Criminal Trials

Former NYPD Officer Nicholas Mina Headed To The Hoosegow For Selling Guns To Drug Dealers

A former NYPD officer who pleaded guilty last month to charges that he stole several NYPD-issued firearms from fellow officers and sold them to a Queens drug kingpin was in court today, where he was sentenced to 15-and-a-half years in prison.Additionally, former Officer Nicholas Mina -- who claims h ... More >>

Former Assemblyman Jimmy Meng to Cop Plea in Fruit-Basket Bribery Case

A fruit basket is a lovely way to show appreciation. But when it's filled with $80,000 in cash, and it's in "appreciation" of bribing prosecutors, it's not a gesture of gratitude, it's a felony.So goes the tragic tale of former Assemblyman Jimmy Meng -- the first Asian-American elected to the New Yo ... More >>

Did You Hear the One About the Teacher Who Brought Heroin to Jury Duty?

Did you hear the one about the Manhattan teacher who brought heroin to jury duty?That's not a joke. That actually happened yesterday during a murder trial at a Manhattan courthouse. But 33-year-old Damian Esteban didn't just bring a little bit of heroin to a murder trial -- he brought 18 bags of it. ... More >>

Levi Aron Pleads Guilty To Kidnapping And Murder Of Leiby Kletzky

Levi Aron, the Borough Park man in custody since last summer after confessing to police that he abducted and dismembered eight-year-old Leiby Kletzky, pleaded guilty today to second-degree murder and kidnapping in a plea deal that will carry a sentence of 40 years to life. Aron's lawyers said one o ... More >>

Jimmy Meng, Former Queens Assemblyman, Busted With $80K In A Fruit Basket (Of Course It Was A Bribe...Allegedly)

Well, this can't be good for Grace Meng's Congressional campaign...The Democratic hopeful's father, Jimmy Meng, is the first Asian-American to be elected to the New York Legislature in the history of the Empire State. After allegedly accepting a fruit basket packed with $80,000 in cash earlier today ... More >>

Four Indicted For Attempting To Cover Up Orthodox Sex Abuse Case

Four Orthodox Jews have been indicted on charges that they attempted to persuade/intimidate witnesses into not testifying in the upcoming trial against "therapist" Nechemya Weberman, who allegedly sexually abused one of his patients for several years, starting when the girl was only 12 years old. ... More >>

Rodney Alcala Takes Manhattan; California Serial Killer Coming To New York To Face Two Murder Charges

There's good news and bad news...The bad news is a cold-blooded serial killer is coming to New York. The good news he'll be under lock and key the entire time he's here.California serial killer Rodney Alcala is en-route to the Big Apple where he'll face murder charges in the deaths of two women in t ... More >>

Alleged Junkie Hit With Murder Raps For Killing Four -- Including Two Kids -- In 2006 Arson Fire

After a six-year investigation, the Brooklyn District Attorney's Office has charged an alleged heroin addict with murder for the 2006 arson fire deaths of four people in a Crown Heights apartment building.Samuel Martinez, 38, has been hit with eight counts of second-degree manslaughter for allegedly ... More >>

Ramarley Graham Shooting: NYPD Officer Richard Haste Facing 25 Years In Prison

The Bronx District Attorney's Office has officially announced that the NYPD officer who shot an unarmed teen earlier this year has been indicted on two counts of manslaughter and now faces up to 25 years in prison.The grand jury that signed off on the charges found that Officer Richard Haste acted " ... More >>

More Occupy Wall Street Cases Dismissed

More than eight months after the NYPD began arresting people taking part in Occupy Wall Street demonstrations, the first of hundreds of criminal cases trickling through the court system are finally coming up for trial. Earlier this month, we told you about the first two cases to go to trial. In bot ... More >>

Mets Thief Charles Samuels Banned From Citi Field For Life

A Queens man who's been part of the New York Mets organization for more than 30 years is officially banned from the team's ballpark for life after pleading guilty to stealing more than $2 million worth of Mets memorabilia from the franchise.Additionally, former Mets clubhouse manager Charles Samuels ... More >>

Assemblywoman Takes Aim At New York's Rape Laws In Light of Pena Conviction

Following a jury's failure to convict Michael Pena, the NYPD officer on trial for allegedly sexually attacking a teacher at gunpoint while off-duty, of rape, the New York Daily News reports that Queens Assemblywoman Aravella Simotas wants to introduce a bill that would broaden the state's definition ... More >>

Bronx Pastor Michael Clare Accused Of Raping Teenager...Again

​For the second time in just over a year, Bronx pastor Michael Clare has been hit with charges that he had sex with an underage girl, this time for allegedly raping a 14-year-old who was a student at Harvest Preparatory Academy, where Clare had been the principal (breath easy -- the school told us ... More >>

Grace Peterson-Hagendorf, Queens Teacher, Pleads Not Guilty To Charges She Choked Out 6-Year-Old Student

​A 59-year-old Queens teacher is in a bit of trouble, which tends to be the breaks when you allegedly choke out a student...who's only six years old.Grace Peterson-Hagendorf, a substitute teacher at Public School 22 in Flushing, pleaded not guilty yesterday to charges that she choked out a 6-year- ... More >>

So, Lenny Dykstra's Finally Going To Prison...

​In what appears to be the culmination of what essentially has been a 20-year crime spree for former New York Mets outfielder Lenny Dykstra, "Nails" was sentenced this afternoon to prison time after pleading no contest to one count of grand theft auto -- and he still has charges that he whipped it ... More >>

Michael Pena, NYPD Cop Accused of Rape, Says He Was 'Cheating' on His Girlfriend

​Michael Pena, the off-duty NYPD officer accused of raping a teacher in Inwood, was indicted and arraigned today on five counts of predatory sexual assault, two counts of first-degree rape, and three counts of a criminal sexual act in the first degree, reports DNA Info. He pleaded not guilty, ... More >>

Levi Aron Believed Mentally Unstable by His Lawyers; Were There Other Victims?

​Levi Aron, the 35-year-old man who confessed to to the murder of 8-year-old Brooklyn boy Leiby Kletzky, has been going through a series of psych exams at Bellevue. Defense attorneys who spent two hours with him say they believe he's mentally unstable, that he's "been hearing voices for some t ... More >>

Kenneth Moreno, Fired NYPD Officer, Wants More Child Support

​One of the officers acquitted in the East Village rape case is now strapped for cash after being fired from the NYPD for misconduct. Kenneth Moreno, who has custody of his 14-year-old daughter, is demanding more child support from his ex-girlfriend, who in turn is smearing him to the New York ... More >>

Were the Newburgh 4 Really Out to Blow Up Synagogues? A Defendant Finally Speaks Out.

Was David Williams IV a terrorist? Or was he just out to make an easy score by scamming the government's informant?

NYPD Sodomy Story: Angry Ass-Rapist Cops Strike Yet Again

​Ralph Johnson, a "Wall Street financier," has filed a lawsuit against the NYPD, the AP reports. And if you've been paying attention, Johnson's claims might sound a bit familiar: He says that he, too, was sodomized by NYPD officers using a police baton when they responded to a domestic compla ... More >>

NYPD Tapes 3: A Detective Comes Forward About Downgraded Sexual Assaults

When even attempted rapes are being downgraded to misdemeanors, is the public safe?

Former State Senator Efrain Gonzalez wants to withdraw guilty plea on fraud charges

Frances M. Roberts​Former State Senator Efrain Gonzalez Jr, whose legal troubles threw his Bronx seat into the unsteady hands of situational Democrat Pedro Espada, is floating the idea of withdrawing his guilty plea to federal charges of fraud.

John Lanorith, Staten Island Liquor Store Killer, Pleads Guilty, Gets Hope of Parole

Back in May of 2008, a man came into Elgudzha Koyenishvili's Staten Island liquor store, shot him dead, and stole the cash register. Cops traced and found the getaway pickup truck, whose owner told them he had lent it to John Lanorith, who had twice gone away for burglary. Lanorith was charged with ... More >>

Starbucks Bomber out on Bail

The AP reports that Kyle Shaw, the 17-year-old arrested and charged with arson, criminal possession of a weapon, and criminal mischief in the Memorial Day weekend bombing of an Upper East Side Starbucks, has been released on $300,000 bail. The recent high school grad and Fight Club fanatic detonated ... More >>

MobFellas: Simels, Gleeson, and Shargel

The only-in-NY trial that brings together a lawyer to drug kingpins, his mob attorney, and the Gotti prosecutor

Tales of Albany: Why Joe Bruno Quit

He didn't jump -- he was pushed. It's just a footnote to history now, but for those keeping score on Albany misdeeds it's worth noting that when former senate majority leader Joe Bruno announced last June that he would not seek reelection after 32 years in office, it wasn't just to have some retirem ... More >>

Judge-to-be and Pal Indicted

Feds Pledge Bell Shooting Probe and Sharpton Promises Hit-and-Run Protests As Cops Walk

Assemblywoman Diane Gordon Convicted; Faces 10 Years in Big House

Bronx Cop's Perjury Will Lead to Jail Time

Jerky Cop

The abusive prank caller to Port Authority cops? One of their colleagues.

Relying on a Rapist

Civil libertarians battle a city DNA database the hard way

Criminal Probe of Deutsche Bank Building Fire Launched

Home Shopping Network

A hidden camera catches the underside of a Brooklyn pol's personal housing deal

Pier Pressure

Longshoremen's union insists the mob's shadow is receding

Mystery Train

An everyday squabble in a crowded subway car becomes a lesson in power politics

Jail Breaks

Influential Rabbi Barred From Lobbying Federal Prison Officials

The Scandal That Will Not Die

How Pataki Protects the People Who Fix the Parole Board

High Noon for Ashcroft, Stewart, and the Defense Bar

Dozens of Lawyers Appeared at the Arraignment

The Real Top 25

The Worst of the Best in College Football

Death Sentence Overturned, but Danger Still Clear and Present

‘That’s Gangsta!’

‘Puff Love’ in the Bad Boys Family

Clinton's Deal: Justice Denied

'Never Anything About Obstruction of Justice'

A Landlord With Convictions

Brooklyn Owner to Be Sentenced in Eviction Case

The Fleeing Man

Raising Doubts About the Guilt of Mumia Abu-Jamal

The Felonious Faxman

There Were No Threats in the 'Criminal' Faxes

The Making of a Guilty Plea

Volpe Family Adviser Played Key Role

Under the Gun

Tales of anguish fill a Brooklyn courtroom as the kin of shooting victims battle the firearms industry

Murder on a Liquor High

A 17-year-old is dead. his alleged killer is only 15, troubled, and facing life in prison

Giuliani's Praetorian Guard

A 'Typical, Spiteful, Get-Back-at-Them Attitude'