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Capital Region Personal Pilot To Billionaire Investor Admits Role In Insider Trading Scheme Capital Region Personal Pilot To Billionaire Investor Admits Role In Insider Trading Scheme
Capital Region Personal Pilot To Billionaire Investor Admits Role In Insider Trading Scheme A private pilot from New York has admitted to taking part in an insider trading scheme involving his billionaire boss. Albany County resident Patrick O’Connor, age 67, of Preston-Potter Hollow, pleaded guilty to securities fraud in Albany federal court on Monday, Feb. 26. O’Connor worked as a personal pilot to billionaire Joseph Lewis, a British businessman and investor who is the principal owner of the Tavistock Group, an international private investment organization. According to prosecutors, Lewis, age 87, was regularly given material, non-public information about various companies for …

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by Michael Mashburn
News
Naughty Nurse Practitioner In Capital Region Helped Friend Get Controlled Drugs, Feds Say Naughty Nurse Practitioner In Capital Region Helped Friend Get Controlled Drugs, Feds Say
Naughty Nurse Practitioner In Capital Region Helped Friend Get Controlled Drugs, Feds Say A nurse practitioner from the region is facing federal charges for allegedly helping a friend acquire controlled drugs. Albany County resident Christopher Viagrande, age 41, of Latham, is accused of distributing controlled substances outside the course of professional practice and with no legitimate medical purpose, according to a complaint filed in Albany federal court on Tuesday, Feb. 6. Prosecutors said Viagrande, a psychiatric nurse practitioner, prescribed amphetamine to someone who was never his patient on 40 occasions between May 2021 and December 2023. Amphetamines are stimulants t…

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by Michael Mashburn
Politics
Never Mind: Admitted Vote Fraudster Withdraws Consideration For City Job In Capital Region Never Mind: Admitted Vote Fraudster Withdraws Consideration For City Job In Capital Region
Never Mind: Admitted Vote Fraudster Withdraws Consideration For City Job In Capital Region Plans to appoint an admitted vote fraudster to a city job in Upstate New York have been scrapped following public outcry. In Rensselaer County, the Troy City Council’s Republican majority had chosen former Elections Commissioner Jason Schofield as their pick for Assistant City Clerk. The plan, first reported by Albany station CBS6, sparked criticism given that Schofield previously pleaded guilty to 12 federal counts of voter fraud in January 2023. Earlier Report: Voter Fraud: Rensselaer County Employees Cast Illegal Ballots During Election, Feds Say Democrat Sue Steele, the council…

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by Michael Mashburn
News
Murder-For-Hire: Man Admits Paying $16K Bitcoin To Have Capital Region Residents Killed Murder-For-Hire: Man Admits Paying $16K Bitcoin To Have Capital Region Residents Killed
Murder-For-Hire: Man Admits Paying $16K Bitcoin To Have Capital Region Residents Killed A Utah man has admitted to paying thousands of dollars worth of Bitcoin to arrange for the murders of two New York residents. Christopher Pence, age 43, of Cedar City, Utah appeared in Albany federal court on Wednesday, Dec. 6, and pleaded guilty to using the internet to solicit and pay for murder. According to prosecutors, Pence admitted to contacting the administrator of a website dedicated to arranging contract killings in 2021. He confessed to paying them $16,000 worth of Bitcoin to facilitate the murder of two Hoosick Falls residents in Rensselaer County. Pence gave the administrato…

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by Michael Mashburn
News
Temple Shooting: 28-Year-Old Federally Charged After Gunshots At Capital Region Synagogue Temple Shooting: 28-Year-Old Federally Charged After Gunshots At Capital Region Synagogue
Temple Shooting: 28-Year-Old Federally Charged After Gunshots At Capital Region Synagogue The man accused of opening fire at a New York synagogue on the first day of Hanukkah has been federally charged. Mufid Fawaz Alkhader, age 28, of Schenectady, appeared in Albany federal court on Friday, Dec. 8, where he was arraigned on one count of unlawfully possessing a firearm. According to the criminal complaint, Alkhader approached Albany’s Temple Israel, located on New Scotland Avenue, at around 2 p.m. on Thursday, Dec. 7 armed with a 12-gauge pump-action shotgun. He then fired the weapon twice into the air, prosecutors allege. Earlier Report: New Update: Shooting At NY Syna…

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by Michael Mashburn
News
Capital Region Man Molested 6-Year-Old, Photographed Her Genitals, Feds Say Capital Region Man Molested 6-Year-Old, Photographed Her Genitals, Feds Say
Capital Region Man Molested 6-Year-Old, Photographed Her Genitals, Feds Say A 73-year-old man from the region is facing federal charges after allegedly sexually abusing a young girl who was in his care. Albany County resident Daniel Fuino, of Slingerlands, was indicted on multiple counts of sexual exploitation in Albany federal court in November 2023. The US Attorney’s Office in the Northern District announced the charges Tuesday, Nov. 28, following an investigation by FBI Albany’s Child Exploitation Task Force. According to prosecutors, Fuino repeatedly molested the victim between 2022 and May 2023, starting when the girl was 6 years old. He is also accused of t…

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by Michael Mashburn
News
'Special Kind Of Evil': Child Sex Trafficker From Capital Region Gets 40 Years In Prison 'Special Kind Of Evil': Child Sex Trafficker From Capital Region Gets 40 Years In Prison
'Special Kind Of Evil': Child Sex Trafficker From Capital Region Gets 40 Years In Prison A convicted sex trafficker will spend decades in prison for forcing underage girls into prostitution. New York resident Christopher Thomas, age 40, of Colonie in Albany County, was sentenced to 40 years behind bars Monday, Oct. 30, in Albany federal court. According to prosecutors, Thomas coerced numerous vulnerable children and young women, some as young as 16, to engage in sex work for his financial benefit between 2018 and 2020. His crimes spanned New York, Connecticut, Massachusetts, and Vermont. In March 2023, following a 5-day trial, jurors convicted Thomas of 16 counts, including s…

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by Michael Mashburn
News
Ex-Con Had Massive Child Porn Stash At East Durham Home, Jury Finds Ex-Con Had Massive Child Porn Stash At East Durham Home, Jury Finds
Ex-Con Had Massive Child Porn Stash At East Durham Home, Jury Finds An ex-con from the region who spent years in prison could live out his days behind bars after getting caught again with child pornography. Greene County resident Gregory Kurzajczyk, age 76, of East Durham, was found guilty of multiple counts of child pornography possession after a three-day jury trial in Albany federal court Wednesday, Oct. 25. Kurzajczyk was on federal probation for prior child pornography convictions when a routine check of his East Durham home turned up multiple unauthorized computers and devices in February 2022, according to prosecutors. Police recovered three laptop …

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by Michael Mashburn