A federal jury has found a Queens man guilty on all charges related to a 2009 plan for suicide attacks on the NYC subways, conspiring to join the Taliban and training with Al Qaeda. Adis Medunjanin now faces up to life in prison. more ›

In 2001, an off-duty police officer who spent up to 12 hours drinking before going to his Brooklyn precinct struck and killed a 24-year-old pregnant woman, her 4-year-old son, and her 16-year-old sister. Medical staff delivered the woman's baby boy, who died 13 hours later, and police officer Joseph Gray was eventually convicted of four counts of second degree manslaughter. He was sentenced to 5 to 15 years in prison and yesterday, after 10 years behind bars, Gray was released. more ›

The woman accused of donning a cat mask and robbing stores in Manhattan and Queens was convicted today. However, Shana Spalding yelled, "I’m not the Catwoman," as she was led from court. more ›

A caterer on Staten Island, who allegedly has ties to the Genovese crime family, was found guilty of threatening a rival for a high school cafeteria bid. U.S. Attorney Loretta Lynch said, "This case demonstrates organized crime still conducts its business in its traditional way — by relying on threats and violence to intimidate hard-working individuals trying to make a legitimate living. Here, the defendant sought to use fear and intimidation to obtain business, rather than honest competition. Such efforts will always be met with the full force of the law." more ›

A jury just returned a guilty verdict for the man accused of raping his ex-girlfriend and framing her for armed robbery, which caused her to lose her business and be jailed for months. The Post reports, "It took a Queens jury only a day and a half to decide that Jerry Ramrattan, 39, was guilty of binding and gagging his ex with duct tape before sexually assaulting her in her Far Rockaway home." more ›

A 416-pound robbery suspect has been granted a new trial because of the lack of 400 pound guys in the city. An appeals court judge ruled that the lineup he was picked out of was unfair because all the other guys were just too skinny. "Although the fillers were large men, there was a very noticeable weight difference between defendant and the fillers," said the judge. more ›

An Orthodox rabbi faces up to six months in jail for groping a female Israeli army officer as she slept next to him on a flight from Tel Aviv to JFK at the end of March. Rabbi Gavriel Bidany, a 47-year-old father of 11, was found guilty of molestation today, even though he had claimed that his hands were moving involuntarily while he slept and that any contact with the unidentified 23-year-old woman was accidental. "If these were random reaches of a sleeping man why is it the defendant had such precise accuracy, reaching private areas?" asked Assistant U.S. Attorney David Sarratt. more ›

Four years ago, a jury found a Montessori school teacher guilty of having sex with a 13-year-old student back in the 1990s and guilty of bribing another underage student with whom she was having a relationship. Ever since then, Lina Sinha had been trying to get the convictions overturned. Yesterday, an appeals court gave her mixed news: They threw out the bribery conviction but upheld the sodomy conviction. more ›

After a House Ethics panel found him guilty of 11 ethics violations yesterday, Rep. Charles Rangel issued a statement calling the process, which was two years in the making, "unfair," noting, "How can anyone have confidence in the decision of the ethics subcommittee when I was deprived of due process rights, right to counsel and was not even in the room? I can only hope that the full committee will treat me more fairly, and take into account my entire 40 years of service to the Congress before making any decisions on sanctions." more ›

Over two years ago, Marva Braithwaite returned to her Crown Heights home to discover her 16-year-old daughter stabbed to death. Police arrested Braithwaite's 15-year-old niece Tiana Browne for the murder after she was found in possession of the victim's clothing, sneakers, MP3 player, cellphone and camera. But at the trial yesterday, Brooklyn Supreme Court Justice Albert Tomei called a mistrial after it was discovered that Braithwaite, who testified against Brown, had been convicted of felonious assault in a 1995 stabbing. more ›

David Brooks, the Long Island military contractor accused of fraud and insider trading, was convicted yesterday, and the papers bring up a greatest hits of items he charged to his former company: "A 2005 multimillion-dollar Rainbow Room bash where 50 Cent, Tom Petty and Aerosmith performed at his daughter's bat mitzvah," "a face-lift for his ex-wife, hookers for his employees, a $194,000 Bentley for himself," his mother's grave, "fine china, private jet flights, luxury cars...and the six-figure jewel-encrusted belt buckle designed to look like the American flag." more ›

Patrick Murray, the firefighter who was caught operating a marijuana grow house in Queens Village last year, was convicted by a jury yesterday. Murray faces a minimum of five years in prison on the drug charges. "I'm in shock," he told his lawyer after the verdict came in. more ›

At his sentencing yesterday, convicted rapist Ralph DiMassi yelled at the Brooklyn judge for issuing an order of protection against him on top of sentencing him to 70 years in prison. He shouted, "You gimme 70 years so how am I gonna see her?" But the judge showed no sympathy for DiMassi, who was found guilty of raping a woman in her Bay Ridge apartment in 2008. The victim said at the sentencing, "It was the most degrading, humiliating and horrifying experience of my life." more ›

Yesterday, a jury took seven hours to convict a man of second degree murder as a hate crime and attempted assault as a hate crime in the killing of an Ecuadorean immigrant in December 2008. Keith Phoenix, whose previous trial ended in mistrial, now faces life in prison. more ›

Jabbar Collins was freed yesterday after 15 years in prison. A day earlier, a judge had overturned his 1995 murder conviction after evidence that the Brooklyn DA's office never turned over crucial information to the defense. Information like how one of three witnesses was allegedly threatened by the lead prosecutor to testify against Collins and how another witness testified after getting a deal from the DA's office in another case. Collins said outside his mother's Queens home with his family, "I can't even describe how good I feel right now. I'm dream-walking. ... I'm just happy to be home." more ›

A former Community Affairs officer working out of Harlem's 28th Precinct was convicted of sexually abusing two women, who claimed he used his position as a cop to promise them jobs or child care, get their contact information and later victimize them. Justice Daniel FitzGerald revoked his bail and said, "It tears into the fabric of the relationship between every police officer and the public." Rosario, who claimed that the charges were part of a conspiracy against him, now faces a rape trial for a separate incident; he was already convicted to coercing an 18-year-old into performing oral sex on him in exchange for ripping up a summons. more ›

Last year the Bronx set records not just for the borough but for the state, with felony conviction rates at an all time low of 43%. Every other borough had rates of 70% or higher, and attorneys believe the numbers can be attributed to the high arrest rates in the borough. The ">Wall Street Journal noted the closing statement of defense attorney Seann Riley, who said,"To [police], getting a guilty verdict would mean they've done a good job. An acquittal would mean they didn't do a good job," and added the police "have a motive to lie." (Riley's client was acquitted.) more ›

Yesterday, a jury found a 19-year-old guilty of manslaughter as a hate crime for the 2008 stabbing death of an Ecuadorian immigrant. Jeffrey Conroy, who was acquitted of second-degree murder, will face a minimum of eight years in prison and a maximum of 25 years for killing Marcelo Lucero, during what Conroy's friends described as "beaner hopping," when they would target Hispanics for beatings and other attacks. Jury members said that they didn't believe Conroy's claim that another teen killed Lucero. Juror Linda Giani said, "It was extremely emotional. You have a young boy's life in your hands. You also have the family that's grieving for the loss of a son." more ›

After getting expelled from the state Senate following his conviction for attempted assault, Hiram Monserrate is preparing to run for his seat again. The former legislator—who was found guilty of dragging his girlfriend down a hallway but acquitted of more serious felony charges—needs to submit a petition with 3,000 signatures by midnight if he wants his name on the ballot in next month's special election. So Monserrate is hitting the seniors centers. more ›

Anthony Marshall, who was found guilty of grand larceny related to stealing from his late mother Brooke Astor's fortune, was sentenced to one to three years in prison today. The 85-year-old World War II veteran and former U.S. ambassador had been fighting a sentence that would require prison time, with his lawyers pointing out that his illnesses could mean he would die in prison. more ›

Elmhurst resident Jack Rhodes, who was convicted of beating up and robbing three women (including a 101-year-old using a walker) was sentenced to 75 years in prison yesterday. Queens Supreme Court Justice Gregory Lasak said, "That comes out to about a year for every dollar you took from those people"—Rhodes managed to steal just $78 from the three muggings—"Your actions ...were reprehensible. It shocks the senses. I've never seen anything like it." more ›

A jury found Jamal Winter guilty of second-degree murder for the murder of Kyong-Sook Woo, a dry cleaner in Windsor Terrace. Winter, who was out on parole, was accused of strangling Woo and then using ammonia to burn off his fingerprints. He now faces up to 25 years in prison. The jury did not convict him of first-degree murder; a juror told the Daily News, "We were all over the map. But it was not a compromise." more ›

There's a growing chorus of lawmakers saying that State Senator Hiram Monserrate should step down, now that he's been convicted of a misdemeanor for slashing his girlfriend in the face with a broken glass, but one of Monserrate's Senate colleagues is standing by him. In fact, State Senator Ruben Diaz Sr. said that these demands are "racist." more ›

After State Senator Hiram Monserrate was found guilty of a misdemeanor related to assaulting his girlfriend (he was acquitted on two felonies; he and his girlfriend have also insisted it was an accident), some of his State Senate colleagues demanded he step down. Now, others are joining in the call for Monserrate to step down—including Senators Charles Schumer and Kirsten Gillibrand. more ›

A 47-year-old Elmhurst resident was convicted of beating up and robbing three women in 2006 and 2007—most notably a 101-year-old woman using a walker and an 85-year-old woman. Jack Rhodes, found guilty of "multiple charges of first-degree burglary, first- and second-degree robbery and second-degree assault," faces between 39 to 90 years in prison. more ›

Film director Roman Polanski, currently held in Swiss custody on a U.S. arrest warrant for the 1977 rape of a 13-year-old girl, will fight extradition, according to his lawyer. Herve Temine said, "Taking into account the extraordinary conditions of his arrest, his Swiss lawyer will seek his freedom without delay. He was shocked, dumbfounded, but he is in a fighting mood and he is very determined to defend himself." more ›

Earlier this year, the current and former owners of a Bronx apartment building whose tenants illegally subdivided their apartments and essentially created a maze that killed two firefighters in 2005, were found guilty of criminally negligent homicide and reckless endangerment. Now defense lawyers are trying to throw out the conviction, because one of the jurors contacted one of the witnesses. Newsday reports, "The social networking site Facebook took center stage in a Bronx courtroom Friday with the unsealing of gushing e-mails from a juror" to firefighter Brendan Cawley, who had testified. Apparently Karen Krell unsuccessfully tried to contact Cawley via Facebook during the trial; she continued to message him—"I'm awed at what you and the others went through, and what you yourself still continue to go through"— until he responded. She wrote, post-trial, to her fellow jurors, "So I finally found Brendon on facebook and we wrote some letters to each other (just about the trial, nothing else!! =( ...LOL)." A defendant's lawyer said, "You're entitled to 12, not 11 unbiased witnesses." more ›

As the defense vowed to continue their fight another day, the mother of Imette St. Guillen wept with joy and expressed gratitude to the jury who quickly delivered a guilty verdict against Darryl Littlejohn for the rape and murder of her daughter. Outside the courtroom where the bouncer was convicted yesterday, Maureen St. Guillen said, "With Imette's death, all of our lives are forever darkened. A little piece of us died with her. Her love and caring for others was never-ending." more ›

The stripper couple who lured two teenage girls they met on Myspace into an involved sexual tryst pleaded guilty to charges sprung forth from the crime on Friday. You may remember Julio Rojas and Sophie Soto as the pair of married strippers who invited two underage girls back to their apartment where they had "numerous orgies" and topped it all off by bringing the girls to their strip club and having them perform sex acts on customers onstage. Soto is looking at two to six years in prison while her husband Rojas is expected to get eight due to a prior charge of seducing a minor. more ›

That $6,000 shower curtain lover, Dennis Kozlowski, is staying in prison since an appeal courtsupheld his fraud conviction. Kozlowski headed Tyco, until it was discovered he and former CFO Mark Swartz stole $150 million from the company. Kozlowski's excess was epitomized by decadent parties and overpriced home accessories like the shower curtain and a $15,000 umbrella stand. Wall Street Journal's Law Blog has more details on their failed appeal, which only brings us memories of the first trial that ended in mistrial and that juror! more ›