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US District Judge Mae D’Agostino

'Special Kind Of Evil': Child Sex Trafficker From Region Gets 40 Years In Prison 'Special Kind Of Evil': Child Sex Trafficker From Region Gets 40 Years In Prison
'Special Kind Of Evil': Child Sex Trafficker From 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…
COVID-19: Man From Region Sentenced For $144K Pandemic Relief Fraud COVID-19: Man From Region Sentenced For $144K Pandemic Relief Fraud
Covid-19: Man From Region Sentenced For $144K Pandemic Relief Fraud A Capital District man who admitted to taking advantage of COVID-19 relief programs is heading to federal prison. Rensselaer County resident Hector Sanchez, age 30, of Rensselaer, was sentenced to 70 months - or just under six years - behind bars Monday, July 25, in federal court in Albany. It followed his prior guilty plea in March 2022 to charges of defrauding pandemic-related unemployment insurance and small business loan programs. Federal prosecutors said Sanchez raked in more than $131,000 by submitting false unemployment insurance claims to the New York State Department of Labor usin…
Area Man Sentenced For Smuggling Vietnamese Nationals Into US Area Man Sentenced For Smuggling Vietnamese Nationals Into US
Area Man Sentenced For Smuggling Vietnamese Nationals Into US A Hudson Valley man already in prison for sex crimes will serve additional time after admitting that he smuggled Vietnamese nationals into the US for profit. Orange County resident Marlon Lainez-Velasquez, age 48, of Newburgh, was sentenced to four years in prison Friday, July 22 in federal court in Plattsburgh. It followed his previous guilty plea to charges of alien smuggling. Federal prosecutors said Lainez-Velasquez admitted to driving to the border in Burke in May 2021, where he helped smuggle five Vietnamese nationals into the United States from Canada. He admitted that he did so in…