#nassau county district attorney's office

[dontmeantobepoliticalbut]

Justice Department prosecutors have charged Rep. George Santos with federal offenses, three sources familiar with the matter tell NBC News, the most significant escalation in a growing pile of investigations that have plagued the first-term lawmaker since before he even took office.

One source said that Santos could surrender at the federal courthouse in the Eastern District of New York in the morning, and is expected to make a court appearance on Wednesday afternoon. A congressional source said that Santos learned about the charges on Tuesday. His lawyer has not returned requests for comment.

The New York Republican, who faced legal and political pressure to resign from Congress after he admitted to lying about parts of his background, is the subject of multiple investigations into his finances and other issues.

No court documents associated with the case were immediately available. CNN first reported the pending charges.

In December, two federal law enforcement sources confirmed that federal prosecutors from the Eastern District of New York had opened an investigation into Santos and were examining his finances, including potential irregularities involving financial disclosures and loans he made to his congressional campaign.

Santos did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Santos announced his re-election campaign just last month, despite investigations into a variety of allegations against him in New York state, as well as by the House Ethics Committee.

The House panel announced in early March it had opened a probe into Santos to determine whether he may have "engaged in unlawful activity" while campaigning for Congress or if he "failed to properly disclose required information on statements filed with the House."

The panel also said it would examine whether Santos violated federal conflict-of-interest laws in connection with his role in a firm providing fiduciary services, as well as sexual misconduct allegations against him from a prospective aide.

A Navy veteran who accused Santos of disappearing with thousands of dollars from an online fundraising campaign intended to cover lifesaving surgery for his service dog also said that he spoke to the FBI about his allegations.

The Nassau County district attorney's office said in December that it, too, was looking into “numerous fabrications and inconsistencies” about Santos’ background after The New York Times uncovered a series of inconsistencies about his biography, including his education, work history and financial dealings. The New York State Attorney General’s Office said that same month that it was “looking into a number of issues” surrounding Santos.

While Santos has refused to resign from Congress, he said in late January that he would recuse himself from a pair of assignments on the Small Business and Science committees amid the probes.

[beardedmrbean]

NEW YORK (AP) — Police in the suburbs of New York City made the first arrest under a new local law banning face masks, officials announced Tuesday.

Nassau County Police say officers on Sunday night responded to reports of a suspicious person on a street near the Levittown and Hicksville town line, about 30 miles (48 kilometers) east of Manhattan.

They found Wesslin Omar Ramirez Castillo wearing black clothing and a black ski mask that covered his face, except for his eyes.

The department said the 18-year-old resident displayed other suspicious behavior, including attempting to conceal a large bulge in his waistband and refusing to comply with the officers’ commands.

Officers say the bulge turned out to be a 14-inch knife. Ramirez Castillo was placed under arrest without further incident, police said.

He was arraigned Monday in Nassau County District Court in Hempstead on misdemeanor charges of criminal possession of a weapon and obstructing governmental administration, according to Nassau County District Attorney Anne Donnelly’s office.

Lt. Scott Skrynecki, a police department spokesperson, said Ramirez Castillo will also be facing a misdemeanor violation of the face mask law in the coming days.

Nassau County Executive Bruce Blakeman, a Republican who signed the mask ban into law earlier this month, said Sunday’s arrest showed the rule is working.

“Our police officers were able to use the mask ban legislation as well as other factors to stop and interrogate an individual who was carrying a weapon with the intent to engage in a robbery,” he said in an emailed statement. “Passing this law gave police another tool to stop this dangerous criminal.”

Keith Ross, a criminal justice professor at the John Jay College of Criminal Justice in New York City, said police didn’t necessarily need the new law to stop and question Ramirez Castillo, but it helped bolster their justification.

“The law gives police, at the very least, reasonable suspicion to conduct a stop,” the retired New York City police officer explained by phone. “Under reasonable suspicion, police can forcibly stop a person in New York state if they are suspected of committing a felony or a penal law misdemeanor, which is where this new law falls.”

But Scott Banks, attorney-in chief at the Legal Aid Society of Nassau County, which is representing Ramirez Castillo, challenged that notion.

“There is no basis to believe that wearing a face mask was intended to conceal identity or criminal behavior, and if that was the basis of the stop I believe there is a basis to conclude the stop was unlawful,” he wrote in an email.

Skrynecki declined to comment, adding that police and county officials will discuss the incident at a news conference Wednesday.

The New York Civil Liberties Union, which has criticized the new law, repeated its warning that the mask ban is “ripe for selective enforcement by a police department with a history of aggression and discrimination.”

Disability Rights of New York, a group that advocates for people with disabilities, filed a legal challenge last week arguing that the mask law is unconstitutional and discriminates against people with disabilities.

The federal class action lawsuit seeks a temporary restraining order and preliminary injunction to immediately stop enforcement of the ban.

The Mask Transparency Act was approved by the county’s Republican-controlled legislature in response to “antisemitic incidents, often perpetrated by those in masks” since the Oct. 7 start of the Israel-Hamas war.

The law makes it a misdemeanor punishable by up to a year in jail and a $1,000 fine for anyone in Nassau to wear a face covering to hide their identity in public. It exempts people who wear masks “for health, safety, religious or cultural purposes, or for the peaceful celebration of a holiday or similar religious or cultural event for which masks or facial coverings are customarily worn.”

[muddypolitics]

(via Jonathan Braun, Whose Sentence Was Commuted by Trump, Is Charged With Assault - The New York Times)

Ever since Donald J. Trump issued a series of pardons and commutations as he left office, he and his allies have defended his administration’s vetting of clemency candidates, claiming they went through a vigorous screening process.

But the case of one of those convicts — a New York drug dealer and predatory lender named Jonathan Braun, who had a history of violence and faced an array of other legal problems — has stood out and raised doubts about how rigorous the vetting was.

On Tuesday, the police on Long Island arrested Mr. Braun after he allegedly punched his 75-year-old father-in-law in the head. Mr. Braun struck his father-in-law twice as he tried to protect his daughter from Mr. Braun, who was chasing after her while the couple had an argument in their home, according to the Nassau County District Attorney’s office.

Mr. Braun’s wife, according to court documents, told police that Mr. Braun had assaulted her twice in the past five weeks. On July 17, the court documents said, Mr. Braun threw his wife off a bed onto the floor, “causing her substantial pain and bruising her legs.”

Last week, on Aug. 12, Mr. Braun threw her to the floor and punched her in the head multiple times “causing her substantial pain, bruising” to her arms, legs and head and causing her to feel dizzy, the documents said.

Mr. Braun pleaded not guilty. Prosecutors asked for bail but a judge released him without it.

“He was released on his own recognizance after pleading not guilty and will address the allegations judicially,” said Mr. Braun’s lawyer, Marc Fernich.

he must have given trump an assload of money to get out of jail

[garudabluffs]

Started streaming 21 minutes ago

Step into the courtroom with MissTrial, a gripping new legal podcast where justice meets real-life drama, co-hosted by 3 accomplished women: Karen Friedman Agnifilo, the former Chief Assistant District Attorney at the Manhattan DA's office currently prosecuting Donald Trump; E. Danya Perry, former SDNY Federal Prosecutor and currently the formidable attorney representing Michael Cohen as he faced down Trump; and, Kathleen Rice, the first ever woman elected as Nassau County District Attorney and former New York Congresswoman who was present during the January 6 Capitol attack. Together, they dissect high-profile cases, share behind-the-scenes insights, and bring their unparalleled experience to the most pressing legal issues of our time. Tune in for candid conversations, expert analysis, and a deep dive into the trials that shape our nation.

[mystlnewsonline]

Dr. Frank Parasmo Sentenced for Unlawful Distribution

Dr. Frank Parasmo was, a Leading Prescriber of Oxycodone in New York State - sentenced for unlawfully distributing oxycodone. (STL.News) Yesterday, in federal court in Central Islip, Frank Parasmo, a former medical doctor, was sentenced by United States District Judge Joan M. Azrack to 36 months in prison for his conviction on 32 counts of unlawfully distributing oxycodone, a highly addictive prescription painkiller, to 18 patients without a legitimate medical purpose.  As part of the sentence, Parasmo also received 3 years of supervised release. Breon Peace, United States Attorney for the Eastern District of New York, and Frank A. Tarentino III, Special Agent-in-Charge, Drug Enforcement Administration, New York Division (DEA), announced the verdict. “Today’s sentence demonstrates that there are significant consequences for doctors who act as drug dealers,” stated U.S. Attorney Peace.  “This Office remains committed to using all tools available to address the damage the opioid crisis does to our communities.” “DEA’s investigative and regulatory focus is to keep the public safe and healthy,” stated DEA Special Agent-in-Charge Tarentino. “Parasmo’s actions were irresponsible to his patients and endangered their and others’ safety and well-being; his disregard of pertinent information such illicit drug use and the diversion of highly addictive opioid prescriptions was egregious.  I commend the DEA’s Long Island District Office-Tactical Diversion Squad and the Eastern District of New York U.S. Attorney’s Office for their tenacious work on this investigation.” As proven at trial, between January 2014 and February 2015, Parasmo provided prescriptions for oxycodone and hydrocodone pills to 18 of his patients without a legitimate medical purpose and outside the course of a professional medical practice.  Parasmo issued prescriptions to patients who had just left detox treatment in rehabilitation facilities, as well as patients who had just been discharged from a hospital following an overdose.  In addition, Parasmo issued prescriptions to many patients he knew were taking illegal drugs or who he suspected were addicts.  There is a significant risk of an overdose when oxycodone is taken with heroin and cocaine. In several instances, Parasmo continued to write prescriptions for individuals who he had been warned were not taking their pills as prescribed and, in some instances, possibly reselling them on the streets.  From 2010 to 2015, Dr. Parasmo prescribed over 1.5 million oxycodone and hydrocodone pills, making him one of the top prescribers of those painkillers in New York State during that period.  Notably, after learning that the DEA was investigating his prescribing practices, Parasmo cut in half the number of oxycodone prescriptions he issued annually. This case was investigated by the DEA’s Long Island District Office Tactical Diversion Squad, comprising agents and officers of the DEA, Nassau County Police Department, Suffolk County Police Department, Port Washington Police Department, and Department of Health and Human Services-Office of Inspector General. The government’s case is being handled by the Office’s Long Island Criminal Division.  Assistant United States Attorneys Michael Maffei and Charles P. Kelly are in charge of the prosecution. SOURCE: U.S. Department of Justice Read the full article

[karen-anti-r-cml]

So it seems republicans have Elected another pathological liar...

george santos, Rep.-elect in New York is under investigation for a litany of lies by Long Island Prosecutors from Anne T. Donnelly, Nassau County District Attorney Office

Donnelly, a republican said:

The fabrications and inconsistencies were “nothing short of stunning. The residents of Nassau County and other parts of the third district must have an honest and accountable representative in Congress"

santos seems to have no shame or regret, he has Admitted to Lying About Having Jewish Ancestry, a Wall Street Pedigree and a College Degree

santos invented a life story that includes claims his grandparents “fled Jewish persecution in Ukraine, settled in Belgium, and again fled persecution during WWII.” During his campaign, he referred to himself as “a proud American Jew.”... He's really Catholic

After being caught in the lie he did what many republicans do now... he said he never intended to claim Jewish Heritage

He lied about working for Citigroup, Goldman Sachs, and earning a degree in finance and economics from Baruch College in New York.

The Times uncovered records from 2008 in Brazil that show he was the subject of a criminal investigation for using stolen checks. A local Prosecutor was quoted as saying the case was dormant because santos never appeared in court.

Questions still remain including what appears to be a quickly amassed fortune despite recent financial problems, including evictions and owing 1000s in back rent.

Worse... It now seems santos lied about his mom's sickness and death

Last year he said the Sept. 11, 2001, terror attacks claimed his mother’s life, a few months he said she actually died of cancer in 2016. Then he said his mother was at the World Trade Center on September 11, 2001, got in an ash cloud and the incident played a role in her death.

But like trump used 9/11 to advance himself, saying he was at ground zero helping, but no proof has ever surfaced that he was... santos has shown no proof his mom was present at the World Trade Center on 9/11, but uses 9/11 and his mom's death to advance himself

Despite all the lies, many he has admitted to republicans still plan on seating him, showing they really don't care who's in office as long as there republicans and do what they're told

santos has made no signs of doing what's right and stepping aside, In fact during an interview with the New York Post earlier this week, santos apologized for being caught and downplayed his many lies referring to them as the “sins” over embellishing his resume, adding that “we do stupid things in life.”

If he is actually seated I'm positive he will do more and worse "stupid things"

[thunderrabby-blog]

George Santos's Finances Are Under Federal Investigation

George Santos’s Finances Are Under Federal Investigation

Already controversial conservative Congressman-elect George Santos is now under federal investigation over his finances. The US attorney’s office in the Eastern District of New York is examining Santos’ finances, according to CBS News and CNN. Santos has been scrutinized for the $700,000 he loaned his campaign to run for Congress. Nassau County is also launching an investigation into Santos’…

[governmentagencynews]

WASHINGTON — Enforcement and Removal Operations officers apprehended 138 unlawfully present noncitizens convicted of sex offenses, including those with an executable final order of removal, during a nationwide enforcement effort from Oct. 22 through Nov. 4.“Crimes of sexual violence are among the most underreported in the United States — anyone can be a victim of this type of abuse, and our officers are dedicated to locating and apprehending known noncitizen offenders as part of their public safety mission,” said ERO Executive Associate Director Corey A. Price. “ERO will continue efforts such as these to remove unlawfully present individuals who have committed crimes against the innocent so they cannot continue to harm vulnerable populations within our communities.” This enforcement operation was implemented to address unlawfully present noncitizens convicted of sex offenses. Cases amenable to federal criminal prosecution may be presented to the appropriate U.S. attorney’s office. Among those arrested: A 65-year-old citizen of Mexico in La Puente, California, convicted by the Superior Court in Pomona of continuous sexual abuse of a child in March 2022 A 61-year-old citizen of Mexico in Richland, Washington, convicted by the Benton County Superior Court of child molestation in January 2020 A 50-year-old citizen of Mexico in Winnie, Texas, convicted by the Chambers County District Attorney’s Office of sexual performance by child in August 2022 A 49-year-old citizen of Guatemala in Chicago, convicted by the Cook County Circuit Court of predatory criminal sexual assault of a minor in October 2017 A 49-year-old citizen of Cameroon in Front Royal, Virginia, convicted by the Circuit Court in Prince George County of sexual abuse of a minor in June 2022 A 44-year-old citizen of Haiti in Queens Village, New York, convicted by the Queens County Supreme Court of rape in the second degree, promoting prostitution in the second degree and promoting prostitution in the third degree in September 2017 A 42-year-old citizen of Bolivia in Levittown, New York, convicted by the Nassau County Court of first-degree rape in April 2002 A 36-year-old citizen of Nicaragua in El Monte, California, convicted by the Superior Court in Los Angeles of assault with intent to rape, robbery in the second degree, and rape with force/violence/fear of bodily injury in March 2015 A 35-year-old citizen of Mexico in Jourdanton, Texas, convicted by the 144th District Court of Bexar County of aggravated sexual assault of child in July 2019 A 29-year-old citizen of the Democratic Republic of the Congo in Milwaukee, convicted by the Milwaukee County Circuit Court of second-degree sexual assault of a child in March 2022 ICE targets and arrests noncitizens who have committed crimes and other individuals who have violated our nation’s immigration laws. Officers make case decisions in a responsible manner, informed by their experience as law enforcement professionals and in a way that best protects against the greatest threats to the homeland. All those in violation of immigration law may be subject to arrest, detention and — if found removable by final order — removed from the United States. Noncitizens placed into removal proceedings receive their legal due process from federal immigration judges in immigration courts, which are administered by the Executive Office for Immigration Review. EOIR is an agency within the U.S. Department of Justice and is separate from the Department of Homeland Security and ICE. Immigration judges in these courts make decisions based on the merits of each individual case. ICE officers carry out the removal decisions made by the federal immigration judges. In Fiscal Year 2021, ERO arrested 12,025 individuals with aggravated felony convictions. Offenses associated with noncitizens arrested in FY 2021 included 1,506 homicide related offenses, 3,415 sexual assaults, 19,549 assaults, 2,717 robberies and 1,063 kidnappings. Members

of the public can report crimes and suspicious activity by dialing 866-347-2423 or completing the online tip form. Learn more about ICE’s mission to increase public safety in your community on Twitter @ICEgov.

[dontmeantobepoliticalbut]

Rep.-elect George Santos made additional false claims over the years about his family history, work history and education in campaign appearances over the years, a review of statements made in two of his campaigns for Congress found.

CNN's KFile uncovered more falsehoods from Santos, including claims he was forced to leave a New York City private school when his family's real estate assets took a downturn and stating he represented Goldman Sachs at a top financial conference where he berated the company for investing in renewables.

CNN also reviewed more instances of Santos providing additional false history of his family's background. In one interview, Santos said his mother's family's historical Jewish name was "Zabrovsky," and later appeared to operate a GoFundMe campaign for a pet charity (which he falsely claimed was a 501(c)(3) nonprofit) under that alias. Genealogists CNN previously spoke with found no evidence of Jewish or Ukrainian heritage in his family tree.

In another, he said his mother, whose family has lived in Brazil since the late 1800s, was a White immigrant from Belgium.

Santos' campaign did not respond to CNN's comment request.

Since reports first surfaced about his false claims, Santos has made efforts to downplay his fabrications as mere "embellishments." But the previously unreported claims from Santos illustrate a pattern of fabricating details about his life, often in service of presenting a more compelling or interesting personal narrative. The Nassau County district attorney's office said Wednesday that it is looking into Santos' fabrications, though it did not specify the falsehoods it would explore.

In interviews over the past few days, Santos admitted to lying about parts of his resume, including graduating from college, but he told the New York Post that the misrepresentation of his work history at Goldman Sachs and Citigroup was a "poor choice of words." There is no record he worked at the top financial institutions in the country, as he had previously claimed.

Santos also denied that he falsely called himself Jewish, claiming he "never claimed to be Jewish" but jokingly said he was "Jew-ish" to the New York Post. He also falsely claimed that his grandparents "survived the Holocaust" and fled Europe to escape Jewish persecution. But CNN found that Santos called himself an "American Jew" and "Latino Jew" on multiple occasions. The Republican Jewish Coalition disinvited Santos from appearing at any of its events because he "misrepresented his heritage."

Despite the scandals, the New York Republican, who flipped his Long Island seat, said he will take office in January — spurring calls to resign from Democrats.

Here are some of the outright falsehoods CNN found:

WENT TO FANCY PREP SCHOOL, BUT LEFT BECAUSE HIS FAMILY'S REAL ESTATE IMPLODED

In appearances, and in an old campaign biography, Santos claimed his parents sent him to Horace Mann, an elite private school in the Bronx.

"He began Horace Mann preparatory school in the Bronx, however, did not graduate from Horace Mann due to financial difficulties for his family," his biography read in 2019 for his first campaign for Congress that Santos lost. "He obtained a GED during his senior year."

Santos also made the same claim in an appearance on a YouTube show in 2020.

"They sent me to a good prep school, which was Horace Mann Prep in the Bronx. And, in my senior year of prep school, unfortunately my parents fell on hard times, which was something that would later become known as the depression of 2008. But we were hit a little earlier on with the overleveraging of real estate. And the market started to implode. Um, and the first thing to go was the prep school. You know, you, you can't afford a $2,500 tuition at that point, right? So anyway, um, I left school, uh, four months to graduation."

But the claim is false, according to the school.

"We've searched the records and there is no evidence that George Santos (or any alias) attended Horace Mann," Ed Adler, a spokesman for the school, told CNN.

CLAIMED HE CRITICIZED GOLDMAN SACHS AT PRIVATE EQUITY CONFERENCE AS AN EMPLOYEE

"Have you ever heard of a Goldman Sachs employee take the stage at the largest private equity conference in the world -- SALT, run by Anthony Scaramucci -- and berate their employer? Well, I did that," Santos said on a local podcast this summer. "And I did it in the fashion of renewable energy and global warming. This was the panel I was on. And they're all talking about solar, wind, and this was back, what, seven years ago now? And I said, you know what, this is a scam. It's taxpayer money that gets subsidized."

The claim is entirely fictional, according to both Goldman Sachs -- which has said Santos never worked there -- and Scaramucci, who runs the conference.

Scaramucci told CNN in a message there is not only no record of him appearing on a panel, but no record of him even attending the conference.

CLAIMED FAMILY'S JEWISH NAME WAS ZABROVSKY (AND FUNDRAISED UNDER IT)

In an appearance on a Fox News digital show in February, Santos said his maternal grandparents changed their Jewish last name from Zabrovsky -- a claim for which there is no evidence and records contradict.

"We don't carry the Ukrainian last name. For a lot of people who are descendants of World War II refugees or survivors of the Holocaust, a lot of names and paperwork were changed in the name of survival. So I don't carry the family last name that would've been Zabrovsky. I carry my mother's maiden name which is the Dutch side of the family."

Megan Smolenyak, an author and professional genealogist who helped research Santos' family tree at CNN's request, previously told CNN, "There's no sign of Jewish and/or Ukrainian heritage and no indication of name changes along the way."

Santos deleted his former private Facebook account last week, but CNN's KFile reviewed records indicating he used the alias of "Anthony Zabrovsky" for fundraising for a pet charity. The GoFundMe page under that alias no longer exists. CNN reached out to GoFundMe but did not receive a response.

SANTOS CLAIMED HIS MOM IMMIGRATED FROM BELGIUM

In one radio appearance from December 2020, Santos falsely claimed that his mother "fled socialism" in Europe and moved to the United States.

"My father fled socialism in Brazil. My mother fled socialism in Europe, and they came here and built a family. And today they can be proud to have a son who is a well accomplished businessman, who is now running for United States Congress. That's something that wasn't in the cards for my family," Santos said.

He also claimed in another interview from 2020 that he "grew up with a White Caucasian mother, an immigrant from Belgium."

But Santos' mother was born in Brazil, according to genealogical records.

[beardedmrbean]

The federal indictment against Rep. George Santos, R-N.Y., was unsealed Wednesday ahead of his first court appearance on federal charges. 

A 13-count indictment was made public Wednesday in the United States District Court for the Eastern District of New York charging the congressman with seven counts of wire fraud, three counts of money laundering, one count of theft of public funds, and two counts of making materially false statements to the House of Representatives.

The indictment was returned Tuesday under seal by a federal grand jury sitting in Central Islip, New York. Santos was arrested Wednesday morning and will be arraigned in the afternoon before U.S. Magistrate Judge Arlene R. Lindsay at the federal courthouse in Central Islip, New York. He currently is being held at that federal courthouse. 

"This indictment seeks to hold Santos accountable for various alleged fraudulent schemes and brazen misrepresentations," U.S. Attorney Breon Peace said in a statement. "Taken together, the allegations in the indictment charge Santos with relying on repeated dishonesty and deception to ascend to the halls of Congress and enrich himself. He used political contributions to line his pockets, unlawfully applied for unemployment benefits that should have gone to New Yorkers who had lost their jobs due to the pandemic, and lied to the House of Representatives. My Office and our law enforcement partners will continue to aggressively root out corruption and self-dealing from our community’s public institutions and hold public officials accountable to the constituents who elected them."

‘SERIAL LIAR’ GOP REP'S RE-ELECTION BID SETS SOCIAL MEDIA ABLAZE: ‘FUNNIEST PRIMARIES’

Santos, who also goes by Anthony Devolder, unsuccessfully ran in 2020 to represent New York’s Third Congressional District but was victorious his second time around in 2022. He was sworn in on Jan. 7, 2023, a mere days after the New York Times exposed that Santos allegedly fabricated larges swathes of his resume, including that he had worked for two major Wall Street firms, graduated from Baruch College and had descended from a Holocaust survivor. The Times reported Santos was also facing pending fraud charges in his native Brazil. 

In January, the local Nassau County GOP demanded Santos resign, namely taking issue with the freshman congressman lying over his Jewish ancestry, but he refused. And House Speaker Kevin McCarthy, hanging onto a narrow Republican majority, said Santos would be removed if a House Ethics probe revealed he violated campaign finance laws. 

"As a retired NYPD Detective, I am confident the justice system will fully reveal Congressman Santos' long history of deceit, and I once again call on this serial fraudster to resign from office," Rep. Anthony D'Esposito, a fellow Republican freshman congressman whose district borders Santos', said in a statement to Fox News Digital. 

Asked by Fox News Wednesday about Santos' indictment, Rep. Marcus Molinaro, R-N.Y., remarked in the corridors of Capitol Hill, "I can't wait for him to be gone." 

Rep. Nick LaLota, R-N.Y., expressed a similar sentiment off camera. 

The DOJ indictment alleges that at the height of the pandemic in 2020, Santos applied for and received unemployment benefits while he was earning an annual salary of $120,000 from a Florida investment firm and running for Congress in New York. He alleged received more than $24,000 in unemployment insurance benefits from the New York State Department of Labor. 

NY REPUBLICAN REP. GEORGE SANTOS TO RECUSE HIMSELF FROM COMMITTEE ASSIGNMENTS, SOURCES SAY

His alleged behavior continued during his second run for Congress when he is accused of pocketing tens of thousands of dollars in campaign contributions and used that money laundered into his own bank accounts to pay down personal debts and buy designer clothing. Santos is also accused of lying on House financial disclosures about income and dividends earned through Devolder Organization LLC, based out of Florida, and unemployment benefits. 

House GOP leadership used their weekly press conference Wednesday to blast the Biden administration ahead of the expiration of Title 42 later this week but also responded to questions about Santos. Rep. Steve Scalise, R-L.A., noted that Santos no longer is serving on committees, saying that "in America, there is a presumption of innocence, but there are serious charges, and he’s going to have to go through the legal process." 

"But we’re going to continue to work to root out fraud. And there’s lots of it. We’re talking about tens if not hundreds of billions of dollars of fraud in many federal programs," Scalise continued. "We pointed this out. I mean they’re not even checking social security numbers. So you’ve got reports of people even in foreign countries getting taxpayer money for things that should only be available to Americans who are coming on hard times. Not to go to drug cartels or to people who want to just bill the system. And so I hope Democrats will support us in rooting out fraud, but they haven’t shown an interest in it so far." 

"As I’ve said from the very beginning on questions on this subject, this legal process is going to play itself out. Unfortunately, this is not the first time a member of Congress from either party has been indicted," Rep. Elise Stefanik, R-N.Y., said. "There are a set of rules. And as the Majority Leader stated, he voluntarily had stepped down from his committees. We are committed to making sure that we root out any fraud when it comes to unemployment pandemic assistance. And we’re working to have support from our conference. And it’s good policy, and we urge the Democrats to vote in support of it." 

Santos' court appearance is scheduled for 1 p.m. ET. 

[offender42085]

Post 0281

Kevin Lopez-Morales, New York inmate 21A1958, born 1997, incarceration intake at age 24, scheduled to be released 09/03/2042

Murder, 2nd degree

Kevin Lopez-Morales, age 23, of Roosevelt, was sentenced to 24 years to life in prison, Acting Nassau County District Attorney Joyce Smith announced.  Lopez-Morales pleaded guilty to two counts of second-degree murder.

"Kevin Lopez-Morales and his co-defendants acted as friends to two young men but lured them to their deaths over perceived slights to MS-13,” Smith said. “MS-13 has left behind many grieving families on Long Island, but their attempts to destroy our community have not and will not be successful."

On Sept. 4 of 2016, Lopez-Morales and others struck 19-year-old Josue Amaya Leonor with a machete multiple times and killed him, Smith said.

The DA's Office said the defendants buried Leonor's body in a wooded area in the Roosevelt Preserve. His body was recovered in May of 2018.

Smith also reported that Lopez-Morales and others murdered 15-year-old Angel Soler on July 21, 2017.

His remains were discovered under cement in a remote wooded area in Roosevelt in October of 2017.

Smith said Angel's injuries were consistent with the use of a machete.

Co-defendant David Sosa-Guevera was sentenced to 24 years to life in prison in Angel's murder. Co-defendents Victor Lopez and Dennis Lopez were each sentenced to 23 years to life in prison.

Lopez-Morales was arrested by Nassau County Police on Sept. 6 of 2018, Smith said.

The cases against his co-defendants in the murder of Leonor are pending.

2m

[chiseler]

“John Doe”, Alias God

On September 13, 1936, a man who called himself God led a parade of three thousand “angels” over ninety blocks south from the Kingdom of Heaven at 20 West 115th Street in Harlem.

God sat in a vintage automobile while young ladies in jodhpurs, derby hats and vivid green sashes danced and chanted to the music of kazoo-players and upright piano.  God later made a speech in Madison Square Park.

God went by the name Father Divine, who ran the Peace Mission Movement from a five-story headquarters where today stands the Martin Luther King, Jr. Towers.  A sign outside declared: “The abundance of the fullness occupies the entire area of this office; therefore, there can be no loitering.”

Father Divine was a rousing preacher, owned vast real estate, forbade smoking, drinking and sex, and evaded several attempts at criminal conviction by white authorities.  He arose from an errant root-and-branch pulpiteer living in the Pigtown waterfront ghetto of Baltimore, to buying a mansion in Hyde Park across the Hudson River from President FDR.

Harlem in the roaring twenties was a scene of artistic revolution, where Fats Waller smashed thirds and Claude McKay heard “the halting footsteps of a lass,” but in the 1930s the neighborhood was a theater of political awakening, where Communists, union bosses, black intellectuals and cult preachers vied for a voice on the squawk tub.  Father Divine acknowledged support from the Communists, but with the caveat that “just what the Communists have been trying to get you to see and do and be, I have accomplished.”

God was born George Baker, Jr. in 1879, in Rockville, Maryland.  His family shared a small cabin of fourteen people, including the family of Luther Snowden, the only black landowner in the county.  White religion in the area was chiefly Catholic, Jim Crow laws were brutal, and the local black neighborhood was called Monkey Run. When Baker was 18, his mother Nancy, a former slave to a tobacco planter, died.  She was five feet tall and weighed 480 pounds.

Baker set out for the big city where he worked as a gardener in white middle-class blocks and taught Sunday school at storefront churches on Baltimore’s east side.  Soon he took off South to walk the land and preach.  His ideas about Man and Spirit were influenced by “New Thought,” a philosophy that God was a being inside the mind and flesh of all Man and Woman.  New Thought had originated in the work of Phineas P. Quimby, a blueblooded clockmaker and doctor of mesmerism in Portland, Maine in the early 1800s.  All could know God by self-mastery of the journey within.

Baker ventured to Los Angeles in 1906, where he participated in the Azusa Street Revival and first spoke in tongues.  In L.A. he discovered his divine identity and cast off the personhood of “George Baker.”  He began to call himself The Messenger and walked back South to craft a traveling ministry.

In Valdosta, Georgia, the Messenger held worship in his house and invited followers to a cooperative and holy living environment where they would leave their former homes, give up matrimony and pool all wages. “God will provide,” spake the Messenger.

The bulk of early congregations was made up of working black women, who found little self-liberation in the prejudiced demands of house-wife and child-bearer.  As a result the Messenger incurred the anger of husbands who had him arrested and charged with insanity.  He did not provide a given name so court records show the signature of “John Doe, alias God,” who secured release after white lawyers and townsfolk feared how it might look in the supremacist public eye to defend a group of black men.  God agreed to leave town for good and take the message elsewhere.

By the late 1910s he was in New York City, setting up on West 41st Street in the old black neighborhood of Hell’s Kitchen before establishing a co-op housing group and employment agency on Myrtle Avenue in Brooklyn.  Here he changed names a final time, assuming the full title Reverend Major Jealous Divine, after a passage in Exodus 34:14.  Devout followers shortened it to “Father Divine.”

He found opportunity to buy a house for the Peace Mission in Sayville, Long Island, from a German resident seeking to aggravate a rival neighbor by deliberately advertising cheap rates for a “colored” buyer.  As Father Divine had assumed a new identity, congregants too changed names to Beautiful Sweet, Faith Love, Holiness Love, Light Child, Beauty S. Love, Victory Luke and Onward Universe.

The speeches of Father Divine brimmed with invented words like “tangeblated” and “physicalating” to express new awareness. “God rematerialates and repersonifitizes!”  When he was arrested in connection to an angel who stabbed a New Jersey process-server with an ice-pick, cops found Father Divine hiding behind the furnace in his Connecticut abode, trying to “invisibilize.”

Father Divine often invested happenstance with the moral strike of divine intervention.  A clash with Savannah ministers once resulted in sixty days spent on a chain gang, after which the prison inspectors suffered a very bad car accident.  When Father Divine and his flock were denied access to a beach in Long Island, a week later the ocean was wracked with an unknown black tar substance and the beach shut down for the season. When Judge Smith of Nassau County sentenced Father Divine to a year in prison for disturbing the peace and fostering white and black cohabitation at his jampacked free Sunday dinners, two weeks later Judge Smith died.  Said Father Divine, “he sentenced God to prison and God sentenced him to death.”  

Father Divine acquired substantial property in Harlem and moved his base to West 128th Street.  He owned restaurants, laundries, barbershops, gas stations, huckster trucks and two newspapers.  He ran a coal business which the District Attorney once abjectly investigated for a connection to bootlegged anthracite in Pennsylvania.  During WWII the Peace Mission bought a 1929 hotel south of Atlantic City as a haven for war refugees and paid $3,500 in the property back taxes with $10 bills in a brown paper bag.

Newspapers exploited as novelty the legal troubles of a charismatic black businessman and gospel-shark claiming to be God.  The New York Age, a Harlem daily, compared the Research Bureau of the Peace Mission to Russian secret police. Bellevue Hospital conducted a psychiatric evaluation of followers and determined that 16 out of 18 had “well-defined psychoses.” Because Father Divine saw sickness and death as a punishment to the weak-souled, followers who departed were often abandoned to the potter’s field.

At the 1936 Democratic National Convention, a Mission disciple called John the Revelator delivered the Divine Righteous Government Platform, which rejected the New Deal, labor unions, medical science and the insurance industry, but espoused laws against firearms, lynching and segregation.  On Election Day Father Divine affected 50,000 followers to boycott the polls in defiance of real estate development taxes.  “My duty,” he preached, “is to bring into the political field the very consciousness of God’s presence on earth as a living reality.”

In 1937 the IRS bugged him for $54,000 in tax liens while in 1938 he bought Hudson Valley property in the President’s neighborhood, where old New York has long stook family.  Father Divine was humble.  “I’m not God, but millions of people think I am…  lots say I am the devil.”

Railed by the New York press and chased by lynch-mobs, Father Divine tracked a record that was chaste, magnanimous, shrewd and shazam.  He might seem to have run a “vast collectivization experiment,” but built Heaven by the old-fashioned American gumption of land rights and evangelism.

The Ghost of Father Divine left his earthly body in 1965, and the last of the Harlem property was sold in 1984.  Mother Divine, his white widow, continued to operate the Mission from an historic estate in Gladwyne, PA., where at dinner engagements and meetings with lawyers an empty chair was left open for the seating of Father Divine.  Here the hexagonal marble crypt called “The Shrine to Life” holds the remains of George Baker, Jr. with gilt doors and crowned with a glass pyramid.

by Andy McCarthy

[corruption-101-blog]

Does Anyone have the Courage to EXPOSE real corrupt officials in the District Attorney office of NASSAU COUNTY, N.Y, and the Allegheny county District Attorney office

[your-dietician]

New York City announces its largest fentanyl seizure in history, eclipsing record bust from last month

New Post has been published on https://medianwire.com/new-york-city-announces-its-largest-fentanyl-seizure-in-history-eclipsing-record-bust-from-last-month/

New York City announces its largest fentanyl seizure in history, eclipsing record bust from last month

CNN  — 

Days after federal officials announced the largest fentanyl seizure in New York City history, an even greater quantity of the highly addictive substance has been found, authorities say.

Two people have been arrested and charged with multiple drug and firearm charges in connection to the seizure on October 7 at a Bronx apartment building, prosecutors said in a news release.

Authorities found roughly 300,000 rainbow-colored fentanyl pills inside two closets in the apartment, and more than 22 pounds of the drug in powdered form were wrapped in clear plastic packaging in multiple rooms, according to the Office of the Special Narcotics Prosecutor for the City of New York. The total sum of the drugs is worth about $9 million in street value, officials said.

The historic seizure saved lives, according to DEA Special Agent in Charge Frank Tarentino.

“Hundreds of thousands of lethal pills were lying in wait in a Bronx apartment to be unleashed onto our streets. In today’s world, the potential to overdose is dangerously high,” Tarentino said. “There is no quality control in these fake pills and it only takes two milligrams of fentanyl to be lethal.”

The seizure comes after federal officials announced last week that a woman has been charged with concealing about 15,000 rainbow-colored fentanyl pills in a Lego box as part of a drug trafficking scheme in September. That seizure at the time was also deemed the largest of fentanyl in New York City’s history.

Fentanyl is a synthetic opioid that’s highly addictive. It can be up to 50 times stronger than heroin and 100 times stronger than morphine, the US Centers for Disease Prevention and Control said.

Rainbow fentanyl comes in bright colors and can be used in pill form or powder.

“Rainbow fentanyl is the latest threat we face in our fight against the opioid epidemic that sadly continues to ravage our communities – a multi-colored poison specifically designed to attract younger users,” Nassau County District Attorney Anne T. Donnelly said.

And as Halloween nears, officials have been warning families to be especially vigilant regarding their children’s candy before they consume it.

The dangerous drug has been a major driver of fatal and nonfatal overdoses in the US as well as the opioid epidemic.

Although there has been a slight decrease in recent months in drug overdose deaths, the numbers remain high. About 108,000 people died of a drug overdose in the 12-month period ending May 2022 – which is down from the record high of more than 110,000 deaths reported in the 12-month period that ended March 2022, CDC provisional data published Wednesday shows.

The latest overdose death figure remains 32% than it was two years earlier and higher than any other period before November 2021, according to the CDC data. Synthetic opioids, including fentanyl, were involved in more than two-thirds of deaths in the 12-month period ending May 2022, and psychostimulants were involved in nearly a third.

Read full article here

[wintwb]

Focus nassau

YOU KNOW, NASSAU COUNTY DISTRICT ATTORNEY CALLED NASSAU COUNTY THE SAFEST LARGEST COUNTY IN THE WHOLE STATE.īUT WE DO HAVE SIGNIFICANT ISSUES WITH MS 13. WHEN THERE IS A DRUG DEAL GOING ON, A BUYER AND SELLER, NOBODY IS CALLING THE COPS. YOU KNOW, THESE FAMILIES OF THESE OPIOID EPIDEMIC.ĪND AGAIN, YOU KNOW, WE'RE DOWN IN 1998, WE HAD 70 DETECTIVES IN NARCOTICS. SO TELL THOSE FAMILIES THAT THEY'RE NOT A CRIME STATISTIC. THEY SHOULD BE A CRIME STATISTIC BECAUSE IT'S BECAUSE OF DRUGS, OKAY? OVERDOSE VICTIMS ARE NOT A CRIME STATISTIC. YEAH, YOU'RE GETTING THE JOB DONE ANYWAY. WELL, NUMBER ONE, IT'S THE GOOD WORK THAT THE POLICE OFFICERS ARE DOING. IT'S BEEN GOING DOWN AND MURDER RATE, ROBBERY, MOTORCYCLE THEFT, SAME THING IS HAPPENING IN 2018. I SAW - I WAS LOOKING AT THE CRIME STATS FROM 2006 TO 2017. THE REASON SKII ASK THAT IS BECAUSE LAST NIGHT I WAS LOOKING AT NASSAU COUNTY CRIME STATISTICS AND THE CRIME AT LEAST ON PAPER HAS BEEN PLUMMETING. WELL, YOU SEE WHAT THE GANG VIOLENCE THAT'S OUT THERE AND EVEN NARCOTICS WE'RE DOWN TO 29 DETECTIVES IN NARCOTICS. WE'RE DOWN TO SEVEN DETECTIVES IN OUR GANG INVESTIGATION SQUAD. THERE ALSO HAVE OTHER BODIES OUT THERE THAT WE KNOW ABOUT IN THESE PRESERVES AND PARKS IN NASSAU THAT WE HAVEN'T RECOVERED YET. WE'RE DIGGING UP BODIES IN NASSAU COUNTY OF VICTIMS FROM THIS GANG. WHAT DO YOU BELIEVE ARE THE CONSEQUENCES OR THE POTENTIAL CONSEQUENCES OF THIS DETECTIVE SHORTAGE? SO ELABORATE ON WHAT I SAID IN THE INTRODUCTION. INITIALLY IT'S A $2400 RAISE BUT STAYING IN YOUR POLICE OFFICER STEPS AS WELL. SO IT'S ESSENTIALLY, THERE IS NOT ECONOMIC INCENTIVES FOR THEM TO TAKE ON THE GREATER RESPONSIBILITY. YOU HAVE TO COMPLETE YOUR PBA STEPS WORKING AS A DETECTIVE AND THEN ONCE YOU COMPLETE THOSE STEPS, THEN CANYOU CAN GET PAID THE DETECTIVE. IF YOU MAKE THE DETECTIVE, THEN YOU'RE THIRD TIER. IF YOU'RE A POLICE OFFICER, IT'S EIGHT STEPS TO TOP PAY. THERE IS ALSO ISSUES OF OUR STEPS IN BECOMING A DETECTIVE. ONCE THE DETECTIVE GETS THERE, WE'RE INTERVIEWING WITNESSES, VICTIMS, WE ALSO HAVE TO MAKE A CASE AGAINST THE SUBJECT AND SEE THAT CASE THROUGHOUT A SUCCESSFUL PROSECUTION IN COURT. OUR POLICE OFFICERS IN NASSAU COUNTY DO A GREAT JOB. ONE OF THEM BEING THE RESPONSIBILITIES OF THE DETECTIVES. RIGHT NOW, THERE SAY LACK OF INTEREST IN POLICE OFFICERS SUBMITTING LETTERS TO BECOME THE DETECTIVES FOR SEVERAL REASONS. SO FIRST OF ALL, DETECTIVE, WHY IS THERE THIS SHORTAGE OF DETECTIVES IN NASSAU COUNTY? JOINING US NOW TO HELP ANSWER THOSE QUESTIONS IS DETECTIVE JOHN WIGHOUSE. SO WHY IS THERE SUCH A SIGNIFICANT SHORTAGE OF THE DETECTIVES IN THE NASSAU COUNTY POLICE DEPARTMENT? THE NASSAU COUNTY DEBLGTIVES UNION IS RAISING SERIOUS CONCERNS ABOUT A DETECTIVE SHORTAGE.ĪCCORDING TO THE PRESIDENT OF THE NASSAU COUNTY DETECTIVES ASSOCIATION, THE DIVISION IS CURRENTLY 45 DETECTIVES SHORT OF THE NUMBER OF BUDGETED FOR THE COUNTY AND ACCORDING TO HIM THAT, SHORTAGE MADE IT MUCH MORE DIFFICULT FOR THE DEPARTMENT TO COMBAT THE GROWING GANG VIOLENCE FROM GROUPS SUCH AS THE LETHAL MS 13.

[newsfact]

Cuomo won't be charged in Nassau County over sexual misconduct allegations

Cuomo won’t be charged in Nassau County over sexual misconduct allegations

NEWYou can now listen to Fox News articles! Prosecutors in Nassau County, New York, will not bring charges against former Gov. Andrew Cuomo over sexual misconduct allegations that came out of a state attorney general’s investigation. A statement from Acting Nassau County District Attorney Joyce Smith issued Thursday said that Smith’s office had “concluded” its probe into an alleged incident from…