Michael B. Cohen

International Cyber-Criminal and Two Americans Convicted

November 18, 2013 | Michael B. Cohen, P.A.

He went by the screen name “Eskalibur” which was used in his role of making online transactions at meeting places for thieves located in cyberspace. The criminal enterprise’s name on the Internet was known as the Western Express Cybercrime Group and Eskalibur was one of its ringleaders. He was personally responsible for the trafficking and sale of approximately 75,000 credit card account numbers in a fraud that would bear fruit to a tune of over a $4 million in proceeds. With two others, who lived in the United States, the trio was accountable for over 95,000 stolen and forged credit card accounts and another million dollars in profits building to a grand total of over $5 million in cybercrime earnings.

Egor Shevelev a/k/a Eskalibur, 27 was safe from prosecution. Living in Kiev in the Ukraine, there was no way US law enforcement was able to apprehend him. However in 2008, he decided to spend some of his ill-gotten gains and take a vacation to Greece. It was there on the Island of Rhodes that Greek law enforcement apprehended him after the issuance of an international arrest request. Shortly after, Ukrainian authorities executed a search warrant of his apartment, finding evidence that allowed Greek officials to detain him in preparation for extradition back to New York State on July 2, 2010 for the cybercrime of identity theft and the global trafficking of stolen and forged credit card accounts.

The two Americans who lived in United States were easier to apprehend and arrest. Douglas Latta, 40 whose online handle was “Realbusy” and Anna Ciano, 41, a/k/a “Angela Perez,” were both picked up in the Brooklyn, New York apartment they shared.
Along with Shevelev, the three were indicted and found guilty by a jury of all charges listed in the Indictment in New York State Supreme Court, after a ten-week trial in August of this year.

Shevelev operated his part in the scheme out of his apartment in Kiev. He was among five other men of Eastern European descent who were listed in the Indictment that was originally filed in 2009, where the case was prosecuted by the Manhattan District Attorney’s office. The ring as stated operated a carding forum on the Internet by the name of the International Association for the Advancement of Criminal Activity. Thieves interacted in stolen credit card activities as well as other transactions in violation of law. They also purportedly forged credit cards using the hijacked numbers, turning them into cash with the unsuspecting, innocent assistance of eBay shoppers.

Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus R. Vance, Jr. made the announcements of the extradition, Indictment and the results of the trial. After the indictment was revealed Vance said “The extradition and indictment of this defendant bring us a step closer to apprehending the members of an international identity theft ring. This Office is committed to shutting down criminal operations that traffic in stolen information used to steal identities and illegally acquire money.”

After the verdict by the jury was made public, Vance was quoted as saying “It was a highly profitable scheme that netted the principals millions of dollars. I am pleased that these defendants have been sentenced to prison sentences appropriate to the scope and breadth of their misconduct.”

Aside from the results of this trial four others included in the 173-count Indictment were Dzimitry Burak, aka “Graph,” 30, a native of Belarus who like Shevelev was living in the Ukraine, Oleg Kovelin (Covelin), aka “DoZ,” 32, from Moldova, and Vladimir Kramarenko, aka “Envisor,” 35, a Moldovan national, as well as Viatcheslav Vasilyev, aka “The Viver,” 37 from the Czech Republic. Kramarenko and Vasilyev were arrested in July 2008 in Prague and subsequently extradited to the U.S. the following year.

According to officials, the five Eastern European men, worked in line with seventeen other accused individuals who were named in the November 2007 indictment, as well as a company based in New York called Western Express International Inc. WEI was managed by an additional defendant named Vadim Vassilenko, which authorities say was used to coordinate and facilitate the illegal activities and launder the ring’s ill-gotten gains.

Vasilyev and Kramarenko previously pleaded guilty. Burak and Kovelin (Covelin) still remain fugitives to this point, avoiding capture.

Computer Hacker Pleads Guilty to Conspiracy to Commit Securities Fraud

November 8, 2013 | Michael B. Cohen, P.A.

In the real world, it seems the more effort put into constructing locks and security systems to safeguard our possessions; lawbreakers develop abilities to build enhanced keys, and a superior illicit method to gain access to what is being guarded. Protecting the contents of our homes, cash and valuables is an ever-present, unending challenge. But in the Cyber world the level of sophistication reached by criminals responsible for computer incursions and hacking activities is constantly tested by our ability to thwart their entry.

The phenomena of modern technology has grown exponentially over the past have century. And most individuals use the Internet for a variety of purposes. For the most part when we visit our online banking or brokerage accounts the belief is that the transactions that are processed are secure, encrypted, and veiled from prying eyes.

But clever cyber-crooks are always out there, lurking in the shadows constantly attempting to find ways to cash in on activities in this virtual world.

Petr Murmylyuk, a.k.a. Dmitry Tokar, a Russian National who made his home in Brooklyn, NY is one of those shadow lurkers.

Murmylyuk’s cultivated knowledge in the workings of computers was substantiated by his arrest in November, 2011 when he was caught red-handed with a laptop in his possession containing more than enough evidence to implicate him in a substantial scam, along with his accomplices.

The Complaint against Murmylyuk asserts that he, along with an accomplice recruited Russian, as well as other foreign nationals in an online stock rigging scheme. The foreigners were either already living in the United States, or were visiting. Some were students. Three residents of Houston, Texas: Mikhail Shatov, Anton Mezentsev and Galina Korelina were among them as well as other unnamed participants. The group was instructed to open new bank accounts where illegal profits resultant from the proposed operation would be deposited.

Murmylyuk’s hacking abilities allowed him to gain illegal entry to online accounts of brokerage firm customer accounts at Fidelity, Scottrade, E-Trade, and Schwab among other brokerage firms not specifically listed. Telephone numbers and email addresses of the owners were then altered giving the group complete control of the hacked accounts. He and his connections then used identities that were originally illegally obtained or stolen to open new accounts at other brokerage houses. These accounts were termed “Profit Accounts” in the Information. After this method was introduced, they then made irrational and unprofitable trades using the victimized accounts leading to losses in the victims’ accounts and gains in the “Profit Accounts”.

An example of the swindle involved initiating trades that sold options contracts directly to the “Profit Accounts”. After the trade was offered the same contracts were specifically purchased back minutes later for “at times” almost ten times the original price. They also used “short selling” to achieve the same results. (Selling an issue short is a sale of stock that a shareholder doesn’t actually own, but instead borrows from an investor willing to do so with the hope of eventually returning it after the stock price drops resulting in a profit to the original shareholder who “sold it short”.)

This was done by using the “Profit Accounts” offering a short sale of a stock at a worth grossly inflated above the market price for that particular day for the given stock. Moments after the offering was proposed on the open market from the Hackers Accounts, the Hackers used their ability over the Victim Accounts to purchase the shares of the stock at the inflated price, which resulted in a profit for the owner of the “Profit Account” at the Victim Account’s expense. Murmylyuk and/or his associates then covered the falsified short sale by re-purchasing the security which was borrowed at the lower market price.

All proceeds were then transferred from the “Profit Accounts” into the new accounts and then transmitted to the bank accounts that were opened by Mezentsev, Korelina and Shatov as well as others involved in the scheme.

The profits received by Murmylyuk and his associates, generated by the scam, resulted in combined losses of roughly $1 million to the three named major brokerage houses as well as others.

Mikhail Shatov, Anton Mezentsev and Galina Korelina were previously charged in New Jersey and convicted for charges of conspiracy to commit wire fraud. U. S. District Judge Esther Salas sentenced Mezentsev to 27 months in federal prison. Korelina and Shatov were sentenced to14 months each, earlier in 2012.

Murmylyuk was formally charged in April, 2012, charged with unauthorized access to computers, one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud, and securities fraud. The SEC is also filing a comparable civil action. He is currently in state custody looking at charges from a separate investigation directed by the Manhattan District Attorney’s Office where he is charged with identity theft of more than three-hundred individuals that were unemployed. He then allegedly collected bogus tax returns using their names and information.

Murmylyuk has pleaded guilty to the conspiracy to commit securities fraud charge. He pleaded guilty to identity theft and tax fraud charges earlier. He’ll face a $250,000 fine and a maximum penalty of five years in prison for the New Jersey case and fifteen years in prison for the case against him brought forward by the Manhattan district attorney. Sentencing is scheduled for November 12 for the securities fraud case.

Man Charged in Greenwich Village Hate Crime Murder

October 30, 2013 | Michael B. Cohen, P.A.

Greenwich Village is a mostly residential area of the west side of Lower Manhattan. The largest majority of people who live there are basically upper middle class families. Known in the latter part of the 19th century through the present, the “Village” has been labeled a haven for artists, as well as the bohemian capital of New York City. It is also credited as the birthplace of the Beat movement of the East Coast. The neighborhood is encompassed by Broadway to the east and the Hudson River to its furthest point west. To the south lies Houston Street and it travels north to 14th Street. The neighborhood essentially centers New York University and Washington Square Park.

Living among the wealthy residents who live in stylish apartment buildings or own their own renovated brownstones, there is a large gay community. This group is known to mostly frequent the bars and clubs of the west village.

While traveling through the Village it is not unusual to run across openly gay members of its population. Two men, or two women, walking together holding hands with each other is more the rule than its exception. Especially north of the Avenue of the Americas which is the unofficial line of demarcation separating the east and west village. Within the community’s whole there is the realm of gay men and lesbians and the bars they frequent as well as the domain of straight men and women who visit clubs that fit a heterosexual lifestyle.

It was on a corner of the Avenue of the Americas that Mark Carson, 32, heard the words “You want to die tonight?”

Carson was walking with a companion as he was being followed by Elliot Morales, who was repeatedly shouting anti-gay slurs at the two. After his final hateful proclamation, he allegedly shot Carson in the face with a silver revolver. Carson was found fatally wounded by police lying in the street and later died of his injuries after being taken to Beth Israel Hospital where he was pronounced dead on arrival.

A short time later, Morales was picked up when a police officer spotted him a few blocks away from the crime scene. The officer heard the description of the perpetrator on his radio and made the arrest upon seeing Morales.

Approximately 15 minutes before the murder took place, the alleged killer was noticed urinating outside a fashionable restaurant a few blocks from the crime scene, according to New York Police Commissioner Raymond Kelly. Kelly labeled the murder a hate crime. “There were no words that would aggravate the situation, and the victim did not know the perpetrator,” he said.

Before a commencement address that he delivered in White Plains, when speaking about the incident, he went on to say “It is clear that the victim here was killed only because and just because he was thought to be gay. There is no question about that.”

Police also questioned two unidentified individuals who had been seen with Morales moments before the shooting took place. The Police Department’s chief spokesman, Paul J. Browne, said that the two men were questioned as witnesses to the murder and were not, considered suspects at this time. He also said that they were cooperating with the authorities.

According to state Department of Correction records it was found that Mr. Morales had been found guilty of a robbery and served more than 10 years in prison for his conviction of that crime. Until his arrest he had been staying with one of the two men who is now being questioned as a witness at his home in Far Rockaway, Queens. Police found another gun amongst Mr. Morales’s belongings at that location.

According to an undisclosed source, Mr. Morales’s sister, Edith Gutierrez, said she did not believe her brother could have committed a crime of such bias. She said that they have gay relatives and her brother had never shown any signs of homophobia. She also said that when she spoke with her brother in jail, “he said he doesn’t remember anything; he was under the influence, he was drinking.”

After making his first appearance in Manhattan Criminal Court, he was charged with murder and weapons charges, according to the Wall Street Journal. Pending his next court appearance he is being held without bail as ordered by Judge Robert Stolz.

Morales, said nothing at his arraignment in Manhattan Criminal Court and his attorney chose not to comment on the case.

Man Indicted after Massive Drug Bust in Nice Bronx Neighborhood

October 29, 2013 | Michael B. Cohen, P.A.

The Horace Man School has been a fixture in the Riverdale section of the Bronx celebrating its one-hundred-twenty-fifth anniversary in 2012. In addition to Mann there are several schools in that area and thousands of children of school-age in attendance.

Fieldston Terrace is a peaceful street just a little north from The Horace Mann School. It was there that DEA agents were able to uncover close to 70 pounds of cocaine. The drug was carefully packaged in cellophane and found hidden in a closet in the bedroom of an apartment within the building that is located just west of Broadway, neighboring Van Cortlandt Park to the east. The Major Deegan Expressway goes directly through the park. The DEA has recently noted a trend where “stash houses” that hold large amounts of drugs have been found to be located neighboring major state interstate highways and thruways.

The stash was found this past September 26, which led to the immediate arrest of Juan Rojas, 30, who shared the apartment with his girlfriend Ana.

In addition to the cocaine that has been valued at over $1.5 million, two loaded firearms, scales, a money counter, drug ledgers as well as over $1.6 million in cash were seized by the DEA agents who made the bust.

A portion of the packages of cocaine were soaped in a type of grease, and a five-gallon container of that substance was also found in close proximity to the stockpile of drugs. According to DEA sources, drug traffickers brush cocaine with this type of grease to disguise the scent from drug-sniffing dogs that are trained to track illegal substances. The container’s incidence in the bedroom led law enforcement officials to believe that the apartment was used as a “stash house” which held the drugs before they were staged and transported, according to DEA Agent spokeswoman Erin Mulvey. “It was going to be used to mask the smell in transportation somewhere,” she stated referring to the confiscated tub of grease. Based on calculations, law enforcement believes that Rojas was trafficking in the area of 110 pounds of cocaine on a monthly basis. The apartment was targeted by DEA agents as a suspected drug trafficking locality as part of an ongoing investigation

The apartment was neither listed in the name of Rojas or his girlfriend. Records revealed that it was listed under the name of a Ms. Then.

Rojas, 30, now faces charges of first-and-third-degree criminal possession of a controlled substance; one third-degree count of criminal possession of a weapon as well as two counts of second-degree criminal possession of a weapon. In the statement that was released by the DEA it wasn’t specified if the suspect caused any commotion when he was arrested as the raid took place. His girlfriend Ana, who was present at the apartment when the bust went down, was taken into custody and later pleaded guilty to criminal facilitation which is a misdemeanor.

Rojas was indicted last week after being held without bail since his arrest. His attorney stated that his client has no prior records of arrest and pointed out that the apartment belonged to another person. “It was another individual’s apartment and he’s going to vigorously fight the case,” commented his attorney in a phone interview with the Riverdale Press. The lawyer went on to say that his client planned to plead not guilty at his arraignment which is scheduled for next week.

Neighbors that were interviewed by the same publication that conducted the telephone interview reported that they seemed surprised by news of the goings on in the apartment.

Human Trafficking Victims Held for Years Mirror Amanda Berry Case

October 20, 2013 | Michael B. Cohen, P.A.

Amanda Berry escaped to a neighbor’s house and made that call earlier this month. The two other women that were held at the property were Gina DeJesus and Michelle Knight who were grabbed after the seizure of Miss Berry.

As this tale of misery continues to unfold and dominate the National headlines Berry’s disappearance was a National story in itself after she disappeared 10 years ago.

As hard as it is to believe that these women could be successfully held captive for such an extended period of time, similar stories come to light every day throughout the United States.

Mirroring the Amanda Berry story, a great amount of women are abducted and held captive for months and sometimes many years. A substantial amount of them are led into a life of prostitution by their kidnappers.

At about the same time that the three women and one child were emancipated from their captor in Cleveland, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents were making arrests.

The ICE Homeland Security Investigations directorate is an Agency that is in authority of investigating a wide array of domestic and international actions arising from the illegal movement of people and merchandise into, within, and out of the country.

Last month, they issued search warrants for four brothels in Queens and Yonkers and as far north as upstate Poughkeepsie and Newburgh. By way of these warrants, nine men from Queens were taken into custody. Three other targets of the warrants were found to already be incarcerated on unrelated charges and one of the suspects remains at large. They were charged in an alleged sex trafficking and prostitution ring which was said to have been shaped as early as 2008. Victims in the case were not physically abducted per se, but the commonality to the Cleveland case is that some of them were held by their captors’ for vast periods of time.

Most of the victims were lured from Tenancingo, Mexico by men who enticed them with promises of romance and/or assurances of a better life in the United States.

“The members of this alleged sex trafficking and prostitution ring lured their unsuspecting victims to the United States and then consigned them to a living hell – forcing them to become sex slaves living in abhorrent conditions, and using threats, verbal abuse, and violence – sexual and otherwise – when they resisted and even sometimes when they didn’t,” said U.S. attorney Preet Bharara in a recent statement.

Labeled as the “world capital of sex trafficking” by U.S. government authorities, the rural region of Tenancingo, Mexico appears to spawn a remarkable amount of sex traffickers that have been arrested by ICE agents in New York City and its outlying areas. Tenancingo, a town of approximately 10,000 people is located within 80 miles of its Capital; Mexico City and has earned the aforesaid reprehensible distinction due to the many arrests made in New York and other parts of the country during the last decade.

The sex trafficking route from Tenancingo that once led straight to Jackson Heights has expanded far outside the city limits, a thorough Daily News investigation illustrates.

The recent indictment of brothers Isaias and Bonifacio Flores-Mendez; by law enforcement shows exactly how far the venomous Queens-based crews have expanded.

They operate covert brothels in homes located in the Hudson Valley and improvised houses of ill-reputed on New Jersey farms, bullying girlfriends and even their wives into lives of prostitution.

“We see here that they have moved (farther) out,” said ICE Special Agent in Charge James Hayes after the upstate raid at the end of April. “It seems like the word is getting out that we’re cracking down in the New York City area.”

Since last October, 33 arrests relating to sex-trafficking have been achieved in New York all of them dealing with suspects from the town of Tenancingo.

One of the victims that the Daily News is only calling “Ana” in the attempt to protect her actual identity spoke about the life she was forced to live saying “Some weekends, I would just have to try to stand it. Drunks, insults. Sometimes on a weekend it would be 30, 40 a night. And you would have to keep going,” She was led to farms, brothels or “delivery service” setups on Long Island, Connecticut, New Jersey and as far away as Maryland. In most cases the leaders of the sex ring would keep all of her earnings.

In a telephone conversation that was recorded by law enforcement, Carlos Garcia-de la Rosa, one of the drivers for the Flores-Mendez’s organization was heard asking a 14-year old girl to have naked pictures of herself taken and then texted to him. He was charged with child pornography according to court papers.

Another one of their drivers David Vasquez-Medina forced his girlfriend to turn tricks working against her will for over two years with Vasquez-Medina reaping all the benefits of her labors as also indicated in the court documents.

Also, according to court papers, another alleged victim was brought to Queens from Mexico along with her child. She was recruited into the Flores-Mendez’s organization of prostitution and severely beaten when she refused to go along with their plans for her. She slept in the kitchen, under the table of her torturer’s 112th St. home.

In the end, she wound up giving in and then having sex with more than 20 men daily also turning over all of her earnings to the Flores-Mendez gang. During the course of her exploits she became pregnant. She was then forced to take the drug Cytotec for the purpose of causing a miscarriage, according to court papers.

“After periods of victimization – typically months or years – many victims manage to escape,” the complaint reads. It goes on further to say “Without legal status in the United States, without family or friends for support, without employment opportunities, and as a result of the trauma they have suffered, victims sometimes return to prostitution.”

Ten of the women who had been forced into the illicit operation were able to approach law enforcement and were rescued over numerous years, according to ICE.

ICE Special agent in charge James Hayes said on the day of the arrests: ‘The arrests today move the United States closer to blockading the repugnant sex trafficking corridor that organizations like the one allegedly operated by Isaias Flores-Mendez and his cohorts use to smuggle innocent victims between Tenancingo, Mexico and New York City.”

‘With their arrests today, the barbaric conduct in which these defendants allegedly engaged in order to make a profit has now been put to a stop, and they will be prosecuted for their alleged crimes and the women they enslaved will be able to put their lives back together” as stated by Manhattan U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara.

To read the shocking statistics dealing with human trafficking in the United States, click here.

Staten Island Man Accepts Guilty Plea for Manslaughter

October 13, 2013 | Michael B. Cohen, P.A.

In Staten Island, the Arlington Terrace apartment complex in the Mariners Harbor section of the borough has a long history of violent events associated with its past. On July 1, 2012, Genard Droughn, a resident of North Carolina kept the housing development’s reputation intact. Droughn was originally from the neighborhood but moved away in 2010. However, he often made trips back to visit members of his family.

Just as a jury was about to be assembled in the murder trial against him, Droughn agreed to a guilty plea of first-degree manslaughter in state Supreme Court, St. George, for the killing of Brian Norwood who was found dead in his car at 55 Holland Ave. Norwood and his girlfriend were apparently sleeping in the gold Nissan Altima, when Droughn shot him three times in the parking lot of the apartment complex. A source close to the investigation said Norwood was visiting the resident of the complex, and she had accidentally locked them out of her apartment. The source also mentioned that it was Norwood’s first time visiting Staten Island. Norwood was the father of three children and also left behind an aggregate of seven brothers and sisters.

The police found the victim’s body at around 7:40 in the morning. He was shot in the chest, back, and left arm, according to the same source. He was later pronounced dead after being taken to West Brighton’s Richmond University Medical Center.

There was no evidence that Droughn and Norwood even knew each other and the motive for the murder still remains a mystery. An unspecified law enforcement official said that they were looking into the possibility that the shooting may have been a circumstance of mistaken identity.

However, Mr. Norwood himself was not a model citizen. According to police sources, Norwood had an extensive rap sheet with at least11 arrests in New Jersey including charges of weapon possession and assault, to shoplifting and being in possession of counterfeit Compact Disks. The same source described him as a productive armed robber in his own hometown. “He’s sort of a drifter now, not really staying in one place,” said a another law enforcement official. He sustained at least three felony convictions according to public records. One of which was for a drug offense in 1999, another for aggravated assault in 1994, and most recently in 2007, a conviction for making terrorist threats as well as aggravated assault.

It took law enforcement less than a week to track down and arrest Droughn who fled to Charlotte, North Carolina where he was apprehended in a townhouse, where he lives with his two children and their mother. He was visiting relatives who lived on Staten Island during the time that he shot and killed Norwood.

A neighbor, Caroline Narducci, who was questioned about the latest incident, said “I’m tired of all this nonsense with the shootings. I didn’t see anything, but all I know is that some mother had to wake up on a Sunday morning and find out her son was killed.” Narducci’s apartment faced the crime scene.

An assortment of factors influenced the offer of the plea deal, primarily that the murder weapon wasn’t found. Ballistics demonstrated that it was a.40-caliber handgun. “The certainty of a verdict when weighed against the evidentiary difficulties and uncertainty of a trial, led to this being the best possible outcome in this case.” stated District Attorney Daniel Donovan. Although when a spokesman from Donovan’s office was questioned on the topic of problems with proof, he declined to comment further.

Droughn’s attorney stated that the negotiated sentence and plea was “a fair disposition considering all of the facts and circumstances of the case.”

Based on the terms of the plea agreement, Droughn will serve thirteen years in prison. At the end of that term he will submit to an additional period of five-years of supervised release. He will be sentenced later this week on Oct. 9.

As previously mentioned, the neighborhood itself has been a focal point of many violent episodes throughout the years. Last September, Samyah Bailey, was shot in the left eye by a fragment of a stray bullet. She was 22 months old at the time of the incident. In September 2010 Jerome Mitchell, 23, suffered gunshot wounds when he was shot in the lobby of the same building where this most recent shooting took place; 55 Holland Ave., and in November 2009 Jermaine Dickerson, 37 was also killed within the confines of the complex; similarly in a parking lot.

Elderly North Carolina Man Apprehended after Robbing Bank in Great Neck, NY

October 7, 2013 | Michael B. Cohen, P.A.

Dressed in a green shirt, blue pants, and white sneakers Raymond Young walked into a Great Neck, NY Chase bank branch on Middle Neck Road at 9:30 in the morning brandishing a handgun and “verbally demanded money from a teller,” police said. His trendy ensemble was topped off with a light-colored baseball cap.

What Mr. Young didn’t anticipate when he chose to rob that particular bank was that a Lake Success police officer would happen to be in the bank and witness the entire armed robbery. So when Young fled the bank with an undisclosed amount of cash, he already had the deck stacked against his possibility of escape.

Equipped with eye-witness identification by the officer, the Kings Point police were able to look back at surveillance video that was taken at the time of the holdup as well as having still photos including a direct shot of the perpetrator. They also performed a license plate “read” on the suspected vehicle using special equipment (Automatic number plate recognition, ALPR), which identified the suspect. The information was then released by the Kings Point department to the Nassau County Police and all other local area police agencies along with all photos and details of the heist.

Just after 7 p.m. the surveillance equipment alerted police that the suspect vehicle had entered the village, according to Kings Point Department Commissioner Jack Miller.

Coincidentally, it was a Lake Success police officer that made the actual arrest. Police Sgt. Thomas Alter told the Great Neck Record that the information relayed from the Kings Point Police Department as well as the visual sighting by their own officer was responsible for Mr. Young’s apprehension. His car was noticed by a Lake Success police officer, displaying the identified license plate, at the intersection of the Northern State Parkway and Lakeville Road where he quickly pulled over the alleged thief, arrested him, and took him into custody.

70-year old Raymond Young, from Memphis, Tennessee, was charged with first-degree criminal use of a firearm, and robbery, first-degree. The elderly man was arraigned in First District Court in Hempstead by Judge Eric Bjorneby who ordered him held without bail.

Commissioner Miller crowed to the Great Neck Record, a local newspaper, that Young’s arrest was greatly aided by his department, citing that they have a total of 19 cameras positioned in tactical areas throughout the village as well as at all entrances to the Long Island North Shore town. Kings Point is located on the Great Neck Peninsula in the Town of North Hempstead in Nassau County.

He pointed out that there are 19 cameras of this type in the village, such as the main camera on East Shore Road at the site of the Jewish Center (Chabad), and the one also on East Shore Road near the entrance to the village. He stressed that only a select group of Kings Point officers have total access to these camera in real time, but the department has the ability to always check the recorded videos and view any individuals that have come into or exited the community at any time during the course of each day.

Miller also said that the Village has plans to expand their surveillance system in due course to include a total of 44 license-plate readers at nineteen intersections within the confines of the Village which is a little more than three square miles in size. The proposal received worries from civil liberties activists in addition to local residents who were concerned about the cost of the elaborate system. However, this past June, a $1,140,000 bond offering was approved by the village for the expansion of the system.

Brooklyn, NY Man Arrested on Bank Robbery Charges in New Jersey

October 6, 2013 | Michael B. Cohen, P.A.

A resident of Brooklyn, New York who was at one time listed on the FBI’s 10 most wanted fugitive list was arrested in April in association with another bank robbery. He had just completed a 25-year sentence in Federal prison roughly two weeks prior to this occurrence for his conviction in a rash of more than two dozen bank robberies in the late 1980’s. His primary court appearance in this new case will be on May 15.

John Edward Stevens, 62, of Brooklyn, New York was arrested on April 16, after he entered a TD Bank located on Ramapo Valley Road in Bergen County, Oakland, New Jersey. He was waving a handgun and allowed all the customers to leave the bank, before removing cash from the tellers’ area from multiple cash drawers. Before going for the money, he first displayed a black handgun to one of the bank managers that was sitting at his desk at the time. After gathering up the loot he left on foot and was spotted by police about 20 minutes later in neighboring Waldwick just after 10:30 a.m. Employees of the bank affirmed that the man matching his description captured by the police was indeed the perpetrator. The Oakland Police Department received the 9-1-1 call at 10:03 a.m.

In a search of his “stolen” car, police found a bag displaying the TD bank’s logo filled with approximately $4,000 in cash. They also found a black handgun that was identified by some of the employees as a match for the weapon he was brandishing in the bank, minutes prior to his apprehension.

The arrest was credited to members of both the Waldwick and Ho-Ho-Kus Police at approximately 10:40 a.m.

He is now charged with one count of bank robbery, which if convicted can produce a new sentence of up to 20 more years behind bars.

Stevens was first arrested for bank robbery charges on November 30, 1988 in Ohio. Cincinnati Police found him in a motel along with his girlfriend. He has previously been featured on the hit TV show America’s Most Wanted and is suspected in excess of 25 more bank robberies spanning at least eight states

It seems he was a tad more effective during his prior robberies, which earned him quite a reputation with federal authorities.

According to media reports, during his previous spree, he was acknowledged for mocking police, often boasting that “he is smarter than anyone in law enforcement.” Before his arrest in 1988, Stevens would actually call up police offices and claim that he would never be caught. He was positioned on the FBI’s “Most Wanted” list in that same year and was arrested in Cincinnati around six months after that notorious assignment.

The FBI also has charges pending against him for various offenses, including previous bank robberies. There are also additional charges imminent from several other jurisdictions which include the 10th precinct in Manhattan. In that particular case, Stevens is wanted for a recent carjacking that occurred on April 14, 2013. It is alleged that the car stolen in the New York City carjacking is the same vehicle that Stevens used, and was caught with in this latest robbery.

He is now scheduled to make his first appearance in U.S. District Court at 2 p.m. on Wednesday, in Newark, Jersey.

The press release on this posting can be read in full on the FBI’s Website by clicking here.

Indictment Unsealed for 12-Year Old Murder of U.S. Diplomat by Malian National

September 23, 2013 | Michael B. Cohen, P.A.

The U.S. Attorney’s office declared a reward of $20,000 for any information that would lead to the whereabouts and subsequent arrest of Alhassane Ould Mohamed, a/k/a Cheibani, a Malian citizen who is accused of the attempted murder of a U.S. Marine staff sergeant and the murder of a U.S. diplomat who were posted in Niamey, Niger, in December 2000. Mohamed is also accused of the attempted murder of other Embassy staffers.

The indictment was unsealed in Brooklyn, New York federal court. It was announced by Loretta E. Lynch, United States Attorney for the Eastern District of New York in conjunction with a spokesman from the FBI, New York Field Office; the Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary for Diplomatic Security, U.S. Department of State, and the Director of the Defense Intelligence Agency.

“U.S. diplomat William Bultemeier lost his life while representing his country overseas and U.S. Marine Christopher McNeely was gravely wounded trying to protect him, all during the brazen armed carjacking allegedly perpetrated by the defendant and his confederate. The sacrifice of Mr. Bultemeier and the courage of Staff Sergeant McNeely in service to their country will not be forgotten. The United States will work ceaselessly to bring those who harm our diplomats and military personnel to justice” commented the U.S. Attorney.

A grand jury in the Eastern District of New York charged Mohamed, an alleged radical Muslim with one count of murdering an internationally protected person and one count of attempting to murder an internationally protected person in a sealed indictment that was returned on September 13. The indictment was unsealed earlier last week.

The indictment specifies that in the post-dawn hours of December 23, 2000, Mohamed and a co-conspirator confronted an assemblage of employees posted at the United States Embassy in Niger as they were leaving an eatery in Niamey, the capital and largest city of the West African country. Armed with an AK-47 assault rifle and a pistol, both men advanced toward Bultemeier, a Department of Defense official, as he was attempting to enter his vehicle. The car clearly displayed diplomatic license plates specifying that it was the property of the United States Embassy. Once confronted, the assailants demanded that the Diplomat give up his keys to the SUV. Upon meeting resistance he shot Bultemeier with the pistol. Detecting the commotion, Christopher McNeely who was the Staff Sergeant for the Marine Detachment Commander for the Embassy at the time, hurried to the Diplomat’s assistance. The unidentified co-conspirator then began firing the AK-47 at McNeely, as well as Mr. Bultemeier. Both men were hit by rounds of automatic fire. Searching through the fatally injured Diplomat’s pockets Mohamed was able to retrieve Bultemeier’s keys. The defendant and his co-conspirator were then able to drive away from the scene.

Staff Sergeant McNeely, though shot several times was able to survive the onslaught of gun shots. A short time after the incident he retired from the Marine Corps holding the rank of Master Sergeant. Regrettably, Mr. Bultemeier died of his injuries caused by the attack.

Our Diplomats face constant dangers when dispatched to countries in regions with hostile intentions toward our government and our way of life. The events that transpired at Benghazi, Libya, on September 11, 2012 may be the most publicized, but numerous aggregates of diplomatic personnel face challenges and peril as they attempt to do their jobs on foreign soil each day.

U.S. Attorney Lynch conveyed her welcome appreciation to the governments of Mali, Niger, and Algeria for their significant help and support regarding the investigation. The State Department’s Bureau of Diplomatic Security in conjunction with the FBI is presently organizing with foreign law enforcement to capture the defendant who is currently at large.

FBI Assistant Director in Charge George Venizelos, who was present at the announcement of the now unsealed indictment, stated that “An attack on U.S. Government personnel, whether domestically or abroad, is an attack on the United States. The perpetrator of these crimes should always be looking over his shoulders. It is only a matter of time before he is apprehended. The FBI will continue working with its partners overseas to ensure that the defendant is captured and brought to justice.

Online Gambling Backed by Organized Crime

September 17, 2013 | Michael B. Cohen, P.A.

All that you need is a computer with an Internet connection to bet on just about any type of sport, throw a couple of bucks down on a horse, or even participate in a fully-functional online casino. Well, that was until late 2006 when Congress passed the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act. Now you can still find Websites on the Net to take your bets but the question of their legal status remains in a gray area.

In addition to online action, gamblers in the know can usually find a local game of chance within the confines of their own neighborhoods. These are sophisticated operations and not to be confused with playing a game of cards for money with friends. In New York City it is believed that there are more than a few of these establishments serving clients twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week.

Some of these illegal operations are backed by organized crime and in addition to the gambling feature of these businesses they also deal in the crimes of money laundering, and extortion. Such was the case when the FBI’s Eurasian Organized Crime Squad executed federal search warrants throughout New York City, and four other major cities throughout the country in association with an illegal gambling enterprise connected to the Russian mob.

In mid-April of this year, 34 individuals were indicted in the sting. The gambling ring appears to have accommodated Wall Street types, Hollywood stars as well as other wealthy clientele.

Alimzhan Tokhtakhounov, who had been previously indicted for allegedly attempting to bribe 2002 Winter Olympics officials, is named in the indictment as a leader in the Taiwanchik-Trincher Organization. “The Taiwanchik-Trincher Organization was an international organized-crime group with leadership based in New York City, Kiev and Moscow, and that operated throughout the United States,” the indictment said.

Earlier last month, William Barbalat, 42, admitted to hosting illegal underground poker games in his apartment, as well as helping facilitate wire transfers to players in different states. He could face up to 10 years in prison for the crime. He is free on bond until his sentencing in December. Barbalat is the second defendant to plead out. Bryan Zuriff, 44, the executive producer of Showtime’s drama, “Ray Donovan,” last month copped to running a sports book out of Los Angeles. Molly Bloom, who’s been linked to card sharks such as Leonardo DiCaprio, Alex Rodriguez, Tobey Maguire and Matt Damon, was arraigned on Friday on charges of running a Russian mob-associated poker ring.

This week two more defendants pleaded guilty in Manhattan Federal Court to participating in the ring. Edwin Ting and Justin Smith pled guilty on Sept. 4 in Manhattan federal court to their respective roles in the high-stakes illegal gambling businesses. Ting ran a high-stakes illegal poker game in New York City from 2010 through 2013. At these games, the pots frequently reached tens of thousands of dollars or more. The operators of these games, including Ting, collected percentages of the pots known as “rakes.” These poker games employed at least five or more people to assist with the operation of the games, payments of debts, and collection of debts.
Smith assisted Hillel Nahmad, Illya Trincher, and others in operating their own high-stakes sportsbook in New York that catered to millionaires and billionaires. Those clients typically placed bets online through various accounts maintained on gambling websites that were operating illegally in the United States. Tens of millions of dollars in bets were placed through those online accounts each year had a part in the sportsbook operations. In the original 34-defendant indictment members and associates were charged with various crimes, including racketeering, money laundering, extortion, and various gambling offenses.

Ting and Smith each face a maximum sentence of five years in prison and three years of supervised release. As part of his plea agreement, Ting agreed to forfeit $2,000,000 to the United States. As part of his plea agreement, Smith agreed to forfeit $500,000 to the United States. Ting and Smith are both scheduled to be sentenced by Judge Furman on January 7, 2014, at 2:30 p.m. and 3:30 p.m., respectively.

Ting and Smith are the fourth and fifth defendants to plead guilty in the case. The following defendants have previously pled guilty and will also be sentenced by Judge Furman:

Bryan Zuriff pled guilty on July 26, 2013, and is scheduled to be sentenced on November 25, 2013, at 3:00 p.m.

William Barbalat pled guilty on August 14, 2013, and is scheduled to be sentenced on December 16, 2013, at 3:30 p.m.

Kirill Rapoport pled guilty on August 16, 2013, and is scheduled to be sentenced on December 18, 2013, at 3:00 p.m.

One question that many online gamblers ask themselves is quite simple to ask but difficult to answer – is online gambling legal in the USA? This question is one of overwhelming difficulty to answer as online gambling is trapped in a grey area of the law. The industry is also always evolving, thus further complicating the situation on a whole. If you ever intend on gambling over the Internet you will probably want to be aware of these laws, as personal protection is essential for keeping yourself free out of the eyes of the law.

As with any possible crime, which we assure you that you’re not committing while gambling online, you will first want to look on the federal level. In the current legal atmosphere, online gambling is not federally banned. So on a federal level; to the individual at least, the answer to is online gambling legal in the USA is yes. Unfortunately, it is not as clear cut as a yes or no answer. In truth, federal regulations have made it illegal for banks and other payment processors to process transactions related to online gambling. To reiterate – online gambling is legal for the American player, though for the American financial institution or owner of the gambling site, operating within the United States remains illegal.

So what, you might ask, does this mean for you? Simply put, this just means that you will be required to work around this restriction. Though some brands of online gambling have decided not to work with American players, there are still plenty of online gambling locations to be enjoyed by Americans. Most of these online gambling locations require you to find alternative ways of funding your account, as most banks have begun to cease processing the transactions related to online gambling. Though this is inconvenient, the fact of the matter is that there will always be a way to send your funds into the Legal Gambling site, so never fear, as there is an option for everyone.

While the short answer is definitely yes, US players are allowed by law to play poker at a Sportsbook, it is important for players to understand the legalities of the Unlawful Internet Gaming Enforcement Act (UIGEA) and why all of these sudden poker shut downs occurred in the first place, according to www.mypokerbasics.com