Terry Monroe

Cops are looking for more potential victims of a Kingston man who they say ran a scam that involved soliciting rides from motorists, then pressuring them for money.

Terry J. Monroe Jr., 59, was arrested on March 29 by Ulster County sheriff’s detectives. He’s charged with misdemeanor counts of second-degree scheme to defraud and petit larceny.

Cops say they identified Monroe after a three-month investigation that began in January when they began receiving complaints about the alleged scam. According to police the scam involved a male and female who would approach victims at local convenience stores where the man would ask for a ride to another location or several locations, then “coerce” the victims into giving him money.

Monroe is charged in a February incident in which he allegedly approached a victim saying that his car had broken down and he needed a ride to recover it. Monroe allegedly directed the victim to an auto repair shop then demanded money to get his car released. Monroe allegedly told the victim that he owned a local business and promised to repay the money by the end of the day. The victim tried unsuccessfully to recover the money before reporting the incident to police.

Monroe was released from police custody with an appearance ticket for Esopus Town Court. Police believe there may be other victims of the alleged scam who have not come forward. They are urging potential victims to contact the Ulster County sheriff’s office.

The bus station where the alleged killers brought their victim

Local law enforcement officials say a violent international street gang established a presence in Kingston and was able to operate under the radar of local police agencies until a grisly murder and a federal investigation exposed their presence.

Now, cops say, they’re working to determine the size and scope of the 18th Street Gang’s Kingston operation — and, chillingly, whether the October 2017 murder of a suspected informant in a Saugerties state forest was in fact an isolated incident.

“They were under my radar,” said Ulster County District Attorney Holley Carnright in an interview this week. “I was unpleasantly surprised to learn that we had an 18th Street Gang population in Kingston, and I was not the only one.”

The gang — which has its roots in Los Angeles and cells known as canchas across the U.S., Mexico and Central America — came to the attention of local authorities in February when the FBI informed them that it was conducting an investigation into the slaying of the suspected informant. Over the course of about 10 days in February, FBI agents working with state police, the DA’s Office and the Kingston Police Department conducted an intensive investigation that culminated in the arrest of four alleged gang members.

Cops believe that Yanki Misael Cruz-Mateo, 19, of Jamaica, Queens traveled to Kingston with the victim (whose name is known by authorities but who remains listed as John Doe in court documents) on a Trailways bus on the night of Oct. 25. There they were met by Sergio Herrera-Hidalgo, 19, and Israel Flores, 23. According to court documents, police believe the three gang members took their victim to the Turkey Point State Forest Preserve in Saugerties where he was stabbed and slashed to death and buried in a pre-dug grave in the swampy woodland on the banks of the Hudson River. All three men were arrested on Feb. 21 after, cops say, Cruz-Mateo fled to Kingston and took refuge with fellow gang members after shooting and killing a member of the rival MS-13 gang in Queens. A fourth alleged gang member. Cristian Perez, 20, was arrested in the same investigation for aiding and abetting the fugitive Cruz-Mateo.

Cristian Perez during his Kingston High School days

All four men are in jail awaiting trial on federal murder and racketeering charges. But local officials say the gang’s presence in Kingston goes well beyond those arrested. They say investigators have identified and interviewed a number of Kingston-based 18th Street members or associates. At least one was arrested on state charges unrelated to the murder investigation. Others remain at liberty because police were unable to link them to specific crimes. Detective Sgt. Brian Robertson, who heads the Kingston Police Department’s Special Investigations Unit, said SIU detectives were still trying to get a handle on the dimensions of 18th Street’s local footprint.

“I’m not going to say it’s 10 guys, because by tomorrow it could be 20, we just don’t know at this point.” said Robertson. “We still have a lot of homework to do. There’s connections to New York City, there’s connections to other countries we’re looking at all of that.”

Not the first slaying?

Robertson said police were also looking into whether the gang had used Ulster County as a killing ground before. While there’s no specific intelligence that that had happened, Robertson said the efficiency of the operation and the fact that the gang’s members often live vagabond lives drifting between canchas with little connection to outsiders made it an avenue worth pursuing.

“Has this happened before? We don’t know.” said Robertson “If [the October murder] hadn’t gone down like it did we still wouldn’t know that it ever happened. A lot of these guys are street kids. No one’s going to report them missing.”

The backgrounds of the three Kingston men arrested in the investigation are typical of 18th Street Gang, which recruits heavily among immigrant communities from Mexico and Central America. Flores is a legal permanent resident from Mexico, Perez is from Guatemala and Herrera-Hidalgo is from El Salvador (Herrera-Hidalgo and Perez’s immigration status is unclear but neither man is a U.S. citizen, authorities say). According to Carnright, all three of the men were employed and two worked for the same Greene County-based construction business. One was married with a young child. Two of the accused told investigators that they were recruited into the gang while attending Kingston High School.

New gang, old techniques

Robertson and Carnright both said the gang’s members were able to maintain a low profile in part because — like earlier generations of immigrant-based crime syndicates dating back to the Italian Mafia — they largely confine their criminal schemes to the local immigrant community whose members are often reluctant to go to police. The gang’s international reach and reputation for brutal retaliation also helps keep their activities off of police radar. Members of immigrant communities who cooperate with authorities against the gang may find family members in their home countries, where the law enforcement is weak and gangs operate with near impunity, targeted for reprisals.

“They tend to stay in their own world, they just blend in and they don’t include anybody that’s not from their culture,” said Robertson. “They threaten people in that culture, they threaten their families, we’ve seen that in this case.”

Police are still working to uncover criminal enterprises run by Kingston’s branch of the 18th Street Gang. In other jurisdictions, the gang has been involved in human and sex trafficking, drugs, the sale of forged papers used by undocumented immigrants to obtain work authorizations and extortion schemes targeting immigrant-owned businesses.

Part of the challenge for law enforcement in combating 18th Street, said the DA, is they largely avoid the street-level drug sales, violent robberies and gunplay that are the stock and trade of better-known gangs like the Bloods. Robertson said another key difference between 18th Street and other local gangs was a strict military-like chain of command which made it easier for them to marshal resources and enforce discipline among members.

“Their organization seems to be fairly consistent. They have codes that they work by and live by and they’re better [than other gangs] at not being so overt,” said Robertson. “There’s less flash, less show and that makes it tough to figure out who is who.”

What’s the plan?

While Robertson and the SIU focus on identifying 18th Street members and enterprises, Carnright said he’s trying to figure out a strategy to deal with the elusive organization. Inevitably, the effort is likely to draw local law enforcement into the national discussion around immigration. Last year, Kingston enacted a “welcoming and inclusive city” resolution that affirmed the city’s welcome to immigrants, regardless of their legal status. The resolution also codified a longstanding city policy directing police to not inquire about immigration status in routine interactions with the public.

Some non-local 18th Street Gang graffiti, courtesy Wikipedia

Opponents of the resolution have blasted it as creating a “sanctuary city.” Carnright, meanwhile, said he had heard second-hand from investigators on the murder case that several of those interviewed said they’d settled in Kingston because of the relatively low-pressure environment for undocumented immigrants.

“They were asked, ‘Why Kingston?’ And the answer was because nobody hassles us, nobody asks questions so we settle in here,” said Carnright. “We heard that more than once.”

Carnright did not take a position on the “welcoming and inclusive” resolution which he called “nebulous and politically driven.” But he did say going after 18th Street Gang members would require a closer working relationship with immigration authorities and a focus on crimes, like using forged or stolen Social Security documents or unlicensed driving, that are common in immigrant communities to target gang members. It’s a strategy that Carnright likened to successful prosecution and imprisonment of crime lord Al Capone for tax evasion rather than his more serious crimes.

At the same time, Carnright noted that he wanted to reassure law-abiding immigrants that they need not fear working with his office to report and prosecute crimes. Carnright noted he had participated in a program that offers legal status to undocumented immigrants who are crime victims or cooperating witnesses and would continue to do so.

“I don’t want to give anybody the impression that I’m going to arbitrarily seek deportation of people who have not committed a crime,” said Carnright. “But if we have someone who is in a gang, who has committed a crime, will I use their immigration status? Sure.”

Turkey Point State Forest (photo by Will Dendis)

Over a week in mid-February, an ad hoc team of FBI agents, state troopers, Kingston cops and Investigators with the Ulster County District Attorney’s Office relied on a combination of old-school police work and cutting-edge technology to identify and capture four gang members wanted in connection with the October 2017 murder of a suspected informant in Saugerties and the Feb. 2 slaying of a rival gang member in Queens.

For the FBI, the case began in November 2017 when agents secured cooperation from a person described in court documents as former leader of a New York City based El Salvadorian cancha or cell of the 18th Street Gang. The informant, who agents said was in the country illegally, began supplying information in exchange for money. Among the information shared was a three-minute cell phone video sent to the informant by Queens-based gang member Yanki Cruz-Mateo using the secure messaging service WhatsApp. The video depicts Cruz-Mateo and Kingston cancha member Israel Mendiola Flores stabbing and mutilating a man in a wooded area while an unknown number of other people look on. The FBI would later determine that the murder shown in the video took place in the Turkey Point Forest Preserve in Saugerties. The dead man was a suspected informant lured by the gang from Queens to Kingston for his execution.

A second video shared by the informant depicts Cruz-Mateo in a bedroom rapping in Spanish about killing informants and rivals on behalf of the gang. In the video, Mateo waves a .32-caliber Cobra semi-automatic pistol. On Feb. 2, FBI agents believe Mateo used the same pistol to gun down a member of the rival MS-13 gang on a street near his home in Jamaica Queens, later bragging about the murder to the informant. Shortly after the murder, the FBI used cell phone data to determine that Cruz-Mateo had fled his home in the Jamaica Heights neighborhood of Queens and was hiding out somewhere in Kingston.

District Attorney Holley Carnright said he first learned of the FBI investigation in mid-February from Senior Assistant DA and Chief of Investigations William Weishaupt, a retired FBI agent. The news was the start of a joint effort to identify and catch the killers.

“It started with the video,” said Carnright. “It took [the FBI] a little while to figure out where it was. Once I found out about it I started calling in all of our resources.”

Those resources included state police investigators from Troop F in Middletown, members of his own office and the Kingston Police Department’s Special Investigations Unit. The task force also included agents from both the FBI’s Albany and New York City field offices. Carnright said he was especially eager to get the KPD on board because of their detailed street-level knowledge of Kingston. The team, which numbered about a dozen people in all, would meet in Carnright’s office on Wall Street to strategize while working to keep the investigation quiet. Carnright said investigators were worried that the suspect would disappear if they learned of the manhunt before cops had gathered enough evidence to charge them.

“In cases like this you have to play your cards very close to your chest,” said Carnright. “We had many of the names, we knew many of the names we had were here and they had a lot of reasons to flee and hide.”

A dead man’s shirt

The first big break in the case came on February 14 when a team of FBI Agents and State Police Investigators located the grave at Turkey Point and exhumed the body. Investigators were able to match a sweatshirt in the grave with one the victim was wearing in the murder video. Investigators also found a cell phone in the grave that showed communications between Cruz-Mateo and the victim (whose identity is known to police but who remains identified as “John Doe” in court papers) on the night of the murder. The sweatshirt and the phone provided investigators with the first solid link between the suspects depicted in the video and an actual body, but the discovery also added urgency to the investigation.

Carnright said he worried that despite great effort by investigators to keep the crime scene investigation at Turkey Point secret, word would leak out to the press and the suspects.

“Once we had the deceased, the investigation started to move very fast,” said Carnright.

On the streets of Kingston, meanwhile, KPD Detective Sgt. Brian Robertson, the head of the SIU, and his team were busy following dozens of leads as they sought to locate the suspects. Robertson said that the team relied heavily on KPD Detective Benny Reyes, one of a handful of Spanish-speaking officers on the force, who maintained extensive contacts among the city’s Latino immigrant population.

“He was very helpful because he had a lot of knowledge in an area where we hadn’t seen that much in-depth action,” said Robertson. “[The suspects] are moving around constantly, yesterday’s address is no good tomorrow. Being local we had some good intel on a real time basis.”

A difficult decision

By Feb. 21, Carnright believed he had enough evidence to charge Cruz-Mateo, Flores and two more gang members, Sergio Herrera-Hidalgo and Christian Perez, with second-degree murder under state law. But federal authorities still needed more time to obtain indictments under federal racketeering laws. To make a federal case, the FBI would need a sign off from a U.S. attorney and clear evidence that not only did the suspects commit the murder, but that they did so to further the goals of a known criminal organization. Carnright said federal evidence rules and the vast resources available to federal prosecutors made a racketeering indictment a more attractive option than state murder charges. But with the suspects loose on the streets of Kingston he was unwilling to wait. Instead, the decision was made to pursue the state charges under the theory of “concurrent jurisdiction,” which would allow the case to be turned over to the feds once they secured indictments.

“The fear I had was that if the feds were waiting for the indictment process it would take too long and put the community at risk,” said Carnright. “And I can’t have that. That was non-negotiable.”

On Feb. 21 Cruz-Mateo was the first to fall, when uniformed KPD officers on the midnight shift happened to pull over a vehicle he was riding in. The beat cops learned that Cruz-Mateo had just been indicted on a federal charge of alien in possession of a firearm based on the video of him rapping while displaying a pistol. Hours later, raid teams armed with search warrants hit the Midtown residences of Perez and Herrera-Hidalgo and arrested both men. Flores was caught on the street a short time later. All four men were arraigned under heavy secrecy in Town of Ulster and Rosendale town courts. Since then, all four have been charged in a federal racketeering indictment. Cruz-Mateo, Herrera-Hidalgo and Flores are all charged with murder and murder conspiracy in the case. They face a maximum of life in prison without parole. Perez is charged with abetting a fugitive for allegedly sheltering Cruz-Mateo while he was on the run. He faces a maximum sentence of 15 years in federal prison. The case is being tried in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of New York in Brooklyn.  

Connor Chargois

Over a month after his initial arrest and release from jail after making $10,000 bail, no court date has been set for 18-year-old Connor Chargois. District Attorney Holley Carnright estimated this week that the case “should go to the grand jury [for a possible indictment] in two to three, maybe four weeks.” 

The Saugerties Police Department arrested Connor Chargois and his father, Bruce Chargois, 58, on Feb. 27. The six-day investigation, during which the younger Chargois was allowed to attend his classes on high school grounds, was spurred on by a series of Snapchat messages sent by the Saugerties High senior idolizing the Columbine shooters and ominously threatening that “when the shit hits the fan, there won’t be any time for mercy.”

While the father and son initially denied owning any weaponry, a later interview led to the recovery of an arsenal of guns hidden in arcade machines at Bruce’s workplace, Greco Brothers, and in the basement of the family’s home on Sawyerville Terrace.

Both Chargoises face felony charges of third-degree criminal possession of a weapon. The father faces an additional charge of obstructing governmental administration.

Connor, described by authorities as an avid metalworker, had purchased gun parts online and fabricated unavailable components, police said. While Bruce was released on his own recognizance, Connor made $10,000 bail. Although he is no longer in school, it’s unclear whether he is under any sort of police surveillance.

“At this point in time, all of our evidence in this case has been sent out for examination,” said town Police Chief Joseph Sinagra this week. “We and the DA will receive copies of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives’ findings when they become available.”

When asked whether federal charges are being pursued, Carnright replied, “The feds have not been in touch with me seeking any information. I have not been thinking that.”

Kingston police are investigating a broad-daylight shooting that a left a young woman wounded. 

Police say the incident occurred around 1:45 p.m. on Tuesday when police received a call of shots fired on Elmendorf Street near Broadway. When police arrived, they discovered a 21-year-old female with a gunshot wound to her leg. The victim was taken to HealthAlliance Hospital’s Broadway Campus for treatment. Police described the injury as “non-life threatening.”

Police are seeking the public’s assistance in cracking the case. Anyone with information is asked to contact the Kingston Police Detective Division at (845) 331-1671. Anonymous tips may be submitted via the Submit-A-Tip app available on the Kingston Police Department’s Facebook page.

Left to right: Joseph G. Clark, Cody A. Alexander, Kayla J. Travis, Amanda R. Wooden

On Friday, April 27, the New York State Police Troop K Community Narcotics Enforcement Team and the Village of Red Hook Police Department executed a pre-dawn search warrant at a residence located off South Broadway.

The following individuals, who were at the residence being searched, were arrested and charged as follows:

Joseph G. Clark, 25, of Red Hook:

• Criminal Possession of a Controlled Substance in the 3rd degree with intent to sell (B-Felony)
• Criminal Possession of a Firearm in the 4th degree (A-Misdemeanor)
• Criminal Possession of a Controlled Substance in the 7th degree (A-Misdemeanor)
• Two counts of Criminal Use of Drug Paraphernalia in the 2nd degree (A-Misdemeanor)
• Unlawful Possession of Marijuana, a violation.

Arraigned in Town of Hyde Park Court and remanded on $5,000 cash or $10,000 bond, to reappear May 24 before the Town of Red Hook Court.

Amanda R. Wooden, 26, of Red Hook:

• Criminal Possession of a Controlled Substance in the 3rd degree with intent to sell (B-Felony)
• Criminal Possession of a Controlled Substance in the 7th degree (A-Misdemeanor)
• 2 counts of Criminal Use of Drug Paraphernalia in the 2nd degree (A-Misdemeanor)
• Unlawful Possession of Marihuana, a violation.

Arraigned in T/Hyde Park Court and remanded on $2,500 cash or $5,000 bond, to reappear May 24, 2018 before the Town of Red Hook Court.

Cody A. Alexander, 25, of Kingston:

• Two counts of Criminal Possession of a Controlled Substance in the 7th degree (A-Misdemeanor)
• Two counts of Criminal Use of Drug Paraphernalia in the 2nd degree (A-Misdemeanor)
• Unlawful Possession of Marijuana, a violation.

Released on appearance ticket to appear on May 24 before the town of Red Hook Court.

Kayla J. Travis, 28, of Red Hook:

• Two counts of Criminal Possession of a Controlled Substance in the 7th degree (A-Misdemeanor)
• Two counts of Criminal Use of Drug Paraphernalia in the 2nd degree (A-Misdemeanor)
• Unlawful Possession of Marijuana, a violation.

Released on appearance ticket to appear on May 24 before the town of Red Hook Court.

This investigation was initiated by two drug overdoses on April 24 in the Town of Red Hook, one of which resulted in a fatality.  A joint investigation between the New York State Police and Red Hook Police Department led to this morning’s search which resulted in the seizure of an undisclosed amount of heroin, a small amount of marihuana, over $2,000 in U.S. currency, an unlawfully possessed firearm, and assorted drug paraphernalia.

An alleged gang member already facing federal racketeering and murder conspiracy charges for the Oct. 25, 2017 murder of a suspected informant in a Saugerties forest has been charged in the Feb. 2, 2018 slaying of a man in Queens.

Yanki Misael Cruz-Mateo, 19, has been in federal custody since Feb. 21 when he was arrested by Kingston police during a traffic stop. City police, working with the FBI, state police and the Ulster County District Attorney’s Office, had been seeking Cruz-Mateo and three other alleged members of a local cancha or cell of the 18th Street gang. On Oct. 25, 2017, cops believe Cruz-Mateo brought a fellow gang member and suspected informant to Kingston, where they were met by Kingston-based gang associates. The group allegedly brought their victim to a spot in the Turkey Point Forest Preserve in Saugerties. A video obtained by the FBI from an informant depicts Cruz-Mateo and another gang member stabbing and mutilating the victim before dumping him in a pre-dug grave at the site.

At the time of his arrest, the FBI believed Cruz-Mateo was hiding out at the Franklin Street residence of gang associate Christian Perez after the gunning down of Oscar Antonio Blanco-Hernandez, 20, of Elizabeth, N.J. At 6:40 p.m. on Feb. 2, Blanco-Hernandez was found dying from gunshot wounds to his groin and head on 160th Street in the Jamaica Heights neighborhood of Queens. Court documents suggest that Cruz-Mateo shot Blanco-Hernandez because he believed he was a member of 18th Street’s bitter rival, MS-13. The same FBI affidavit suggests that the murder weapon in the Feb. 2 slaying was the same .32-caliber Cobra semi-automatic pistol depicted in a video of Cruz-Mateo rapping about killing gang rivals.

On May 1, Cruz-Mateo, who remains in federal custody, was hit with state second-degree murder charges for the Blanco-Hernandez killing. Also arrested on state murder charges in the case were Saudi Levy Ramirez, 24, of Brooklyn and Carolina Morel Cruz, 24, and Jose Jimenez Chacon, 19, both of New Brunswick, N.J. A fifth man, Alexander “Yoni” Sierra of Queens, was arrested back on March 14 and charged with second-degree murder in the killing.

A Brooklyn man was convicted Friday on charges relating to the improper use of a veteran’s benefits who lived on his Kerhonkson property.

The evidence at trial established that Kevin Green, 57, received approximately $71,000 in disability compensation benefits from the Department of Veterans Affairs [VA] as fiduciary for a disabled 73-year old Army veteran between March 2011 and May 2013.  Green was required to spend that money solely for the benefit of the veteran.  The veteran had lived in a cottage on Green’s property in Kerhonkson, but moved into a Vermont veterans’ home in April 2012.  All of the veteran’s expenses at the veterans’ home were paid for by the VA, but Green continued to collect the veteran’s disability compensation benefits. Evidence was presented that Green spent tens of thousands of dollars on himself. 

He was convicted of theft of government property and misappropriation by a fiduciary following a five-day trial. Green faces up to 10 years in prison, and up to three years of post-imprisonment supervised release, when he is sentenced by Senior United States Judge Thomas J. McAvoy.  

The announcement was made by United States Attorney Grant C. Jaquith and Special Agent in Charge Sean Smith of the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs Office of Inspector General (VA-OIG), Northeast Field Office. 

This case was investigated by VA-OIG and is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Cyrus P.W. Rieck.

Edward J. Chardavoyne, 48 of Blue Mountain Rd., Saugerties, was arrested following the investigation by the detective division of a threat made to paramedics and staff of Diaz Ambulance Service on May 9. Chardavoyne  allegedly called Diaz Ambulance repeatedly threatening the staff that he was going to go to their office and that staff members were going to die. Chardavoyne was unable to be located initially and a warrant for his arrest was issued by Village of Saugerties Justice Court.

On May 10 at around 12:30 p.m., an off-duty Saugerties Police Officer, observed Chardavoyne at the Mountain View Market on Blue Mountain Rd. The officer, aware that Chardavoyne had an active warrant for his arrest, contacted on-duty officers. As patrols were en route, Chardavoyne began to leave the store. The off-duty officer stopped Chardavoyne, advising him that there was a warrant for his arrest. Chardavoyne then fled on foot. A Saugerties Police K-9 unit was deployed and tracked Chardavoyne . Chardavoyne was located and taken into custody without further incident.

John J. Ronk

John J. Ronk, 41, of New Salem Road, Esopus, entered a guilty plea to first-degree vehicular manslaughter in Ulster County Court today.

Ronk admitted driving a Nissan Xterra SUV while intoxicated and causing the death of a bicyclist, Brian Jones, on September 14, 2017, at about 7:30 p.m. Jones was the father to six children. Ronk’s blood alcohol content was .32.

Evidence collected at the scene by the Ulster County Sheriff’s Office and the New York State Police revealed that Ronk crossed over the double yellow center lines on New Salem Road and struck the rear tire of Jones’ bicycle, causing Jones to be thrown from his bike and killed. After striking Jones, two wheels from Ronk’s vehicle drove up on a guiderail for several feet before correcting and striking a telephone pole. Ronk attempted to flee the scene on foot. A passing motorist called 911 and alerted the Sheriff’s Office, who apprehended Ronk within minutes of the crash.

Ronk admitted drinking several large cans of beer with high alcohol content prior to driving. Ronk also stated that he was on his way to the store to buy more beer.

Ronk is scheduled to be sentenced on July 26.  The charge carries a maximum sentence of five to fifteen years in state prison.

This wasn’t the first time the driver had been convicted of killing someone while behind the wheel. Ronk was convicted of vehicular manslaughter in Dutchess County in November 2000. State records show that he served 18 months of a one-to-three-year sentence in state prison before he was released in July 2002.

The City of Kingston Police Department is investigating a burglary of a residence on Mary’s Avenue in Kingston on May 19 at approximately 5:25 p.m.

Police are asking for help identifying the male subject in the above photo.

Please contact Detective A Fitzgerald at afitzgerald@kingston-ny.gov or 845-943-5737 if you have any information about this individual. Those wishing to remain anonymous can use the “Submit a Tip” app on the Kingston Police Facebook page or call the KPD Tipline 845-331-4499. All calls/information will be kept confidential. Refer to Case 2018-15.

Gilberto Nunez. (Pool photo by Kelly Marsh | Times Herald-Record)

A former dentist at the center of a bizarre case involving a love triangle, phony CIA documents and allegations of murder is due to be released from state prison in September after serving 18 months of a potential seven-year sentence.

On May 23, a three-member panel of the state parole board voted to approve parole based on “merit time” for Gilberto Nunez.

In February 2017 the 52-year-old, who once maintained a busy dental practice on Washington Avenue in Kingston, was sentenced to two and a third to seven years in state prison by County Court Judge Donald Williams. The sentencing followed Nunez’s conviction on a dozen felony charges related to a fraudulent insurance claim, false statements on a pistol permit application and a bizarre scheme to use poorly forged CIA documents to break up the marriage of his friend and romantic rival Thomas Kolman Jr of Saugerties. 

In June 2016, Nunez was acquitted of second-degree murder in the death of Kolman, whose body was found in his car in a Town of Ulster parking lot on Nov. 29, 2011. Prosecutors argued that Kolman’s death was the result of poisoning with the powerful sedative midazolam. Nunez had access to the drug and police believed he dosed Kolman with it in a predawn meeting in the parking lot. Prosecutors argued that Nunez killed his friend after Kolman’s wife Linda threatened to break off the ongoing affair between her and Nunez. The defense argued that Kolman’s death was likely caused by heart failure brought on by sleep apnea and that Nunez was never present in the parking lot. Over the course of the two week trial, prosecutors introduced evidence that Nunez plotted to break up the marriage by telling Linda Kolman that he was a CIA agent and had obtained evidence through agency contacts that her husband was cheating on her. The jury in the case found Nunez not guilty of murder, but convicted him of forgery and other charges related to the deception.

At a second trial, Nunez was convicted of grand larceny and falsifying business records stemming from an inflated insurance claim following a fire in a building adjacent to his dental practice. A third trial resulted in a conviction for perjury for failing to disclose his other-than-honorable discharge from the Marine Corps on a pistol permit application.

At his sentencing hearing, Williams conceded that absent the murder allegations, the charges against Nunez would likely have been resolved with a plea deal to misdemeanor charges in a lower court. But Williams said he based his sentence on the totality of Nunez’s actions and the character revealed over the course of all three trials. Williams cited Nunez’s manipulative behavior and refusal to take responsibility for his actions in handing down a state prison sentence. 

Nunez is eligible for release under the state prison system’s “meritorious release” program which allows inmates convicted of non-violent felonies to earn parole after completing four-fifths of their sentence. The program is available to inmates who maintain a satisfactory disciplinary record and make progress towards program goals. Nunez, who is housed at the Altona Correctional Facility in Clinton County, is slated to leave prison on Sept. 10.  Nunez will remain on parole until October 2023. Nunez is unlikely to return to his dental practice. In handing down his sentence, Williams denied defense attorney’s motion for a certificate of release which would allow Nunez to maintain his license to practice. State records show the status of Nunez’s license as “revoked.”

File it under “one crime at a time:” New Paltz town police assisted State Police in capturing four of the suspects who took off after their vehicle was pulled over by State Police on the Thruway for speeding last week.

According to authorities, when the white Dodge Charger was pulled over soon after midnight on May 31, three people bolted from the vehicle. Troopers soon located one, walking along the shoulder, and around 2:30 a.m., town police officers spotted two others who fit the suspect descriptions getting into another car in Ohioville. When that vehicle was pulled over on North Putt Corners Road and the driver removed, a passenger allegedly grabbed the wheel and dragged one of the New Paltz officers along North Putt Corners Road, while the other officer attempted to disable the vehicle by shooting at a tire. The officer who was being dragged was able to free himself from the car, which crashed a short distance away near Horsenden Road.

A number of charges were filed, including misdemeanor resisting arrest, felony possession of a controlled substance, felony reckless endangerment, and three counts of felony assault against one suspect. Charged were Robert Wannaker of Manhattan, as well as Dontayvus Thomas, Matthew Kin and Kayla Chevalier, all of Brooklyn.

The officer who was dragged by the vehicle suffered only minor injuries and was treated by the New Paltz Rescue Squad. The officer who fired his gun was evaluated at an area hospital and released.

The case is being handled by the New York State Police as New Paltz Police Department’s protocol any time there is an officer involved shooting.

Kingston police say they are investigating a possible sexual assault in Midtown. But city Police Chief Egidio Tinti said today that there is no truth to a racially charged rumor spread on social media that the incident involved the gang rape of a child.

The rumor began spreading on social media and by word of mouth over the weekend that a child was abducted near the corner of Prospect and Franklin streets, taken to a nearby house and raped. In differing versions, the victim is a boy or a girl. Most of the versions described the perpetrators as four “Mexican” or Latino males. By Monday morning the story was being repeated as fact — complete with graphic details of a medical exam of the victim — among a crowd of onlookers at the scene of a shooting incident downtown.

But Tinti said that the social media rumors bore no relation to the actual alleged incident. Tinti declined to provide details citing the ongoing investigation. But, he said, the incident did not involve a minor child.

“What’s on Facebook is not true,” said Tinti. “We are looking into an allegation that there was a sexual assault but whether it actually took place is something we’re still investigating.”

Heavily armed police in action Tuesday. (Photo by Phyllis McCabe)

Police examine a structure looking for bullet holes. (Photo by Jesse J. Smith)

A Kingston man with a long rap sheet for drug crimes is facing felony charges after he allegedly fired several shots on a downtown street Tuesday morning.

Kevin Greene, 33, of West Pierpont Street was arrested and charged with felony counts of first-degree reckless endangerment and second-degree criminal possession of a weapon.

Witnesses say the gunplay erupted near the intersection of Hone and West Pierpont streets around 10 a.m. One resident of the street said the first shots were fired at 10:02 a.m., followed by a second round of shots five minutes later.

Members of the Kingston Police Department’s Patrol Division and Special Investigations Unit responded to the scene. According to KPD Detective Sgt. Brian Robertson, by the time cops arrived, Greene and three other men involved in the dispute had retreated into separate houses. Police also recovered a 9mm handgun on the street. After all four men responded to police calls to come out and were taken into custody, Robertson said he called for backup from the countywide emergency response team and other police agencies. Robertson said the call for tactical support came out of an abundance of caution and concern that others involved in the incident might be hiding out in one of three houses where suspects were detained.

“We weren’t getting great answers [from the men detained] so we called in the tac guys,” said Robertson. “We wanted to safely clear those houses with more manpower.” 

Kevin Greene (KPD photo)

By 11:15 a.m. the SWAT team had established a cordon around a triangular block bounded by McEntee, West Pierpont and Hone streets. Around the same time a young male was taken in handcuffs from a SWAT team vehicle and placed in a KPD patrol car. Over the next two hours, heavily armed and armored ERT members methodically cleared houses and yards searching for additional suspects. Inside the cordon Kingston Police Detectives probed possible bullet holes in 101 and 96 Hone. At the corner of West Pierpont and Hone, KPD school resource officer Harry Woltman worked to calm an increasingly impatient crowd of residents seeking to return to their homes. At one point during the police operation, Woltman directed a woman to call two school-age girls inside one of the houses so he could give them directions on how to deal with a SWAT team about to enter the home. At another, Woltman helped arrange for an autistic child who lives on the block to be dropped off a short distance away from the chaotic scene and escorted home.

Among the crowd gathered at the scene, speculation about the source and motive. By 1:30 p.m., the last house on the block had been cleared and detectives were beginning to process the crime scene and interview witnesses.

Robertson said all of the men involved in the dispute either lived or had family ties in the neighborhood and all four men knew each other. Robertson added that exact motive for the shooting remained unclear, but that Greene and the men he fired at were involved in an ongoing feud. Cops believe Greene spotted his rivals on the street and began firing. State records show that Greene was released from state prison in February 2017 after serving 18 months for criminal sale of a controlled substance. The records show he had served two previous prison terms, dating back to 2003 for drug crimes. 

Greene was arraigned in Kingston City Court and sent to the Ulster County Jail without bail. Kingston police say the investigation is ongoing and more charges may be filed. City police were assisted at the scene by the Ulster County District Attorney’s Office, the New York State Police, the Ulster Regional Gang Enforcement Narcotics Team, Town of Ulster Police and the Ulster County Sheriff’s Office. 

Joseph I. Arredondo-Alarcon

A fire at a house in Marlboro led to the seizure of more than 300 pounds of marijuana and put cops on the trail of what they believe is a large-scale drug-trafficking organization operating in the Hudson Valley.

The investigation began on June 6 when members of the Marlboro police and fire departments responded to a blaze at 212 Bingham Lane. Cops and firefighters quickly determined that the single-family residence housed a major marijuana growing operation, complete with ventilation systems, ballasts, fertilizer, grow lights and counter-surveillance equipment. Cops also recovered instructions and ledgers at the house.

The operation, police said, was powered by an illegal splice into Central Hudson’s power grid to avoid tipping off authorities with an unusual pattern of power usage.

Authorities say the fire started in the basement with an electric motor, part of a complex ventilation system, before spreading through the walls to the attic. The fire damaged, but did not destroy, the house and left most of the evidence intact.

Once Marlborough police realized the nature of the growing operation, they called in the Ulster Regional Gang Enforcement Narcotics Team for assistance. Over the next week, the team executed search warrants at six locations and turned up six more grow houses. In addition to the house at 212 Bingham Lane, cops found grow houses operating at 216 and 260 Bingham, as well as 110 Lyons Lane in Marlboro. The investigation also uncovered two more growing operations at 17 and 23 Bright Star Drive in the Town of Newburgh.

Police say all of the houses were large, single-family, new-construction homes. The three Bingham Lane residences, cops said, had been entirely converted for growing purposes. All of the homes were owned by one person, police said, but they did not identify the owner.

Over the course of the investigation, police recovered about 325 pounds of marijuana in both processed and plant form. The weed, cops said, has a street value of about $800,000.  Police believe the grow operation had been going on for at least a few years.

Police have made a single arrest in the case. Joseph I. Arredondo-Alarcon, 34, of 216 Bingham Lane was arrested after a traffic stop on the Newburgh-Beacon Bridge on the evening of June 7. Arredondo-Alarcon was charged with felony first-degree criminal possession of marijuana and is being held at the Ulster County Jail.

Police say they are still in the early stages of the investigation and more arrests are expected. Among the angles police are exploring is whether marijuana from the houses was distributed locally, or grown in the Hudson Valley for sale elsewhere.

“It this has been going on for years I think it makes a huge impact,” said Sheriff Paul VanBlarcum. “If they’ve been selling here in the Hudson Valley, it’s a big impact.”

The “Sailin’ Around Saugerties” flotilla at the May unveiling recalls the quote from John A. Shedd: “A ship in harbor is safe — but that is not what ships are built for.”

Every year, the Saugerties Chamber of Commerce picks a different theme for its artist-decorated street art project that stand in the village throughout the warmer months of the year. And every year, a few fall victim to violence.

Today at 1:41 p.m., Saugerties Police responded to a complaint of multiple men in a verbal dispute with an women on Main Street in the Village of Saugerties. Upon arrival investigating officers took Daniel V. Keogan, 38, of Ulster Ave., into custody after multiple witnesses reported observing Keogan punching and breaking two of the decorative sailboats boats in front of 89 and 99 Partition Street in the village.

Keogan was processed at Saugerties Police Headquarters on two counts of criminal mischief in the fourth degree. Keogan was arraigned in the Village of Saugerties Justice Court and remanded to the Ulster County Jail in lieu of $500 cash bail.

Tyrone Brodhead (KPD photo)

An Ulster County sheriff’s corrections officer embroiled in a racial discrimination lawsuit against his employer has been arrested for assault. Tyrone Brodhead, 44, of Tubby Street was arrested by Kingston police on July 2. Cops say the arrest came after a warrant was issued in City Court charging Brodhead with misdemeanor counts of assault and criminal obstruction of breathing and violation harassment. Police say the charges stem from a past incident involving a 27-year-old female victim. Brodhead was arraigned in Kingston City Court and released without bail.

Brodhead is one of five black Ulster County corrections officers who filed suit last year alleging that they were denied promotions, subjected to harsher discipline than white co-workers and subjected to a hostile work environment because of their race.

On Tuesday, July 3, the sheriff’s department announced on a Facebook post that Brodhead had been suspended for 30 days pending the results of an internal investigation, which will be independent of the KPD’s investigation.

City police are still seeking leads in a July 5 shooting that left a 26-year-old man paralyzed from the waist down. Meanwhile, the victim’s mother has organized an “increase the peace” effort to promote non-violence among city youth.

According to KPD Lt. Thierry Croizer, the incident occurred just minutes after midnight on July 5, hours after the city’s fireworks celebration. Croizer said cops were dispatched for a report of shots fired and someone yelling for help. When officers arrived they discovered the victim, who police have not identified, in the driveway of 68 Prospect St. with a single gunshot wound to his lower back.

The victim was transported to HealthAlliance of the Hudson Valley’s Broadway campus and later taken to Westchester Medical Center for further treatment. The victim’s mother, Lisa Royer, said the bullet is lodged in her son’s spine in a spot too risky for surgeons to remove. Royer, who spoke on the condition that her son’s name not be used because he remains hospitalized under an alias and his shooter remains at large, said he was paralyzed from the waist down.

“He’s got a long road ahead of him,” said Royer.

Royer is a founding member and organizer for the local social justice group Rise Up Kingston. She has been prominent in the group’s anti-police brutality efforts since last year, when she filed a complaint against KPD school resource officers, alleging they roughed up her teenage daughter Aleesa Jordan in an incident near Kingston High School. (The officers were later found by the city’s police commission to have acted within department guidelines.)

Just days after the shooting, Royer and other members of Rise Up Kingston held an event on Prospect Street aimed at reducing violence among city youth. Royer said her son had been childhood friends with Jarius Lightfoot, who was shot and killed at age 16, just down the street from where Royer’s son fell wounded. Royer said her goal is to stop the cycles of violence and retaliation that have left too many Kingston kids dead or injured.

“I tell people, if you’re praying for me and my son, pray for the shooter and his mom too, because either of could be in that situation in this day and age,” said Royer. “I just want it to stop.”

Croizer, meanwhile, said the investigation into the shooting remains active and police are seeking the public’s help in developing additional leads. Croizer added the investigation had been hampered by uncooperative witnesses and an unwillingness on the part of people who might know something to step forward.

“We want to help the community but there are people out there who don’t like us, don’t trust us or they have this code that says don’t talk to the cops.”

Royer said she wants her son’s assailant brought to justice. But, she added, she understands people’s reluctance to assist the investigation. Royer referred to several allegations of police brutality and a persistent rumor — denied by police and prosecutors — that a KPD detective indirectly and inadvertently tipped off the killers of C.J. King Jr. In 2010, King was murdered by gang members who learned that he was a cooperating witness in a case against a fellow member of the Sex Money Murder Bloods set.

“There’s a just a lot of distrust out there” said Royer.