U.S. Attorney Sues Landlord For Refusing To Allow Disabled Tenant To Keep An Assistance Animal

Lawsuit Follows Determination by Department of Housing and Urban Development that Landlord Engaged in Discrimination on the Basis of Disability

  Preet Bharara, the United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, announced today that the United States has filed a lawsuit against 111 EAST 88TH PARTNERS, a partnership, for violating the Fair Housing Act.  The Government alleges that 111 EAST 88TH PARTNERS discriminated against a disabled tenant, Gregory Reich, by failing to permit a reasonable accommodation of the tenant’s psychiatric disability.

U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara said: “We have repeatedly filed lawsuits of this sort, and will continue to do so, until housing providers understand that the Fair Housing Act plainly allows tenants with disabilities to keep assistance animals.” 

As alleged in the Complaint filed in Manhattan federal court:

Reich is a statutory lessee of an apartment in a building located at 111 East 88th Street, New York, New York.  Reich suffers from depression and a personality disorder, and has long suffered from chronic kidney disease.  In March 2015, Reich was diagnosed with end stage renal disease, which led to a significant deterioration of his mental health and a reduced capacity to care for himself.  On June 18, 2015, Reich requested a reasonable accommodation to keep an emotional support dog based on updated medical information related to his recent diagnosis of end stage renal disease.  Reich attached letters from his physician and his therapist.  In response, 111 EAST 88TH PARTNERS requested that Reich provide copies of all of the therapist’s notes from his sessions with Reich from May 2014 through present, and copies of Reich’s medical records and medical history.  111 EAST 88TH PARTNERS also reserved the right to have Reich examined by a physician it had selected, and to require Reich, his physician, and his therapist to appear to answer questions under oath relating to Reich’s disability and accommodation request. 

Believing that 111 EAST 88TH PARTNERS’ requests for medical information were so burdensome as to constitute a denial of the reasonable accommodation request, Reich filed an administrative complaint with the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (“HUD”).  Upon investigation, HUD determined that there was reasonable cause to believe that the Fair Housing Act had been violated.  Thereafter, 111 EAST 88TH PARTNERS elected pursuant to the Fair Housing Act to have HUD’s determination resolved in federal court.

In these circumstances, the Fair Housing Act authorizes the Department of Justice to commence an action in United States District Court on behalf of Reich.  The Complaint seeks declaratory, injunctive, and monetary relief for Reich.

Mr. Bharara thanked HUD for its efforts in the investigation.

Manhattan U.S. Attorney Announces Arrests Of Operators Of Retail Heroin Store

Drug ring conspired to sell heroin out of a retail storefront in Newburgh, NY

  Preet Bharara, the United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, Angel Melendez, Special Agent in Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Homeland Security Investigations in New York (“HSI”), and George P. Beach II, Superintendent of the New York State Police, announced the arrest of VICTOR M. RIVAS, EDWARD CARDONA, JULIO A. DAVILA, and RONALD L. MATIAS a/k/a “Ronald Louis” stemming from a narcotics conspiracy to establish a retail heroin-selling organization.  VICTOR M. RIVAS was arrested at his home in Newburgh, New York, and MATIAS was arrested at a motel in Newburgh.   CARDONA and DAVILA were arrested at the retail shop at 427 Broadway in Newburgh.  They will be presented today before U.S. Magistrate Judge Lisa Margaret Smith in White Plains federal court.

Law enforcement officers also executed search warrants on several locations where they believed the organizers were storing narcotics.  They seized a brick containing a substance that appeared to be heroin from behind the shop, and approximately $250,000 in cash from a storage unit used by the defendants.  Law enforcement also recovered a quantity of a substance that appeared to be heroin from DAVILA that was on his person when he was arrested.

VICTOR R. RIVAS, was also charged.  He is currently incarcerated on state charges and will be transported to federal custody to face the federal narcotics conspiracy charges.  

Manhattan U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara said:  “As alleged, these defendants blatantly sold heroin from a storefront on a main street in Newburgh, New York.  By flouting the law and selling heroin like newspapers or lottery tickets, the Complaint alleges, they also helped fuel the tragic epidemic of opioid abuse that is devastating so many of our communities.”

HSI Special Agent-in-Charge Angel Melendez said:  “This organization allegedly operated daily selling drugs out of their store while posing as a legitimate business. Using fake storefronts has been a way for criminals to hide in our neighborhoods while poisoning our communities.  Whether it’s a sham barber shop or a bogus sports store, there is no place to hide.  HSI and its law enforcement partners continue to work tirelessly, day and night, to find these drug pushers and take them off our streets.”

New York State Police Superintendent George P. Beach II said:  “Once again, a strong law enforcement partnership has brought down an illegal narcotic operation.  State Police members each day see the harmful effects of heroin on individuals, families and our neighborhoods.  A drug like heroin destroys communities and puts lives at risk.  I applaud our members and our partners for their strong police work.  We will continue to work together to make our communities safer from crime.”

According to the Complaint[1] unsealed today in federal court:

Since January 2016, law enforcement agents have been involved in an investigation of a narcotics trafficking organization (the “Organization”) run by VICTOR M. RIVAS, with the assistance of CARDONA, DAVILA, VICTOR R. RIVAS, and MATIAS that operates in and around Newburgh, New York, and specifically at a storefront location at 427 Broadway in Newburgh that alternately operates as a soccer shop and a barbershop (the “Soccer Shop”). 

During this investigation, undercover New York State Police officers (the “UCs”) and confidential sources (the “CSs”) conducted dozens of controlled buys of heroin at the Soccer Shop from several of the defendants.  In aggregate, from January 2016 to November 2016, the UCs and CSs purchased approximately 515 glassine envelopes of a substance sold as, and later determined to be heroin, at the Soccer Shop.  Ten glassine envelopes typically contain approximately 0.25 grams of heroin.

Law enforcement officials believe that the Organization distributed well over 1 kilogram of heroin from January 2016 through November 2016.  That belief is based, in part, on:  (i) the fact that, on the numerous occasions when the UCs and CSs sought to purchase heroin from the defendants, the heroin was readily available; (ii) the UCs and CSs frequently observed other customers of the Organization inside the Soccer Shop purchasing heroin; (iii) surveillance footage from a camera facing the Soccer Shop indicated that the Organization operated daily from approximately 5:30 a.m. to 6:30 p.m., and that a steady stream of customers tended to enter the shop while it  was open and remain inside for only a few minutes each; and (iv) the observations of the UCs and CSs, as well as recorded audio and video surveillance, which indicate that the Soccer Shop is not engaged in any legitimate business as a barbershop, sports shop, or otherwise.  During the course of this investigation, the only business observed to be conducted inside the Soccer Shop was the illegal sale of narcotics.

VICTOR M. RIVAS, 51, of Newburgh, CARDONA, 33, of Newburgh, DAVILA, 26, of Newburgh, VICTOR R. RIVAS, 28, of Newburgh, and MATIAS, 35, are each charged with one count of conspiring to violate the narcotics laws of the United States, by conspiring to distribute and possess with intent to distribute 1 kilogram and more of a mixture or substance containing a detectable amount of heroin.  The charge carries a maximum sentence of life in prison and a mandatory minimum sentence of 10 years in prison.  The maximum potential sentences in this case are prescribed by Congress and are provided here for informational purposes only, as any sentencing of the defendant will be determined by the judge.

Mr. Bharara thanked the Drug Enforcement Administration and the City of Newburgh Police Department for their assistance with this investigation.  He added that the investigation is continuing.

This case is being handled by the Office’s White Plains Division.  Assistant United States Attorneys Jacqueline C. Kelly and Allison Nichols are in charge of the prosecution.

The charges contained in the Complaint are merely accusations, and the defendants are presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty.

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[1] As the introductory phrase signifies, the entirety of the text of the Complaint and the description of the Complaint set forth below constitute only allegations and every fact described should be treated as an allegation.

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.”