On June 21, the New York State Police from the Livingston Barracks arrested Kelli R. Wagers, 39, of Philmont, for two counts of Criminal Sex Act in the 2^nd degree, a class E felony, Endangering the Welfare of a Child, a class A misdemeanor, and two counts of Sexual Abuse in the 3^rd degree, a class B misdemeanor.

On June 17, State Police investigators were alerted by Berkshire Farm Center and Services for Youth staff of possible sexual abuse by an employee. Police investigation determined that a Columbia County woman employed as a clinician at Berkshire Farm Center in Canaan committed two sexual acts and instances of sexual abuse with a victim under the age of 17 years old while at the facility.

Wagers was arraigned before the town of Livingston Court, and remanded to the Columbia County Jail in lieu of $15,000 cash bail or $30,000 secure bond.

From the Ulster County District Attorney:

Ellenville residents, Melinda Baker, 51, Melissa Quick, 39, Paula Sciancalepore, 53, and Robin Shaver, 58, have each plead guilty to Criminal Use of a Public Benefit Card in the Second Degree, a Class A Misdemeanor.

These defendants were arrested as part of a Federal/State/Local joint task force investigation into a heroin distribution ring which operated in Ellenville. During the course of the investigation law enforcement learned that these individuals were cheating the food stamp system by selling their Electronic Benefit Transfer (EBT) cards, issued through the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), for roughly 50 cents on the dollar and using the cash to purchase heroin.

Jeremy Kaartine of Saugerties, who on June 1 shot and killed his estranged father in a New Paltz diner parking lot and then turned the gun on himself after he led cops on a car chase back to his hometown, was issued a pistol permit by state Supreme Court Justice Julian Schreibman. Schreibman approved the permit over the strenuous objections, on the grounds of Kaartine’s repeated run-ins with town police, of Sheriff Juan Figueroa, Sheriff’s Chief Civil Administrator John McGovern and Saugerties Police Chief Joe Sinagra.

Law enforcement can’t confirm that the gun used in the June 1 incident was the one Schreibman issued the permit for, but according to New Paltz police, the gun Kaartine used to slay his father and then himself was registered to him. An email between McGovern and Chief Sinagra in which the former warns that Kaartine has obtained a permit is dated May 9 of this year.

Schreibman did not return a phone call seeking comment.

To obtain a pistol permit in Ulster County, applicants must submit a detailed form, submit to fingerprinting and provide four character references. That information is used by the sheriff’s office to conduct a detailed background investigation that includes juvenile records and instances of police contact that did not result in criminal charges. The results of the investigation are then turned over to a judge who has sole discretion on whether to issue the permit and what, if any, restrictions are placed on it. All applicants must undergo an in-person interview with the judge prior to issuance of the permit. In addition to issuing a permit, judges must also approve the purchase of each individual handgun. Judges may also order the suspension or revocation of a permit.

In an interview this week, Sinagra said there was no way Kaartine should have been allowed to have a handgun.

“At the end of the day what this really demonstrates is there’s a need for law enforcement to have a voice with respect to individuals having the ability to obtain a pistol permit,” said Sinagra. “In this case, when you take a look at the history, the question that begs to be answered is, ‘How did this individual get the permit in the first place?’”

By the time Kaartine, 22, had gotten his pistol permit, he had a long history of interactions with Saugerties police. According to documents obtained from the Saugerties Police Department, Kaartine had racked up approximately two dozen interactions with town police over the last decade or so, including 10 domestic disputes. It’s unclear whether he had interactions with other police agencies.

According to documents, Andrew Kaartine, the father slain by the son, placed two calls to police in 2011 when Jeremy was 15, telling police he feared for his safety and requesting a police escort to pick his child up for custody visits. Also in that year, Jeremy Kaartine allegedly threatened to harm his father and destroy his home.

In interviews with police, documents show, Jeremy Kaartine’s mother said that he suffered from clinical depression, obsessive compulsive disorder and “physical and mental disability.” One incident, also in 2011, resulted in charges of second-degree harassment, third-degree assault and unlawful imprisonment. (The disposition of those charges, due to his status as a minor when charged, is not public at this time.)

According to a police report, Kaartine pushed his mother in a stairwell, where she sustained an injury to her thigh from a nail jutting out of the wall, and barricaded her there. In January of 2012, police were called to Saugerties High when Kaartine refused to leave a classroom. The police report on that incident said that Kaartine was “abusive and confrontational” toward the responding officer, and “punched the door, slamming it open” upon leaving the room — ultimately, Kaartine had to be physically restrained before he calmed down. At age 16, he was put on a Person in Need of Supervision Petition, which gets family court involved when other disciplinary actions by parents have failed.

Since Kaartine was 11 years old, both parents had called police multiple times to seek out police assistance in such situations, according to the documents. Police had also responded to Kaartine’s home in 2017 when he threatened suicide.

“As discussed, despite the history of domestics between Karen Masters, who was forced to surrender her pistol permit, and her son, Jeremy Kaartine, Hon. J. Schreibman, over the strenuous objections of myself and Sheriff [Juan] Figueroa, granted Jeremy a pistol permit, restricted to the premises [of his home],” wrote Sheriff’s Department Chief Civil Administrator John McGovern, who oversees the department’s pistol permit bureau, to Saugerties Police Chief Sinagra via an email with the subject line “Officer Safety” on May 9 of this year.

While Schreibman approved the pistol permit, the paperwork to actually collect them — referred to as coupons — was approved by state Supreme Court Justice James Gilpatric.

“Jeremy purchased two handguns, which were approved by Hon. J. Gilpatric. The coupons to take possession of the handguns are here at UCSO for Jeremy to pick up.”

McGovern’s unsettling valediction punctuating the email was “be safe.”

On May 15 of this year, less than a month before the murder-suicide took place, a neighbor reported that Kaartine was shooting a pistol repeatedly at a trash pail atop a chair at their apartment complex with his mother looking on. Although an investigation revealed that Kaartine had, in fact, been shooting his pistol within 500 feet of the neighboring residence — a misdemeanor under state penal law — the neighbor declined to press charges and rescinded her previous statement.

“We do what we’re supposed to do here at the sheriff’s office, which is gather the information and give that to the licensing officer,” said Figueroa, who said that he had spoken to a county attorney to determine what he could release to the press on the matter. “Ultimately that decision is made by the licensing officer … any and all information regarding any interactions with law enforcement on all applications we submit to the court. it’s ultimately the decision of the court, the licensee renders the decision.”

Masters surrendered her own pistols and pistol permit in November 2017, four days after police were called to her home when her son threatened suicide on the first of the month.

“Sometimes, people are nice to you after your [sic] dead,” said Kaartine, according to Masters in her statement to responding police. “On the day of the funeral, everybody acts like they care.”

Kaartine allegedly went on to say that no one cared about him, that he was not normal and that his existence was meaningless. Police brought him to HealthAlliance Hospital in Kingston for a mental evaluation. The handgun in Kaartine’s bedroom, a Beretta 9mm, had reportedly not been removed from the box at that time. Kaartine told police that his mother had “bought the gun for him as a present … for his own protection because he spends most of his time at home.” Masters told police, the documents show, that she had purchased the gun for her son three months prior from a gun shop in the Albany area, and that she had a H&R .32-caliber revolver of her own.

According to police documents, Masters told officers that she and her son Jeremy felt threatened by the family living next door for lodging a number of noise complaints against them earlier that year (according to police documents, Kaartine made eight noise complaints about his neighbors and the children that lived there within two months that year. Many of the instances were “unfounded” according to police — in one incident, a responding officer wrote that they “[assured the neighbor] that she and her grandchildren could have fun and make noise in the pool” and noted that they were not making any noise upon arrival and “were doing nothing wrong.” Masters approached police in this period asking whether an order of protection could be arranged on her and her son’s behalf; because no arrests were made, it could not.

Along with the applicant’s criminal record, licensing officers receive a detailed questionnaire filled out by four area residents testifying to the gun-seeker’s good character, and conduct an in-person interview with the applicant. Any Ulster County resident that is charged with a crime is ordered to turn in their permitted guns to authorities until the case is adjudicated.

“In this particular case, there’s enough red flags that really should have prevented this person from obtaining a pistol permit,” Sinagra said. “This tragedy may have still occurred whether this individual had a permit or not, but we need to be responsible enough to be sure that when we recognize that there’s an issue, particularly with mental health issues, that the individual not be allowed to get a permit.”

Yesterday evening at 9:30 p.m., Saugerties Police responded to a residence on 9W for a reported physical domestic involving the use of a knife. According to police, 38-year-old Elizabeth Mack had punched the victim in the face causing lacerations to the victim’s mouth and also stabbed the victim with a knife multiple times causing minor lacerations to the victim’s abdomen.

Mack was arrested and charged with the misdemeanors of:

• Menacing in the 2nd Degree
• Assault in the 3rd Degree
• Endangering the welfare of a child (as the couple’s children, ages two and four, were present during the attack)

Mack was arraigned in the Town of Saugerties Justice Court and released on her own recognizance, with the court issuing an order of protection on behalf of the victim. Mack is scheduled to re-appear in the Town of Saugerties Justice Court tomorrow to answer the charges.

Ryan Williams

Ryan Williams, 29, of 28 May Street, Poughkeepsie, was sentenced today in Ulster County Court to 25 years to life in prison for his conviction for second-degree murder.

The case stems from an incident on July 1, 2018 which took place on Route 299 in the Town of Lloyd when the defendant, operating a Porsche Cayenne in speeds in excess of 128 mph, fled from a Town of Lloyd police officer. At the intersection of Route 299 and South Street in the Town of Lloyd the defendant crossed into oncoming traffic and struck a Ford 150 pickup truck, killing driver Danielle Pecoraro, 39, of New Paltz.  Pecoraro’s daughter, Mery Rosado, and a passenger in a vehicle following the pickup truck were seriously injured.

The defendant’s BAC at the time of the crash was .33.

Prior to trial, prosecutors sought to have evidence that the defendant had been convicted of crimes committed while fleeing from a police officer on four previous occasions admitted, arguing that that information was relevant to the jury’s determination of whether the defendant was acting with depraved indifference to human life. However, the court ruled that the evidence of defendant’s previous fleeing form a police officer, though relevant, would be prejudicial to the defendant and the jury was not allowed to hear that proof.

At sentencing, Rosado, the oldest of Pecoraro’s four children, addressed the court. According to the DA’s office, she said: “Someone was going to die that day . . . the community lost a gem of a woman but I lost my best friend.  Why did I live and she die? I live everyday with the pain of losing my best friend.”

The defendant, who has not had a valid license to drive in NYS since 2011, stated in papers filed with the court prior to sentencing that he did not intend to injure anyone.

In his comments to the court, prosecuting attorney Joey Drillings stated “that the defendant acted with depraved indifference to human life in that he recklessly engaged in conduct which created a grave risk of death. He acted with an utter disregard for the value of human life –  a willingness to act, not because he intended grievous harm to the person who was killed, but because he simply did not care whether or not grievous harm resulted.  He took a grossly unreasonable risk to human life and did not care how that risk turned out. His actions reflected a wicked, evil, inhumane state of mind, as manifested by his heinous and despicable acts.”

In handing down the life sentence County Court Judge Donald Williams stated to the defendant: “your action and conviction legally and morally rises to the same level as premeditated or intentional murder.”

Ryan Williams was represented by Carol Morgan, Esq. The case was prosecuted by Sr. Assistant District Attorneys Joey Drillings and Lisa Bondarenka.

Maurice Stansberry Sr. enters court before hearing last December.

Kevin Gardener (rear) and Maurice Stansberry Jr. leave court after a hearing last December.

Three men accused in the December 2018 murder of a man during an alleged marijuana robbery may get separate trials after prosecutors said in court this week they planned to use texts between two of the codefendants to make their case.

Maurice Stansberry Sr., his son Maurice Stansberry Jr. and Kevin Gardener all face murder and robbery charges stemming from the Dec. 1, 2018 shooting death of 38-year-old Mark Lancaster on Sawkill Road.

All three men are slated to go on trial, together, on July 22. All three are charged under New York State’s “felony murder” law. Under the statute, when a person is killed during the commission of a crime, all participants in the crime can be held liable for the murder — whether or not they actually caused the victim’s death. In order to prove a felony murder case, prosecutors must show that all of the defendants showed a “community of purpose” and acted in concert to carry out the underlying crime. In this case, Senior Assistant District Attorney Emmanuel Nneji will need to prove that the Stansberrys and Gardener were all willing participants in the marijuana robbery that preceded Lancaster’s death.

Prosecutors believe that Stansberry, 39, his son and Gardener, both 18, went to the Sawkill Trailer Park around noon on Dec. 1, 2018 to meet with Lancaster and two others. During the meeting, cops believe, one of the defendants produced a handgun and relieved Lancaster and his companions of about two ounces of marijuana. The trio then fled the scene in a vehicle. Police believe Lancaster and his friends went looking for the robbers and found them near 341 Sawkill Road. In the ensuing confrontation, Lancaster was shot in the torso. He succumbed to his injuries at HealthAlliance of the Hudson Valley’s Broadway Campus a short time later. All three suspects were taken into custody within 24 hours of the shooting; Stansberry Sr. and Gardener remain in the Ulster County Jail while Stansberry Jr. is free on $200,000 bail.

The prospect of a joint trial for the three defendants was thrown into doubt during a series of pre-trial hearings before Ulster County Court Judge Don Williams on Monday, July 2. The hearings were held to determine what evidence would be shown to jurors and to hash out other legal issues in advance of the trial. In order to try the defendants together, prosecutors would have to walk a fine line to avoid setting up an irreconcilable conflict between the accuseds’ constitutional rights. Under the Constitution, every criminal defendant has the right to cross-examine their accuser, but defendants in a criminal trial may not be compelled to take the witness stand. In order to avoid this conflict, prosecutors would have to avoid using any statements from the men that might implicate their co-defendants in the crime.

Initially, Nneji told Williams that he planned to prosecute the case without using any statements or other evidence that could put the co-defendants on a legal collision course with one another. During a break in the proceedings, Nneji told reporters that separate trials would be an unnecessary burden on taxpayers, the court system and witnesses.

“It is a matter of making sure that the right thing is done and done efficiently,” said Nneji of the joint trial strategy.

But a short time later, Nneji told Williams that after reviewing the case with co-counsel, he had decided to use evidence that could require Stansberry Sr. to be tried separately. Specifically, Nneji said, he planned to use text messages between Gardener and Stansberry Sr. in which the pair discuss marijuana robberies and in which Gardener allegedly asks the older man if he can borrow his gun. In response, Stansberry Sr.’s attorney, Assistant Public Defender Russell Schindler, said that he would seek a separate trial for his client. Schindler told Williams that it would likely take him a week to prepare a motion for severance.

The pretrial hearing, which Stansberry Jr. and his attorney did not attend, also addressed evidence of “Prior bad acts” that might be introduced at trial. Nneji told Williams that he had a witness who would testify that a few months prior to the shooting, Gardener and the Stansberrys had participated in another marijuana robbery in Highland. During that incident, Nneji told the court, the trio carried — but did not display or fire — the same gun that would later be used in the Dec. 1 holdup and shooting.

“All three of them were aware of the gun,” said Nneji of the alleged rip-off in Lloyd. “They took it with them for the purposes of using it if necessary.” 

Nneji also indicated that he would try to introduce evidence that Stansberry Sr. was a member of the Bloods street gang who had recruited Gardener into the group. In response to questions from Williams, Nneji conceded that there was no evidence that the Sawkill robbery was gang related.

Tuesday’s hearings also covered a photo array used by state police investigators to obtain an eyewitness identification of Stansberry Sr. (A second eyewitness apparently failed to pick Stansberry Sr. out of the photo lineup).

Nneji said he also planned to introduce a video shot from a dashboard camera that captured the shooting. Schindler, meanwhile, asked Williams to redact the audio portion of the dash-cam video to avoid exposing jurors to statements by the defendants or witnesses that might be inadmissible in court.

The pretrial hearings are expected to continue on Wednesday, July 3. Williams said that he would rule on some of the issues raised at a later date.

On Friday evening July 5 at 9:35 p.m., Saugerties police responded to the corner of Main and Partition streets for a reported stabbing. Investigation established that the victim, a 36-year-old male, had been stabbed in the area of his neck with a steak knife. According to police, the victim reported that while engaged in a domestic dispute, 33-year-old Lisa M. Carrube of Saugerties, stabbed him, causing injury. The victim was treated at the scene by paramedics for a superficial wound to his neck.  

Carrube fled the scene prior to the arrival of police. A few hours later, at 2:35 a.m., Carrube was located by police responding to a call for service of a reported female screaming on Jane Street. Upon their arrival officers discovered the screaming female was Lisa Carrube. Police said when officers attempted to take Carrube into custody, she fought with officers. 

She was arrested on the following charges:

• Second-degree assault (a felony)
• Resisting arrest (a misdemeanor)
• Disorderly conduct (a violation)

Carrube was taken into custody and processed at Saugerties Police Headquarters and then arraigned in the Village of Saugerties Justice Court. Carrube was remanded to the Ulster County Jail in lieu of $10,000 cash bail.  

On Wednesday June 19, the New York State Police at Middletown arrested Michael Edison Ramos,  34, of Middletown after a three-month long investigation into the theft of cash down payments at Nissan-Kia Middletown car dealership.

State Police were first alerted to the thefts in March after a customer realized that they had not been credited by the dealership for the full amount of their down payment. The ensuing investigation identified several additional victims.

Ramos was arrested and charged in both the towns of Wallkill and Wawayanda with the following felonies:

• Grand Larceny 3rd Degree
• Grand Larceny 4th Degree
• Falsifying Business Records 1st Degree
• Scheme to Defraud 1st Degree

He was also charged with Possession of Personal Identification Information, a misdemeanor.

He was arraigned and remanded to the Orange County Jail in lieu of $7500 cash bail.

Since that arrest, more victims have come forward. The New York State Police Middletown BCI are now looking for victims who may have dealt with Ramos while he acted as a realtor in the Middletown area. Anyone that feels they may have been victimized as a result of their dealings with Ramos is asked to contact investigator Joseph Dawson at the NYSP Middletown BCI (845)344-5352.

Police say many of the victims are Spanish speaking, so the above information is also being offered in Spanish:

El 26 de junio del 2019, La Policía Estatal de Nueva York emitió un comunicado de prensa como resultado del arresto de Michael Edison Ramos, de 34 años de edad, de Middletown, NY. Desde la emisión de dicho comunicado, más víctimas han comparecido y han declarado los presuntos crímenes que les ocurrieron mientras el Señor Ramos trabajaba como vendedor de autos. La Policía Estatal de Middletown BCI buscan víctimas que puedan haber estado en contacto con El Señor Ramos mientras desempeñaba la función de agente inmobiliario en el área de Middletown, NY. Se le pide a cualquier persona que piense que puede haber sido victimizada como resultado de su vínculo con el Señor Ramos de ponerse en contacto con el investigador Joseph Dawson de NYSP Middletwon BCI (845) 344-5352.

The Ulster Regional Gang Enforcement Narcotics Team (URGENT) reports the arrest of a Kingston man following a stop in the city of Kingston.

On Wednesday, July 10, at about 12:30 p.m., members of URGENT observed Adam F. Houghton, 38, exiting his residence on Fitch Street in Kingston. He was recognized as being wanted for two outstanding traffic misdemeanors and taken into custody. During a search, police say he was found to be in possession of a quantity of cocaine.

A search warrant was obtained for his residence. Police report that the resulting search yielded approximately one half kilogram of cocaine and over $100,000 in cash. Several rifles and pistols were also seized.

Houghton was charged with the felony of Criminal Possession of a Controlled Substance in the Third Degree. He was arraigned in the Town of Esopus Court and remanded to the Ulster County Jail in lieu of $2,000 cash bail or $4,000 secured bond.

This investigation remains open and additional charges may be filed.

URGENT was assisted by the Ulster County Emergency Response Team and City of Kingston Building and Safety Department.

The following agencies have members assigned to URGENT: Ulster County Sheriff’s Office, Ulster County District Attorney’s Office, Ulster County Probation, Town of Plattekill Police, Village of Ellenville Police and the United States Department of Homeland Security Investigations.

Juan Torres-Hernandez, 49, of 108 Livingston Street in Saugerties, was sentenced Wednesday, July 10, in Ulster County Court to four years in state prison followed by 10 years of post-release supervision for his conviction to Attempted Sexual Abuse. He will be required to register under the New York State Sexual Offender Registration Act for a minimum of twenty years. Additionally a stay away Order of Protection on behalf of the victim was issued until December 13, 2033.

The conviction arose from an incident which took place in July of 2018 at the Northeast Center For Special Care in Lake Katrine when he attempted to subject another person to sexual contact when such other person was incapable of consent by reason of being physically helpless. Torres-Hernandez was an employee of the Northeast Center For Special Care at the time and entered the victim’s room in his capacity as a member of the janitorial staff. Another staff member walked in on the offense and reported to authorities immediately.

The case was prosecuted by Special Victims Bureau Chief, Katherine R. Van Loan. The defendant was represented by the Ulster County Public Defender’s Office. The defendant, who is a citizen of El Salvador, was working on a properly issued temporary employment visa which is scheduled to expire on September 9, 2019.

On July 9, the New York State Police from the Poughkeepsie barracks in conjunction with the Dutchess County Child Advocacy Center, and the Town of Poughkeepsie Police Department arrested Justin P. O’Dell, 25, of Poughkeepsie, for three counts of Criminal Sex Act in the 2^nd degree, and one count of Rape in the 2^nd degree, all class D felonies.

Police said O’Dell engaged in sexual contact with a victim under the age of fifteen years old, in the towns of Clinton and Stanford. O’Dell and the victim were known to one another.

O’Dell was arraigned before the town of Washington Court, and remanded to the Dutchess County Jail in lieu of $25,000 cash bail or $50,000 secure bond. O’Dell is next scheduled to appear before the Court on July 15 at 10:30 a.m.

On Monday, July 15, the New York State Police from the Poughkeepsie barracks arrested Robert L. Simone, 57, of Poughkeepsie, for Unlawful Surveillance in the second degree, a class E felony.

Investigation determined Robert Simone, while employed as postmaster of the Salt Point Post Office, used an electronic recording device to unlawfully surveil one known victim at the Post Office, located on Cottage Street in the town of Pleasant Valley.

Simone was arraigned before the town of Pleasant Valley Court, and remanded to the Dutchess County Jail in lieu of $10,000 cash bail or $20,000 secure bond. Simone is next scheduled to appear before the Court on July 23.

Left to right: Simeon Walker, Jermaine Miller, Alexander Adkins Padilla

Three men were arrested yesterday in connection with a robbery and beating that took place on the corner of Park and Warren streets at around 11 p.m. Tuesday, July 9.

According to police, the victim, an 18-year-old man, was walking in that area when he was approached by two men. He was punched and fell to the ground, and was the attacked by several other males, one of whom was armed with a billy club, and repeatedly struck him on the head and body. Police say the attackers stole property from the victim then fled on foot. The victim was transported to Ellenville Hospital and treated for his injuries.

Ellenville and county law enforcement executed a search warrant yesterday evening at 23 Church St. in Ellenville. The following arrests and charges were the result.

1. Alexander Adkins Padilla, 32, of Monticello, charged with first-degree robbery, first-degree gang assault, also charged on a bench warrant for failure to appear on a harassment and public lewdness charge. He was arraigned and remanded to Ulster County Jail in lieu of $500,000 cash bail or $1 million property bond.
2. Simeon J. Walker, 18, of Ellenville, formerly of Kingston, charged with second-degree robbery and second-degree gang assault; remanded to Ulster County Jail on $100,000 cash or $200,000 property bond.
3. Jermaine Miller, 17, of EIllenville, formerly of the city of Rochester, charged with second-degree robbery and second-degree gang assault; remanded to Ulster County Jail on $100,000 cash or $200,000 property bond.

The investigation is continuing and more arrests are expected.

The Saugerties Police reports the arrest of 56-year-old Alice L. Saguid of MaryAnn Avenue on the misdemeanor charges of fourth-degree criminal possession of a weapon, fourth-degree criminal mischief, and the violation of second-degree harassment. 

Saguid was arrested following an investigation conducted by police after responding to a 911 call on July 19 reporting a domestic dispute at Saguid‘s residence. Police allege that Saguid engaged in a violent domestic dispute in which she grabbed a kitchen knife and chased the victim around the house. Further investigation led police to conclude there was a history of violent incidents between Saguid and the victim. The victim provided police with a video of a recent domestic dispute in which a person, who police identified as Saguid, armed herself with a running chainsaw, and then chased the victim about the house in an attempt to cut him. 

Saguid was taken into custody at the scene and processed at Saugerties Police Headquarters, arraigned in the Town of Saugerties Justice Court and released on her own recognizance.

An overhead view of the crash site

Tyler Kuhn

A Saugerties man was sentenced to four to 12 years in state prison last week for a drunken driving accident that left two of his friends with devastating injuries.

County Court Judge Donald Williams handed down the sentence after family members of the victims read emotional statements about the impact of the Jan. 6 accident on Route 32 in Saugerties.

That day, police say, 35-year-old Tyler Kuhn picked up friends Kieshawn Blanche, 24, of Kingston and Brittany Ruskie and Justin Malloy, both 23, of Saugerties. The group drove to Catskill to do some work on a home owned by Kuhn’s family. Along the way they picked up a 12-pack of beer at a Stewart’s store. Around 11 a.m., the friends headed back to Saugerties to get lunch.

Senior Assistant District Attorney Mike Kavanagh said that Kuhn was drinking beer behind the wheel and driving at extremely high speed. Kavanagh said based on security camera footage from a business on Route 32, police believe that Kuhn’s vehicle was traveling at 110 mph just moments before the crash. According to Kavanagh, the accident occurred when Kuhn passed another vehicle on a blind turn, then swerved to avoid an oncoming car. Kuhn’s vehicle became airborne and struck a tree.

Ruskie and Malloy were ejected while Blanche was pinned inside the overturned car. Police later determined that Kuhn’s blood alcohol content was 0.10 percent, above New York’s 0.08 percent threshold for driving while intoxicated.

The twisted remains of the Mercedes

The crash left Ruskie and Blanche grievously injured. Ruskie, who was present in court at sentencing, was left paralyzed from the waist down. Blanche had his right leg amputated at the hip and has been hospitalized at Albany Medical Center since the accident. Kavanagh said that on the day of Kuhn’s sentencing, Blanche was undergoing surgery in an effort to save his right arm from a blood infection. Malloy suffered less serious injuries while Kuhn walked away from the crash with severe facial lacerations.

In May, Kuhn pleaded guilty to aggravated vehicular assault and drunken driving. Kavanagh said prosecutors were prepared to go to trial and seek the maximum sentence — five to 15 years in state prison. Kavanagh said the office agreed to a plea deal and a lighter sentence to spare the victims’ the added trauma of a trial.

Inside the courtroom, Kuhn, clad in an orange jail jumpsuit, sat crying with his head in his hands moments before the hearing began. During the hearing, Blanche’s sister read a victim’s impact statement on behalf of her family, while Kavanagh read statements from Ruskie, her mother and sister. In her statement Ruskie wrote about her struggles with everyday activities like brushing her teeth or taking off her shirt.

“You’ve caused me unbelievable pain and agony,” Ruskie wrote. “Ever since day one I have questioned why did this have to happen to me? The answer is, I’ll never know. You did this.”

Kuhn’s effort to apologize to his victims was cut short by Williams, who said he didn’t believe he was genuinely remorseful. Williams noted that in the immediate aftermath of the accident, Kuhn had lied to investigators, rather than accept responsibility for his actions. 

“I don’t buy any of the stuff you said today,” said Williams. “None of it.”

Maurice Stansberry Sr. in court. (Pool photos by Tania Barricklo | Daily Freeman)

The fate of a Kingston man accused of murder in the aftermath of a marijuana rip-off gone very wrong may rest on whether jurors believe Maurice Stansberry Sr. and his accomplices displayed a gun during the incident, or simply grabbed the weed and ran.

Maurice Stansberry Sr. went on trial Monday, July 22 for the Dec. 1, 2018 killing of Mark Lancaster. Lancaster was slain by a single gunshot wound as he confronted Stansberry, his then-17-year-old son, Maurice Stansberry Jr., and a third teen, then-17-year-old Kevin Gardener, on Sawkill Road. The shooting occurred after the Stansberrys and Gardener allegedly stole two ounces of marijuana from Lancaster’s son, Jahsi Quilles, at a nearby trailer park. In addition to second-degree murder, Stansberry is charged with robbery and criminal possession of a weapon. 

Stansberry Sr. is charged under the state’s felony murder statute. The law holds that if someone is killed during the commission of, or immediate flight from, a felony crime, all participants can be held culpable for the victim’s death — regardless of whether they directly caused it. That means the prosecution doesn’t have to prove that Stansberry fired the fatal shot, just that he was an active participant in the robbery that led to it.

In his opening statement, Stansberry Sr.’s lawyer, Assistant Public Defender Russell Schindler, told jurors the evidence would show that the gun that killed Lancaster was never displayed during the robbery. Instead, Schindler said, the trio either used fake $100 bills to buy the weed, or simply ran off without paying when it was handed to them. That, Schindler argued, constituted the misdemeanor of petit larceny — a crime not covered under the felony murder statute.

“If there’s no felony, there’s no felony murder,” Schindler said.

Stansberry Sr. was initially slated to stand trial alongside his son and Gardener. But Gardener pleaded guilty to murder last week, days before the trial was to begin. In exchange for the guilty plea, County Court Judge Donald Williams agreed to sentence the now-18-year-old to 20 years to life in state prison. If convicted at trial, Gardener faced a maximum sentence of 25 years to life.

Under questioning by Senior Assistant District Attorney Emmanuel Nneji, Gardener admitted that he shot Lancaster after Stansberry Sr. passed him a 9mm handgun. Gardener also testified that Stansberry had displayed the weapon during the weed rip-off. Despite his testimony, prosecutors did not include Gardener on a list of potential witnesses for the trial. Stansberry Jr., meanwhile, cut a deal with prosecutors last month to testify against his father at trial. The terms of that deal are unknown.

Marijuana bandits

Prosecutors began laying out their case this week by presenting a series of witnesses — including Stansberry Jr. — to testify about the robbery and subsequent killing.

Stansberry Jr. testified that on the morning of the incident, he was at home on Washington Avenue when his father asked him to reach out to Gardener, who lived nearby. The three then hatched a plan to steal two ounces of marijuana from a 16-year-old acquaintance, Patrick Sutton, who lived at the Sawkill Trailer Park. It wasn’t the first time the group had pulled off a marijuana heist. Back in October, Stansberry Jr. testified, he drove his father, Gardener and his then-girlfriend to meet a weed dealer in Highland. After the dealer handed the weed through the window of Stansberry Jr.’s Honda Civic, he drove off without paying. Stansberry Jr. testified that his father brought a 9mm handgun to the Highland rip-off, but never displayed it during the transaction.

After setting up the deal with Sutton, Stansberry Jr. testified that he drove his father and Gardener to the trailer park, where they met up with him and a neighbor, 14-year-old Chase Dugan. Lynch told them that he did not have the marijuana yet. The group then hung around the trailer park waiting for the delivery.

At one point, Stansberry Jr. said, he and Gardener left the park and began driving back home to retrieve another fake $100 bill to buy a belt from Sutton. They cut the trip short after Stansberry Sr. called to ask them to return. Stansberry Jr. testified that he parked his car in a position to make a quick exit from the trailer park, while his father and Gardener went to make the transaction out of site between two trailers. Stansberry testified that before exiting the vehicle, his father removed the handgun from a pink backpack and placed it in a coat pocket.

Meanwhile Quilles, and his friend, 17-year-old Sebastian Lynch arrived at the trailer park in a Honda Pilot SUV driven by Quilles’ father, Mark Lancaster. Quilles testified that he planned to sell two ounces of marijuana provided by his father to Lynch for $250 who in turn planned to sell it to Stansberry for $400. Quilles said he saw Stansberry Jr. sitting in the parked Civic as he entered the trailer park. Then, he and Lynch walked over to meet Gardener and Stansberry Sr. Quilles testified that Stansberry Sr. began haggling over the price and asked to see the marijuana.

“As soon as I handed it to him to look at, he told Kev to get the money from the car,” Quilles testified. “Then he pulled out a gun, racked it and said, ‘Don’t nobody do some stupid shit or you’re going to get shot.” Lynch, who was standing next to Quilles, and Dugan, who said he was on a nearby porch, both testified that they saw Stansberry Sr. display the weapon before running back to the waiting Civic.

Defense attorney Russell Schindler makes a point.

The fatal chase

Stansberry Jr. testified that he didn’t see the marijuana transaction, but said he saw his father and Gardener running towards his car. After they got in, he said, he drove off and headed back towards Kingston on Sawkill Road. Quilles and Sebastian testified that after the holdup, they ran back to the Honda Pilot where Lancaster was waiting and told him that they’d just been robbed.

“He was upset with me,” said Quilles describing his father’s reaction to the news. “I don’t think he believed me about the gun at first.”

Lancaster then took off in pursuit. About a mile down the road, the SUV caught up to the fleeing Civic, pulled in front and forced it to stop. Quilles, Lancaster and Lynch jumped out and surrounded the car. Lynch testified that he used a bike stand to try to break a window on the Civic, while Lancaster yanked open the driver’s side door and attempted to pull Stansberry Jr. out of the car. Stansberry Jr. testified that after he was forced to stop the car, his father, who was sitting in the front passenger seat, exclaimed, “I’m going to shoot one of these motherfuckers!”

Moments later, as Lancaster was attempting to pull him from the car while demanding his marijuana back, Stansberry Jr. testified that his father removed the gun from the backpack, chambered a round and handed it to Gardener in the backseat, saying, “Yo Kev, shoot him.” Lynch, meanwhile, testified that he saw the gun in Stansberry Sr.’s hands just before the shot was fired. Quilles, who said he ran back to the SUV to get his phone and call police, said he did not see the shot fired.

While Lancaster lay by the side of the round bleeding to death from a gunshot wound that entered his lower abdomen and exited his right buttock, Stansberry Jr. said he drove off and headed to a friend’s apartment at the Stony Run complex on Hurley Avenue. There, he testified, they smoked some of the stolen marijuana and flushed the remainder down a toilet. At some point, Stansberry Jr. said, his father handed the gun off to a female friend identified only as “Carrie,” who left the apartment with it. The weapon was never recovered. That evening, as heavily armed SWAT teams converged on the apartment complex, the three went outside and surrendered to police.

When was the gun first seen?

In his opening statement, and in cross-examination of the prosecution’s witnesses, Schindler sought to poke holes in the theory that anyone had produced a gun during the incident which preceded Lancaster’s death. Schindler pointed to a text conversation between Stansberry Jr. and his girlfriend as he sat his car waiting for “The bud man” to arrive. In the texts, Schindler said, Stansberry Jr. indicates that they planned to steal the marijuana either by paying for it with fake $100 bills or by simply running away. In response to a text asking why they don’t just take the weed at gunpoint, Stansberry Jr. wrote back, “We don’t want it to get that hot.”

“The plan was another scam wasn’t it?” Schindler asked Stansberry Jr. on cross examination. “You weren’t supposed to use any force.”

Prosecutor Nneji, meanwhile, pointed to another text in which Stansberry speculates, “I think my dad’s going to put the gun to his head.” Asked by Nneji why he wrote that, Stansberry Jr. replied, “I was just scared … about the whole situation.”

In his opening statement, Schindler also accused police of pressuring Patrick Sutton into claiming that Stansberry Sr. pulled a gun during the robbery. Schindler said Sutton did not tell a state police investigator about the weapon until the investigator suggested that he could be charged with attempted murder.

Finally, Schindler appealed to jurors to use their own common sense. Had the gun been produced at the scene of the rip-off, Schindler argued, Lancaster, Quilles and Lynch would not have chased the men who held them up.

“Who would get in a car and chase down a robber with a gun to get back two ounces of marijuana?” Schindler asked jurors. “It’s against human nature.”

Testimony continued this week, with final arguments expected on Thursday or Friday.

Maurice Stansberry Sr. in court. (Pool photo by Tania Barricklo/Daily Freeman)

A Kingston man is facing 25 years to life in state prison after his conviction for the Dec. 1 murder of Mark Lancaster following a marijuana robbery gone very wrong at the Sawkill Trailer Park. The eight-man, four-woman jury deliberated for just over four hours on Friday, July 19 before finding Maurice Stansberry Sr., 39, guilty of second-degree murder, robbery and criminal possession of a weapon.

On the morning of Dec. 1, 2018, Stansberry, his son Maurice Stansberry Jr., then 17 and their friend Kevin Gardener, also then 17, went to the trailer park with a plan to rob 16-year-old Patrick Sutton of two ounces of marijuana. According to witnesses testimony — including Stansberry Jr. who testified against his father — the elder Stansberry hatched the plan and, at Gardener’s request, brought along a 9mm handgun. The trio then traveled to the trailer park to meet up with Sutton.

Sutton, meanwhile, reached out to his friend, Lancaster’s son, Jahsi Quilles, 17, who agreed to bring him the marijuana to sell to Stansberry. Shortly before noon, Lancaster arrived at the trailer park in his black Honda Pilot with Quilles and Quilles’ friend Sebastian Lynch, 17. Lynch and Quilles met up with Stansberry Sr., Gardener and Sutton outside a trailer while Lancaster and Stansberry Jr. waited in their respective vehicles. At trial, Sutton, Quilles, Lynch and a fourth teen who witnessed the incident all testified that Stansberry Sr. produced a handgun before fleeing back to his son’s car with Gardener and the stolen pot.

Lancaster, Quilles and Lynch took off in pursuit. A mile and a half down the road, Lancaster managed to pull ahead of Stansberry Jr.’s Honda Civic, forcing him to stop. Lamcaster, Quilles and Lynch then surrounded the car. According to testimony, Lancaster had forced the Pilot’s driver’s side door open and was attempting to pull Stansberry Jr. out while demanding his marijuana back when someone inside the car fired a single gunshot.

Accounts diverge about who fired the fatal shot. Gardener, who pleaded guilty to murder days before the trial began, said he shot Lancaster from the back seat after Stansberry Sr. handed him the gun. Stansberry Jr. gave similar testimony on the witness stand. But Lynch, who was standing directly behind Lancaster during the scuffle, testified that Stansberry Sr. actually fired the shot. Speaking after the trial, District Attorney Holley Carnright said forensic evidence, crime scene reconstruction and his knowledge of Stansberry Sr. all led him to believe that the older man was in fact the killer.

“Just based on his personality, his maturity and his criminal history, it doesn’t make sense that [Stansberry Sr.] would give up the gun.”

Lancaster fell into the road, mortally wounded by a bullet which entered the left side of his lower abdomen and came out his right buttock, shredding a major blood vessel along the way. As Quilles, Lynch and a passing motorist tried to stem the bleeding, the robbery crew drove off, taking refuge at a friend’s apartment in the Stony Run complex. There, they smoked some of the stolen marijuana, disposed of the gun by handing it off to an acquaintance — the weapon was never recovered — and eventually surrendered to police as SWAT teams surrounded the complex.

The Stansberrys and Gardener were all charged with second-degree murder under New York’s felony murder statue. The law holds that when someone is killed during or in immediate flight from a crime, all participants in the underlying crime can be held liable for the death.

At trial, Stansberry Sr.’s lawyer, Assistant Public Defender Russell Schindler, argued that no gun was displayed during the weed ripoff. Instead, he suggested the group either paid for the marijuana using fake $100 bills or simply grabbed it and ran off. If that was the case, Schindler argued, there was no felony crime committed and thus Stansberry Sr. could not be convicted of felony murder.

Prosecutors, meanwhile, argued that eyewitness testimony and a text sent by Stansberry Jr. to his girlfriend in which he says he believes his father is going to “put a gun to this guy’s head” all indicated that Stansberry Sr. produced the firearm. Assistant district attorneys Emmanuel Nneji and Timothy Lawson handled the case for the prosecution.

Stansberry Sr. faces a maximum of 25 years to life when he’s sentenced in October. Carnright said the elder Stansberry was a member of the Bloods gang with a rap sheet going back 20 years that includes numerous misdemeanors and a felony conviction for drug sales.

In exchange for his guilty plea, Gardener, who did not testify at the trial, is expected to receive a sentence of 20 years to life. Carnright said that according to the terms of a plea deal worked out with Stansberry Jr. in June, his office will drop the murder charge against the teen in exchange to a plea of guilty on a single charge of first-degree robbery. Carnright said that based on Stansberry Jr.’s youth and lesser degree of culpability in the robbery and subsequent shooting, his office would recommend that he receive less than the 15-year maximum prison sentence for robbery.

Under a new policy implemented by Ulster County Sheriff Juan Figueroa, the department will no longer post the names of people arrested for less serious crimes on their Facebook page and other social media platforms. The sheriff’s office announced the new policy on Monday.

Instead of including the names of those arrested, posts announcing arrests will simply provide their age, gender and details of the incident. Figueroa said that the policy would apply to less serious, mostly non-felony crimes. The office will include suspect’s names in press releases distributed directly to news organizations and upon request from reporters. Figueroa said that the agency would continue to post names on social media in cases where suspects remained at large or when it was otherwise deemed necessary to protect public safety. 

“This is really the press’ responsibility,” said Figueroa. “And we are not the press.”

Figueroa noted that people arrested are considered innocent until proven guilty in court and added that he hoped that the new policy would help build trust between the department and the community.

Exclusive Motor Sports

Mehdi Moslem, 70 and Saaed Moslem, 35, father-and-son operators of the Exclusive Motor Sports car dealership in Central Valley, were arrested yesterday on tax and bank fraud charges.

A joint statement containing the details of the case was released by Geoffrey S. Berman, the United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, Jonathan D. Larsen, Special Agent in Charge of the New York Office of the Internal Revenue Service, Criminal Investigation Division, and William F. Sweeney Jr., the Assistant Director-in-Charge of the New York Field Office of the Federal Bureau of Investigation.

It alleges that the father and son under reported income to the IRS and over reported income to lenders.

It states that, from 2009 to 2016, Mehdi and Saaed Moslem concealed millions of dollars in profits from the IRS by causing their account to file tax returns that significantly understated the dealerships gross receipts and inventory. It states that Saaed Moslem then used these returns (and other false statements) to conceal assets when filing for bankruptcy in 2015.

While under reporting was advantageous for tax returns, over reporting the dealership’s income was beneficial for seeking loans. Investigators say that from 2011 through 2017, Mehdi and Saaed Moslem also conspired to defraud multiple financial institutions by submitting falsely inflated net worth statements and fabricated tax returns in connection with loan applications, including for a $1.2 million mortgage on the Exclusive Motor Sports property in Central Valley, on which they later defaulted.

Both were charged with charged with one count of conspiracy to defraud the United States, which carries a maximum sentence of five years in prison, and one count of bank fraud conspiracy, which carries a maximum sentence of 30 years in prison.

Saaed Moslem was further charged with two counts of making false statements to a lender, each of which carries a maximum sentence of 30 years in prison, and one count of concealing assets and making false declarations in a bankruptcy case, which carries a maximum sentence of five years.

U.S. Attorney Geoffrey S. Berman said:  “As alleged, Mehdi and Saaed Moslem defrauded the United States by understating income and inventory of their auto dealership, and they defrauded lenders by overstating their net worth in loan applications.  Whether allegedly understating or overstating, father and son were falsifying – and committing crimes.”

FBI Assistant Director William F. Sweeney Jr. said:  “Lying to financial institutions and skirting the regulations put in place by U.S. tax laws is a violation of federal law, crimes both Mehdi and Saaed Moslem are charged with today.  The popular saying about certainties in life omits a third guarantee – when the FBI and IRS catch you engaging in fraudulent behavior and illegal business practices, you will be charged.”

Police at the scene yesterday. (Photo by Jesse Smith)

A Kingston man was charged with second-degree murder after the body of a 58-year-old homeless man was found in a wooded area near a bike and pedestrian trail just off the Thruway Exit 19 traffic circle Sunday night.

According to town of Ulster police, at about 8 p.m. on Aug. 11, police got the call for a reporting the body. The victim was identified as Guy Andradez, 58, who had previously lived in Bloomington. Police launched an immediate investigation; personnel from numerous agencies set up a command center at the traffic circle and conducted an extensive search of the vicinity.

Police said their investigation led to the arrest of Lance J. Ferguson, 36, of Kingston. Police said he was found in the city of Kingston and arrested without incident.

Besides murder, Ferguson was charged with the felonies of fourth-degree criminal possession of a weapon, concealment of a human corpse and tampering with physical evidence.

Ferguson was arraigned on Monday night and held pending a court appearance Tuesday.

The thickets near the traffic circle and along the banks of the Esopus Creek have become a haven for some of Kingston’s homeless population. Some have pitched tents or even built crude dwellings in the area. On July 15, Andradez was arrested and charged with felony assault after, police said, he beat another man with a frying pan in the same wooded area off the path.