Completely Legal

It’s actually a spokesman of the victim in the $20 million fraud case involving Katonah pianist and composer Roger Davidson, who prosecutors say was bilked out of $20 million by Chappaqua grifters Vickram Bedi and Helga Ingvarsdottir over a six-year period through an elaborate scheme of lies and nefarious story lines involving international intrigue.

Davidson’s new spokesman, Christopher Cooper, responded today to counterallegations that Bedi made after his arraignment Tuesday that he never deceived Davidson, who is heir to an oil fortune, and that Davidson concocted the plots involving foreign nationals hacking into his computer out of paranoia. Cooper, in essence, said Bedi’s version was bunk.

“Roger Davidson has a single priority: to ensure that Vickram Bedi is held responsible for their crimes he committed and is punished to the extent that the law allows. The Davidson’s family maintains their faith that the truthful accounting of the events surrounding this case  will emerge in the only venue that matters: a court of law.”

Davidson also has a civil case against Bedi that’s pending before acting state Supreme Court Justice Gerald Loehr.  Bedi’s criminal case is before county Judge Barbara Zambelli.

Two men today agreed to serve time in state prison for the fatal beating of Robert Lopez, the brother of Yonkers mayoral aide Lorraine Lopez, outside of a Yonkers bar in May.

James McGeechan, 29, (far left) and Benis Melendez, 22, (left) pleaded guilty to first-degree manslaughter at a pre-trial appearance in Westchester County Court. As part of the plea deal, McGeechan will serve 11 years in prison, while Melendez will serve five, according to the Westchester County District Attorney’s office.

Lopez was beaten unconscious May 17 outside Sal’s bar and restaurant at 209 Nepperhan Ave. after he tried to diffuse a tense confrontation, prosecutors said. McGeechan and Melendez, accompanied by their girlfriends, returned to the bar at 4:30 a.m. after they had been asked earlier to leave. McGeechan began arguing with the bar manager and Lopez, a security guard who had just finished his shift at another establishment, stepped in and asked McGeechan to “just leave and go home.”

When Lopez walked out of the restaurant, he was beaten into a coma. He died 10 days later. Police arrested Melendez at the scene later that morning.  McGeechan was arrested three days later.

Both men will be formally sentenced on January 31. They had faced up to 25 years in prison had they been convicted at trial.

McGeechan’s former girlfriend, Nicole Ryan, who went with him to the bar that night, is facing charges of witness intimidation, a felony, and hindering prosecution, a misdemeanor. Prosecutors allege she threatened to kill a witness to the attack by pretending her hand was a gun and saying, “If you talk to police, you’re dead.” She is due in court on Dec. 15 and faces up to four years in prison if convicted of witness tampering.

More than three years after Sheldene Campbell was arrested for causing a fatal hit-and-run rampage in White Plains, a jury for her murder trial will be selected on Monday.

Campbell, a 40-year-old mother of two who lived in Pomona before her arrest, is charged with intentionally striking and killing 65-year-old Marie Bucci on Oct. 19, 2008, moments after hitting 46-year-old Roseanne Schiavone in an Acura MDX.

She was indicted on felony counts of second-degree murder and attempted murder, first-degree attempted assault and leaving the scene; and misdemeanor counts of leaving the scene and third-degree assault.

Campbell has been held at Westchester County jail in Valhalla since Oct. 29, 2008, when her bail was raised to $200,000. After she was indicted on a murder charge, her bail was revoked.

The case against her hit a snag when Westchester County Judge Susan Cacace dropped the murder and assault charges  in July 2009, saying there wasn’t enough proof that she meant to kill and hurt her victims. An appeals court overturned her ruling and reinstated the charges in January 2010.

Another delay came as the defense raised questions about Campbell’s mental capacity. Two psychologists who examined Campbell testified at a competency hearing last year that she was fit to stand trial, despite having schizophrenia and hearing voices telling her she will win her criminal case.

Campbell, a former court reporter for the state Workers Compensation Board in New York City,  still has charges pending against her in New Jersey. Three weeks before the fatal collision in White Plains, she was arrested in Woodcliff Lake, N.J., accused of driving over a lawn, almost hitting a jogger, abandoning her 10-year-old son and assaulting a police officer. She was hospitalized for a week.

An “infatuated” ex-boyfriend with a criminal record has been indicted on attempted murder and three other felonies in the stabbing of a woman outside of her Mount Vernon church last month.

Jonathan Green of Mount Vernon (left) was arraigned in Westchester County Court today on charges of second-degree attempted murder, second degree assault, third-degree criminal possession of a weapon and first-degree stalking, according to the Westchester County District Attorney’s office. He pleaded not guilty.

Green, 38, is accused of attacking a 53-year-old White Plains woman on Aug. 3 as she walked out of Greater Centennial AME Zion Church on South Eighth Avenue in Mount Vernon.

Prosecutors allege Green stabbed the woman multiple times and ran off, leaving the knife blade in her back near the shoulder. She was treated at Jacobi Medical Center for her injuries.

Police found Green two days later and took him into custody without a struggle. He was charged, police said, after he made statements incriminating himself in the attack.

Green and the woman used to date, police said, but she broke off the relationship in June. In the days before and following the attack, prosecutors said, Green left threatening phone messages on her cell phone. Mount Vernon police said the woman had reported domestic violence incidents about Green before the attack.

Detective Lt. Vincent Manzione said Green “was definitely infatuated with her.”

Green, a porter for a Mount Vernon business, has an extensive criminal history, which included six convictions, two for felonies, one a violent felony, and three misdemeanor charges from 1993 to 2008, Mount Vernon police said. The violent felony conviction was for second-degree assault with intent to cause physical injury with a weapon.

He is being held without bail at the county jail in Valhalla. He is due back in court on Oct. 11 and faces up to 25 years in state prison if convicted.

Staff writer Will David contributed to this report.

A 20-year-old Yonkers man was sentenced today to serve 15 years to life in prison for shooting a former friend to death two years ago.

Shaman Irvin (left) apologized in court for killing 18-year-old Tyrone Stone, saying that he would give anything to take back his actions the afternoon of Sept. 30, 2009.

“I messed up my life,” he said.

Irvin shot Stone multiple times as he walked near 41 Morris St., just around the corner from his home. Stone was en route to see a friend, who had been shot hours earlier, police said.

At the time Stone was killed, Irvin had been charged with throwing his mother’s cat 14 floors to its death. Irvin told police he hated cats and had tossed his mother’s cat from her Warburton Avenue apartment window because it had sprayed urine on the floor and had scratched him, Yonkers police said. Kenneth Ross, chief of the Humane Law Enforcement Division of Westchester’s Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, had said Irvin showed no remorse when he was arrested for the cat killing.

Irvin pleaded guilty to second-degree murder, a felony, in exchange for the 15-year-to-life sentence. He was facing 25 years to life if convicted at trial.
He also will serve 22 months in prison on a conviction of felony animal cruelty. That sentence will run concurrently, or at the same time, as the murder sentence.

Tyrone’s mother, Keiwanna Stone, said Irvin may have gotten “a taste of murder” after killing his mother’s cat, but she her son was shot because he refused to join a local gang.

“Shaman was pushed to do what he did,” she said. “It was a control thing.”

Keiwanna Stone gave a victim’s impact statement in court in which she asked Irvin why he killed her son and if he realized how much he hurt not only her and her family, but his own family and his chances for a good future.

“Your life is ruined now — ruined,” she told him.

Irvin said in court that he and Stone “were going through some rought times and things got out of hand,” but offered no further explanation.

Westchester County Judge Barbara Zambellli marvelled at Keiwanna Stone demeanor, saying she was “amazed and moved” at Stone’s willingness to forgive the man who murdered her son.

“She’s not a vengeful person,” Zambelli told Irvin. “She really cared about you.”

Keiwanna Stone said Irvin was living in a shelter after being thrown out of his home and fell in with a “bad crowd.” She said Irvin had visited her home and was even wearing her son’s clothes when Irvin shot him dead.

Tyrone became afraid of Irvin and his new group of friends, his mother said, recalling how he would look out of the window before leaving the house to make sure they weren’t there.

Westchester County Janet DiFiore discusses the importance of prosecuting crimes by public servants and government employees:

As District Attorney and chief law enforcement officer in Westchester County, I believe that public servants must be held to the highest level of accountability, acting honestly and ethically when carrying out their duties, and should not use their position for personal financial gain. Corruption at any level erodes the confidence and trust that the public is entitled to have in its government. A dishonest public official or employee undermines our government’s ability to protect its citizens and one individual can taint an entire group or department of hard-working, honest public servants. That is why the investigations and prosecutions being carried out by the Public Integrity Bureau of my office are so vitally important.

The assistant district attorneys assigned to the Public Integrity Bureau in my office investigate and prosecute all types of crimes committed by public employees, elected officials, candidates for public office, and others who hold the public trust. As part of the Office’s Investigations Division, the Bureau investigates public corruption in government at all levels by any employee, including acts of larceny, bribery, perjury, election fraud, and other fraud-related crimes.

Government employees who serve in capacities that involve handling public funds have a fiduciary responsibility to correctly report financial transactions they oversee, a special duty because that money belongs to the public. My office aggressively pursues investigations into the theft and misuse of public funds and other crimes by utilizing the skills of experienced public integrity prosecutors, a squad of seasoned computer forensic investigators, and certified public accountants who forensically examine public and financial records for such criminal activity.

I have worked hard to create an atmosphere of public trust and confidence in the work of our Public Integrity Bureau. In 2010 alone, the Bureau opened 84 investigations. We successfully prosecuted cases that involved a county corrections officer who submitted fraudulent health insurance claims, an attorney who stole from his escrow fund, a postal worker who pilfered items instead of delivering them in the mail to the intended recipient, a local government worker who gave false testimony in a civil hearing to cover up his illegal receipt of monies from a elderly citizen, and a man who, on behalf of a husband, forged documents for an uncontested divorce without the wife’s knowledge.

Moreover, I created a Mortgage and Fraud Unit within the Public Integrity Bureau in response to the skyrocketing number of real estate related fraud cases, including mortgage fraud by owners, refinancing fraud using straw buyers, deed theft and foreclosure rescue scams. In 2010, a full-time forensic accountant was added to assist the unit with its increasing caseload. As a result of this new initiative, we uncovered a major mortgage fraud scheme involving the victimization of four families who were swindled out of the deeds to their homes which were then used by the defendants to obtain $1.4 million in bogus loans. Six defendants have been convicted to date for these crimes. And recently, we announced the indictment of a local political leader for residential mortgage fraud and a real estate attorney for his role in a scheme to defraud homeowners.

In its relentless pursuit of individuals who have stolen public funds, the Public Integrity Bureau prosecuted three individuals in the theft of Housing and Urban Development funds, as well as Social Security and Welfare benefits. In these cases, we have recovered over $130,000 in court-ordered restitution. These prosecutions are important not only because they hold wrong-doers accountable for their crimes, but because they also serve as a powerful deterrent to anyone who might think about defrauding the government and the taxpayers.

The important and complex work being done by the Public Integrity Bureau could not be accomplished without the willingness on the part of you, the public, and other government agencies to approach my office for assistance and cooperation in the area of public corruption and misconduct. In order to maintain the public trust and protect our tax dollars, we must work together toward our mutual goals. If you know of or suspect misconduct may be taking place, you can contact my office and make a formal complaint by first calling 995-3303 or by downloading a copy of the written complaint form online.

Today’s afternoon earthquake prompted a brief evacuation of the Westchester County Courthouse, (left) where
lawyers, judges, probation officers, court officers and others made a hasty exit and were told to step away from the 19-story court building while they waited for permission to re-enter.

“It felt like the building was swaying,” said Tracy Everson, spokeswoman for the county District Attorney’s office, which is on the fifth floor of the courthouse at 111 Martin Luther  King Jr. Blvd. “There was some rattling of file cabinets, then the fire alarm went off. Everybody got out — and fast. It was scary.”

The county courthouse was among hundreds of government buildings on the East Coast to be evacuated during the 5.9 magnitude earthquake. The 26-story federal courthouse in lower Manhattan began swaying and hundreds of people were seen leaving the building.

The tremors, which originated in Virginia, shook much of Washington, D.C., and was felt as far north as Rhode Island, New York City and Martha’s Vineyard, Mass., where President Barack Obama is vacationing.

The earthquake had no effect on New York City subways, Metro-North Railroad or other systems operated by the Metropolitan Transportation Authority, agency spokeswoman Marjorie Anders said. But Amtrak passengers should expect delays due to trains running at reduced speeds between Washington, D.C., and Baltimore, part of its Northeast Corridor, which extends through New York City to Boston.

Liberty, JFK and LaGuardia International Airports were all shut down briefly as control towers were evacuated, delaying flights.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

A former Yonkers library worker  pleaded not guilty today to charges that she swindles the library system out of  $163,582 over seven years.

Margo Reed of Yonkers (left) was arraigned in Westchester County Court on one count of second-degree grand larceny, 14 counts of falsifying business records, two counts of filing a false instrument and one count of filng a false tax returns. All of the charges are felonies.

She remains free without bail and is due back in court on Nov. 16, although her lawyer, Lawrence Sykes, will meet with prosecutors to discuss her case on Aug. 24.

She faces up to 15 years in prison if convicted of second-degree grand larceny.

Reed worked in the library’s business office and was responsible for collecting overdue fines and other revenue from the three branches of the Yonkers Public Library System. She was also responsible for handing over the library’s revenue to the Yonkers Finance Department for deposit. County prosecutors say she stole the money between July 7, 2004 and Dec. 7, 2010 from One Larkin Center in Yonkers.

Police said she had a key to the library’s locked deposit bag and used it to pilfer cash. She also is accused of altering the library’s business records to hide the missing funds.

District Attorney Janet DiFiore said the stolen money could have been used to buy books, reading materials and computers for Yonkers libraries.

“In today’s economy, with limited resources and tight budgets, this kind of crime directly impacts children, students, the elderly and anyone who looks to the public library system as a place of knowledge and enjoyment,” she said in a written statement.

Yonkers’ 2009 salary records indicate that Reed made $43,323 in gross pay and worked for the city since 1985. She lives in a federally subsidized apartment building where residents’ rents are based on their income.She filed for Chapter 7 bankruptcy in 2003. Virtually all her debt was credit-card related, court papers show. According to federal court records, Reed’s case was closed on April 13, 2004, and a judge released her from all her debts.

Staff writer Ernie Garcia contributed to this report.

A New Rochelle man was sentenced to 20 years in state prison today for the brazen midday slaying of a rival in downtown New Rochelle last year.

The sentence for 21-year-old Laurell Smith (left) was five years less than the maximum for first-degree manslaughter, the felony charge that he was convicted of in June.

Smith fatally stabbed Kevin Williams on Sept. 18, as he was walking along on North Avenue with his uncle at 2:30 p.m. Smith yelled at Williams from an apartment window, and the two began arguing. Smith, who was already on probation, ran out of the apartment building and confronted Williams on the street, asking him at one point if he was scared. Williams reportedly replied, “No, I’m not scared.”

Smith then pulled an 8-inch knife from his waistband and forced it into the left side of Williams’ abdomen, stopping an inch from his right kidney, prosecutors said. Williams died an hour later at Sound Shore Medical Center.

Smith was charged with second-degree murder, but a jury acquitted him after his lawyer argued that Smith only wanted to hurt Williams, not kill him. The murder charge carried a life sentence.

Smith also was sentenced to serve one to three years in prison for violating his probation by committing another crime. The sentence will run concurrently, or at the same time as his manslaughter sentence, according to the Westchester County District Attorney’s office.

Williams’ aunt, who spoke briefly at the sentencing, told Smith that she hoped God would forgive him for killing her nephew.

Two of Smith’s accomplices pleaded guilty to their role in trying to cover up the attack and protect Smith. Rico Johnson, 20, and Krista Leggieri, 18, pleaded guilty in March to second-degree hindering prosecution and evidence tampering, felonies, for helping to hide Smith’s clothes and the knife. Johnson was sentenced to five years’ probation, with four months in the Westchester County jail. Leggieri was sentenced as a youthful offender; her file has been sealed.

Westchester County Judge Barry Warhit sentenced all three defendants in the case.

August began today with some serious allegations by the Westchester County District Attorney’s office. A father and son from Mamaroneck are accused of trying to bribe a 10-year-old with a new bicycle and an iPad Touch to say he lied at trial about being sexually abused. The son, Elmer Pinto, (left) is the convicted molester. His father, Fred Pinto, is the one offering the gifts, prosecutors say.

The men could be facing charges of witness tampering, bribery and contempt. Elmer Pinto is already looking at a prison sentence of 5 to 25 years after being convicted in March of first-degree course of sexual conduct against a child.

The boy’s mother is also under investigation for convincing her son to recant his testimony. Prosecutors say she was offered $5,000 to get her son to change his story. If she did convince him to recant falsely, with or without money, she could face criminal charges as well.

The case was adjourned to Sept. 20 so the defense can look into the allegations.