Tag: queens-district-attorney-melinda-katz

Cops dismantle interstate gun trafficking ring; deals done in Astoria parking lot to Staten Island

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Nov. 6, 2023 By Iryna Shkurhan A seven-month investigation into an interstate gun trafficking ring spanning from Cincinnati to an Astoria parking lot resulted in the seizure of over 100 guns and the indictment of three individuals.  Over the course of five meetups with an undercover police officer at the P.C. Richard & Son parking lot on Steinway Street in Astoria this summer, the defendants sold a total of 97 firearms, including 17 assault weapons. The purchases by the plainclothes cop totaled $124,000 at approximately $1,200 per gun.  “Guns and the recovery of weapons on the streets of Queens are…
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New England man charged in shooting of Flushing woman over her relative’s debt: DA

The suspects firearm was recovered at the scene.

Nov. 6, 2023 By Bill Parry A Massachusetts man was criminally charged in connection to the “cold-blooded” shooting of a Flushing woman in February, allegedly over a relative’s unpaid financial debt, Queens District Attorney Melinda Katz announced on Nov. 6. Minliang Zheng, 50, of Pope Street in Quincy, was arraigned in Queens Supreme Court on Nov. 2 on a four-count indictment charging him with assault and weapons charges hours after he was extradited back to Queens from Massachusetts where he fled following the shooting. According to the charges, on Feb. 26, a man who has not been identified approached a…
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Drugs and guns worth millions seized from abandoned home in Queens

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Nov. 1, 2023 By Iryna Shkurhan A Jamaica man was indicted as a major trafficker after illicit drugs, including fentanyl, estimated at over $10 million in street value were seized from an abandoned house in Bellerose.  The stash was discovered by a contractor who arrived at the boarded up single family home on 88th Road on May 30 following the sale of the property. After stumbling upon large quantities of illicit narcotics and guns out in the open, he proceeded to call 911 and take pictures of the significant stockpile before leaving to relay his findings to the NYPD. “[Fentanyl]…
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Long Island woman convicted in 2021 Queens hit-and-run that killed NYPD detective: DA

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Oct. 31, 2023 By Bill Parry A Long Island woman was convicted by a jury in Queens Supreme Court on aggravated manslaughter and other charges for driving drunk and slamming into NYPD Detective Anastasios Tsakos in a fatal hit-and-run on the Long Island Expressway in 2021. Jessica Beauvais, 34, of Myrtle Avenue in Hempstead, was…
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Jamaica man charged with manslaughter as hate crime after allegedly beating Sikh man to death: DA

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Oct. 31, 2023 By Bill Parry A Jamaica man was criminally charged with manslaughter and assault as a hate crime on Oct. 31 in Queens Supreme Court in the death of 66-year-old Jasmer Singh, just two days after the Sikh community gathered at a South Richmond Hill temple in an emotional call for justice. Gilbert Augustin, 30, of 111th Avenue, was arraigned on a 20-count indictment charging him with manslaughter in the first degree as a hate crime; manslaughter in the first degree; assault in the second degree as a hate crime and a slew of other crimes after he…
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Far Rockaway man gets 19 years in fatal 2020 shooting inside Rufus King Park in Jamaica: DA

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Oct. 23, 2023 By Bill Parry A Far Rockaway man was sentenced on Oct. 23 in Queens Supreme Court to 19 years in prison in a 2020 fatal shooting during a marijuana deal gone bad inside Rufus King Park in Jamaica. Torren King, 20, of Beach 47th Street, pleaded guilty in July to manslaughter in the first degree in the October 2020 shooting. He also pleaded guilty to criminal possession of a weapon in the second degree in an unrelated incident, admitting to firing a gun in Jamaica in June 2021. According to the charges, on the afternoon of Oct….
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Brooklyn woman gets 13 years in prison for luring three victims to Queens locations where they were brutalized: DA

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Oct. 20, 2023 By Bill Parry A Brooklyn woman was sentenced on Oct. 19 in Queens Supreme Court to 13 years in prison on sex trafficking, kidnapping, assault and robbery charges for three 2022 incidents in which she lured victims to Queens locations for sex, then detained, assaulted and robbed them with the help of a Long Island man, according to the Queens District Attorney’s office. Destiny Lebron, 20, of North Portland Avenue in the Fort Greene section of Brooklyn, pleaded guilty on Oct. 6 to sex trafficking; promoting prostitution in the second degree; assault in the third degree; two…
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Long Island man charged with kidnapping his Queens Village girlfriend, threatening to kill her: DA

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Oct. 17, 2023 By Bill Parry A Long Island man was criminally charged with kidnapping and the unlawful imprisonment of his girlfriend in her Queens Village apartment in August, according to Queens District Attorney Melinda Katz. Herman Brightman, 30, of Branch Avenue in Central Islip, is accused of threatening his 28-year-old girlfriend with a knife…
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