Articles Posted in New York

In this criminal case, in 1986 although the installation of individual water meters was required in commercial and industrial buildings, 630,000 one and two family homes were unmetered and billed for water on an arcane basis unrelated to usage and predicated on property frontage. A New York Criminal Lawyer said the City decided to meter these homes and to do so through a municipal installation project rather than by requiring the individual homeowners to install them. The City would use a competitive bidding process, and award contracts according to the boundaries of the City’s community boards. As is common in such contract bidding processes, the City prepared bid packages for prospective bidders. In addition to technical information and cost estimates, the bid package informed prospective bidders that they would be required to calculate labor costs in accordance with Labor Law Section 220, which requires contractors performing public works projects to pay the workers the prevailing wage. The bid packages let out in 1989 and 1990 also required that the contracting party would have to perform certain work known as pre-plumbing work. In essence, the contracts with the City would require that pre-plumbing work be supervised by a licensed master plumber.

After conducting pre-bid conferences, the City circulated an addendum to the bid specifications which set forth the specific wages that the bidders would be required to pay their employees. The defendants received this addendum. After the bids were publicly opened, the lowest bid was determined and the contracts were awarded to the defendants. A New York Criminal Lawyer said the defendants executed formal contracts, to which were annexed the bid information and the wage schedules, which were also incorporated by reference. Each contract provided: The wages to be paid and the supplements to be provided, for a legal day’s work, to laborers, workmen or mechanics employed by the Contractor shall not be less than the prevailing wages and supplement required to be paid to such employees, as ascertained and prescribed by the Comptroller in the Specifications attached hereto.

A New York Grand Larceny Lawyer said that, the indictment charges larceny by false promise, larceny by false pretenses, scheme to defraud, and filing of a false instrument, conspiracy, and perjury. The thrust of the indictment is that the defendants never intended to comply with the prevailing wage and pre-plumbing master plumber requirements. Among other evidence which was presented to the Jury was that the defendants calculated their bids based on piecework rather than hourly costs, that they promised workers the higher of piecework or hourly rate, but only paid a piecework rate that resulted in a lower wage than an hourly rate at the prevailing wages, that the defendants arranged with a licensed plumber to falsely make it appear that a licensed plumber was supervising pre-plumbing work, and that the defendants submitted false and perjurious forms to the City certifying they had complied with the contracts.

Continue reading

In this case, Defendant has been charged with grand larceny, grand larceny by extortion, money laundering, and intimidating a witness.

Complainants are the principal officers of the general contractor engaged in the rehabilitation of a hotel. A New York Criminal Lawyer said the defendant demanded periodic cash payments from Complainants in exchange for a guarantee of labor peace. He has influence over union business agents monitoring the rehabilitation project. A portion of the collection was given to his organized crime associates to make sure the rehabilitation ran smoothly. Complainants believed these representations and that they were thereby initially induced to pay the defendant out of fear of economic harm. Jurisprudence dictates that fear of future economic harm is sufficient to establish extortion under the statute. Larceny by extortion does not require evidence of an actual ability to cause the threatened harm in the threatened manner, only that the person threatened believed the defendant possessed such ability. In this connection, the court noted that the evidence of the defendant’s assaults, reputation for violence and of his self-proclaimed ties to organized crime was properly admitted as contributing to the credibility of his threats and of the victims’ fear that they would be realized.

With respect to defendant’s indictment for grand larceny in the first degree, the bill of particulars clearly indicates with respect to this count that the Prosecution’s sole theory of larceny was extortion. The count, however, fails to specifically allege that the larceny was committed by extortion. Hence, the count is dismissed for failure to allege larceny by extortion.

Continue reading

This is a proceeding brought pursuant to Article 78 of the CPLR to prohibit respondent a Justice of the Supreme Court, Bronx County from vacating petitioners’ convictions and the sentences imposed thereon in violation of Article 440 of the Criminal Procedure Law, and to prohibit respondents and District Attorney, Bronx County, from further prosecution of the petitioners on felony charges.

A New York Criminal Lawyer said on July 7, 1987 petitioners pleaded guilty to attempted grand larceny in the third degree. All parties apparently thought that defendants were pleading guilty to an “E” felony, since grand larceny in the third degree is a “D” felony. Accordingly, the defendant was sentenced as a predicate felon to 1 1/2 to 3 years in prison.

A New York Criminal Lawyer said that, attempted grand larceny in the third degree became a “D” felony on November 1, 1986. At the time of the commission of the acts alleged in the indictment, May 14, 1986, grand larceny in the third degree was an “E” felony and attempted grand larceny in the third degree an “A” misdemeanor. Thus, defendant Wilson was improperly sentenced to felony time that is 1 1/2 to 3 years in prison. A Bronx Grand Larceny Lawyer said that, petitioner Wilson commenced his sentence. Following the discovery of the error, the trial court vacated the sentence and conviction and reinstated the original felony charges. On February 23, 1988 this court granted a stay of the prosecution pending determination of this Article 78 proceeding.

Continue reading

The Facts:

On 18 April 1975, in the County of Queens, a person was assaulted and robbed. Among the items taken were a 1970 Cadillac, a wallet and four blank checks. Thereafter, that person’s signature was forged on two of the checks which bore the date 18 April 1975 and which were presented for payment. On 3 May 1975, defendant was apprehended in the County of Nassau while operating the said stolen vehicle. A New York Criminal Lawyer said as a result, defendant was indicted in Queens County for Robbery in the First Degree and Assault in the Second Degree. Defendant was thereafter convicted on both charges. In Nassau County, defendant was charged with Criminal Possession of the Forged Checks (Second Degree, 2 counts) and Criminal Possession of the Cadillac (First Degree) together with certain traffic offenses not hereto relevant.

Consequently, defendant, by his attorney, applies to the Court for an Order dismissing the indictment which accuses him of Criminal Possession of a Forged Instrument in the Second Degree (2 counts) and dismissing the first count of indictment which accuses him of Criminal Possession of Stolen Property in the First Degree. A New York Criminal Lawyer said the defendant contends that the prosecution of these charges would constitute a second prosecution in violation of CPL 40.20 and Penal Law 165.60.

Continue reading

The charges in this case arise from five separate incidents, beginning in July 1986. On July 3, 1986, a man representing himself as an executive of a foreign branch of a major company, asked that $5,000 in travelers’ checks be prepared and delivered to an associate. Thereafter, defendant appeared at the offices of the company, identifying himself as the associate, and as signed five Citicorp travelers’ checks purchase agreements, one for each of five $1,000 packets of checks, then signed many of the checks in the upper left hand corner, as required of purchasers. When it was discovered a week or two later that there had been no authorization for the checks, most, if not all, of the checks had been negotiated at various metropolitan locations.

A New York Criminal Lawyer said that, defendant was convicted of one count of grand larceny in the second degree for stealing property having an aggregate value in excess of $1,500, three counts of forgery in the second degree and three counts of criminal possession of a forged instrument in the second degree with respect to the travelers’ checks and of forgery in the second degree with respect to the purchase agreement.

Thereafter, defendant stayed at the Days Inn in Manhattan registering as the associate, and advancing $140 as a deposit. During his stay, he presented the cashier with a purchase order from the Metropolitan Life Insurance Company, providing that Met Life was to be billed for the room, taxes and incidental expenses. Days Inn refunded defendant his initial deposit and the bill for his four day stay ($819.67) was never paid since defendant was neither employed by Metropolitan nor authorized to present such a purchase order. A New York Criminal Lawyer said that, defendant was convicted of criminal possession of a forged instrument in the second degree.

Continue reading

The Facts:

In the early 1960s, a man who was a resident of Queens County and a meter reader for a certain Company entered upon a scheme under which he accepted money from various investors, agreeing to pay them a return of 1% a week and explaining to them that this high return was being paid by a factoring company which loaned out moneys to various companies in the fur, textile and other industries where there was a need for immediate cash. However, a New York Criminal Lawyer said there was no factoring company and he was merely repaying these people from their own moneys.

Sometime in March of 1971, after being the victim of a real or apparent robbery, and being ostensibly unable to continue to pay off investors, the said man fled New York City and went to San Francisco. His whereabouts were unknown to the authorities until a year later, when he was discovered by two irate investors and was returned to New York City by them.

Continue reading

The Facts:

Sometime in January 1990, a debtor shot and killed her husband (the decedent). Thereafter, the daughter of the decedent and Administratrix of the decedent’s estate filed a wrongful death claim in Texas State Court. Under the Texas wrongful death statute, the daughter as Administratrix (in charge with the estate administration), was required to bring and prosecute the action because none of the children and parents of the deceased began such an action within three months after the decedent’s death.

A New York Criminal Lawyer said that on 2 March 1995, the debtor commenced bankruptcy proceedings. The daughter in her capacity as Administratrix, filed an Adversary Complaint in the Bankruptcy Court objecting to the dischargeability of debts owing to the wrongful death beneficiaries. The daughter based the objection upon the debtor’s willful and malicious acts which are not dischargeable. In the complaint only the daughter, as Administratrix, was named as plaintiff in the caption. However, all wrongful death beneficiaries were named within the body of the complaint.

Continue reading

The Facts:

Sometime in 1971, the plaintiffs brought a class action 10 against eight judges and other state officials including the State Attorney of Dade County, Florida, asking the federal district court to declare unconstitutional and to enjoin two practices of the defendants: the pretrial detention of arrestees without a judicial determination of probable cause, and the pretrial detention of indigent defendants solely because they were unable to post money bail as a condition of release.

A New York Criminal Lawyer said the trial court held for the plaintiffs on the first charge and for the defendants on the second.

Continue reading