James Luca, 47, of North Merrick, was sentenced in Nassau County Court Tuesday, Dec. 12, to nine years behind bars followed by five years of post-release supervision after pleading guilty to multiple felony charges.
Luca admitted to plotting an attack on the Department of Social Services building in Uniondale in September 2024 by placing propane tanks and an ignition device at the building’s entrance, prosecutors said.
He pleaded guilty in June to first-degree criminal possession of a weapon and obstructing governmental duties by means of a bomb or explosive, as Daily Voice reported.
Luca left his North Merrick home shortly before 2 a.m. on Sept. 17, 2024, met with a co-defendant, and drove to the DSS building on Charles Lindbergh Boulevard, prosecutors said.
While the co-defendant acted as a lookout, Luca placed a 20-pound propane tank and a smaller camping propane tank at the doors, topped with a torch.
Surveillance video showed Luca attempting to ignite the device by throwing lit flares at it, but the device failed to detonate, prosecutors said. The pair then fled the scene, ditched their vehicle in East Meadow, and returned to Luca’s home in another car.
The device was discovered later that morning by a DSS investigator, prompting an evacuation and a response from the Nassau County Police Department’s Arson and Bomb Squad, the Uniondale Fire Department, and the Nassau County Fire Marshal’s Office.
During the investigation, police recovered an additional propane tank near the scene and found more flares inside the abandoned vehicle. Luca and his co-defendant were arrested on Oct. 3, 2024.
Luca blamed Nassau County Child Protective Services for revoking his visitation rights with his children, prosecutors said. He was reportedly angry and aggrieved over a custody dispute and targeted the Department of Social Services as a result.
In addition to the DSS plot, Luca also pleaded guilty to placing an explosive device on his ex-wife’s car in North Merrick in February 2023 and detonating it, shattering her windshield. He admitted to causing further damage to her vehicle in a separate incident in January 2024.
Luca also pleaded guilty to a wide-ranging financial fraud and identity theft scheme, prosecutors said. He admitted to forging loan documents and a deed to steal property from a relative, then fraudulently obtaining a $410,000 mortgage on the home.
The loan went into foreclosure, leaving the relative with more than $600,000 in debt, according to prosecutors.
Luca also opened personal and business credit cards using the same relative’s identity, racking up more than $200,000 in unpaid charges. In a separate scam, he admitted to impersonating another relative to fraudulently open PSEG Long Island utility accounts at multiple East Meadow properties, including his own residence.
“James Luca is a dangerous man whose unhinged actions created panic at the Department of Social Services and terrorized public servants in our county,” said Nassau County DA Anne Donnelly. “This is not a man who should be free to walk our streets.”
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