donations was to curry favor with candidates that might be able to help PARNAS and his co-conspirators obtain cannabis and marijuana licenses.  To obscure the fact that Muraviev was the true donor of the money, the funds were sent to a business bank account controlled by Fruman’s brother, and then the donations were made in PARNAS’s and Fruman’s names.

The Straw Donor and False Statements Scheme

In March 2018, PARNAS and Fruman began attending political fundraising events in connection with federal elections and making substantial contributions to candidates, joint fundraising committees, and independent expenditure committees with the purpose of enhancing their influence in political circles and gaining access to politicians. 

In May 2018, to obtain access to exclusive political events and gain influence with politicians, PARNAS and Fruman made a $325,000 contribution to an independent expenditure committee.  PARNAS and Fruman also made thousands of dollars in contributions to a federal candidate and a joint fundraising committee.  Despite the fact that the Federal Election Commission (“FEC”) forms for these contributions required PARNAS and Fruman to disclose the true donor of the funds, they falsely reported that the $325,000 contribution came from Global Energy Producers, a purported liquefied natural gas import-export business that was incorporated by PARNAS and Fruman around the time the contributions were made.  PARNAS also falsely stated on contribution forms that contributions to the federal candidate and joint fundraising committee were paid for by him.  In truth and in fact, the donations did not come from Parnas or GEP funds.  Rather, the contributions were all straw donations paid for by Fruman. 

In response to a complaint filed with the FEC regarding the $325,000 contribution to the independent expenditure committee, and to further conceal the true source of the funds used to make certain of their donations, in or about October 2018, PARNAS and Fruman submitted sworn affidavits to the FEC that contained false statements, including that the $325,000 contribution “was made with GEP funds for GEP purposes” and that  “GEP is a real business enterprise funded with substantial bona fide capital investment; its major purpose is energy trading, not political activity.”

The Fraud Guarantee Scheme

Between in or about late 2012 and in or about mid-2019, PARNAS and David Corriea conspired to defraud multiple victims by inducing them to invest in their company, known as “Fraud Guarantee,” based on materially false and misleading representations.  Among other things, PARNAS and Correia falsely claimed that the investors’ funds would be used solely for legitimate business expenses of Fraud Guarantee, when in fact the funds were largely withdrawn as cash, transferred to personal accounts, and used for various apparently personal expenditures.  PARNAS and Correia also made materially false representations concerning, among other things, how much money PARNAS had contributed to the company and how much money the company had raised overall.  At least seven victims invested in Fraud Guarantee based at least in part on PARNAS’s and Correia’s false and misleading representations, with each victim being fraudulently induced to pay hundreds of thousands of dollars, for a total of more than $2 million.

PARNAS, 50, of Boca Raton, Florida, was sentenced to 20 months in prison, three years of supervised release, as well as $2,322,500 restitution.  Igor Fruman was sentenced to 366 days in prison on January 21, 2022 for solicitation of a contribution by a foreign national.  Andrey Kukushkin was sentenced to 366 days in prison on March 15, 2022 for conspiring to make and aiding and abetting the making of a contribution by a foreign national.  David Correia was sentenced to 366 days in prison on February 8, 2021 for making false statements and conspiracy to commit wire fraud.  Andrey Muraviev is believed to be in Russia and remains at large. 

Mr. Williams praised the outstanding investigative work of the FBI and its New York Field Office.

MAYOR ADAMS, CHIEF MEDICAL EXAMINER DR. GRAHAM ANNOUNCE FORMATION OF NATION’S FIRST DNA GUN CRIMES UNIT

 

Dedicated Team of Forensic Scientists at City’s DNA Crime Laboratory Will Accelerate Testing of Evidence to Bolster Fight Against Gun Violence

 New York City Mayor Eric Adams and New York City Chief Medical Examiner Dr. Jason Graham today announced the formation of the first-ever gun crimes unit at a public DNA crime laboratory in the country. The Office of the City Medical Examiner (OCME) DNA Gun Crimes Unit will focus exclusively on the testing and analysis of evidence from gun crimes and accelerate testing turnaround times to 30 days or less to expedite the processing of gun crime cases in the criminal justice system — strengthening public safety and the city’s criminal justice system.

 

“The Office of the Chief Medical Examiner is central to our fight against gun violence in New York City, and so we must fight the gun violence crisis with every tool at our disposal. That includes timely and accurate DNA testing of gun crime evidence,” said Mayor Adams. “New York City already processes gun crimes testing faster than 90 percent of the jurisdictions in the nation, but the OCME DNA Gun Crimes Unit will use the power of science to bring those involved in gun crimes to justice faster and help the criminal justice system process cases more quickly. With this new team, New York City is leading the way to end gun violence and keep our communities safe.”

 

“For every New Yorker concerned about or touched by gun violence, today’s announcement demonstrates the city’s commitment to safety and justice,” said Deputy Mayor for Health and Human Services Anne Williams-Isom. “OCME’s specialized unit will help speed up law enforcement investigations. It will also provide individuals and families involved in a case with certainty that the city’s forensic laboratory is bringing every resource to bear to serve justice. Thank you to the OCME team, to our law enforcement partners, and to every person that chooses to serve in the DNA Gun Crimes Unit.”

 

“The DNA Gun Crimes Unit exemplifies the mission of OCME to leverage science in the service of justice and public safety,” said Chief Medical Examiner Dr. Jason Graham. “This specialized team will laser focus our forensic expertise to test evidence from gun crimes and rapidly deliver results for all communities affected by gun violence. Our testing turnaround times are already among the best in the nation, and this initiative will bring us to the next level.”

 

Funded by an investment of $2.5 million, the OCME DNA Gun Crimes Unit will hire and train 24 forensic scientists dedicated solely to the testing and analysis of evidence from gun crimes throughout the five boroughs. Within the next year, the specialized squad will ensure testing turnaround times of an unprecedented 30 days or less, as measured from when testing is requested by a district attorney to the distribution of the case report to the district attorney and the New York City Police Department. Funding will also support upgrades in laboratory management software, the purchase of new equipment, and supplies.

 

OCME operates the largest public DNA crime laboratory in North America, responsible for testing physical evidence from criminal cases within New York City. The lab tests approximately 50,000 items of evidence each year across all categories of crime. Testing turnaround times for gun crimes currently stand at 60 days or less, faster than 90 percent of the jurisdictions in the nation.

Managed and staffed by scientists in OCME’s Department of Forensic Biology, the city’s DNA laboratory serves the criminal justice system as an independent resource, with testing results used to convict the guilty and exonerate the innocent. The lab is accredited by the ANSI National Accreditation Board (ANAB) and the New York State Forensic Laboratory Accreditation program.

Housing Lottery Launches For 661 Manida Street Senior Apartments In Hunts Point, The Bronx

 

The affordable housing lottery has launched for 661 Manida Street, an eight-story residential building with senior housing in Hunts Point, The Bronx. Designed by Rise Architecture and developed by Josil Group, the structure yields 56 residences. Available on NYC Housing Connect are 32 units for residents at 80 percent of the area median income (AMI), ranging in eligible income from $54,343 to $96,080.

Amenities include bike storage lockers, a shared laundry room, gym, recreation room, and an elevator. Units include name-brand kitchen appliances, countertops, and finishes, air conditioning, and intercoms. Tenants are responsible for electricity.

At 80 percent of the AMI, there are 23 studios with a monthly rent of $1,487 for incomes ranging from $54,343 to $85,440 and nine one-bedrooms with a monthly rent of $1,583 for incomes ranging from $59,143 to $96,080.

Prospective renters must meet income and household size requirements to apply for these apartments. Applications must be postmarked or submitted online no later than August 30, 2022.