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Iranian Operative, 2 NY Associates Nabbed In Plot To Assassinate Donald Trump, DOJ Says Iranian Operative, 2 NY Associates Nabbed In Plot To Assassinate Donald Trump, DOJ Says
Iranian Operative, 2 NY Associates Nabbed In Plot To Assassinate Donald Trump, DOJ Says An Iranian operative and two associates living in America have been charged in a murder-for-hire plot targeting United States citizens, including President-elect Donald Trump. Federal authorities have charged Farhad Shakeri, an alleged operative of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), along with two New York City associates in a plot to assassinate a US citizen critical of the Iranian government.  The case highlights the continued threat posed by Iran’s attempts to silence dissidents and even target top US. officials. According to the Department of Justice criminal complai…

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by Joe Lombardi
Police & Fire
Fugitive Caught, Returned To Westchester After Fleeing Jail Sentence For Over 40 Years Fugitive Caught, Returned To Westchester After Fleeing Jail Sentence For Over 40 Years
Fugitive Caught, Returned To Westchester After Fleeing Jail Sentence For Over 40 Years A man convicted for a Westchester County robbery is finally facing justice after fleeing his jail sentence for his home country more than four decades ago, police announced.  Noel Hernandez, age 64, was flown back to Westchester on Friday, Oct. 18 to serve his jail sentence for a robbery in January 1981, the Westchester County Police Department said on Tuesday, Oct. 22.  According to the department, Hernandez was charged with first-degree robbery by Yonkers Police and was later convicted at trial in June 1982. However, he fled the country before his sentencing, heading to his…

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by Ben Crnic
News
American Airlines Mechanic Who Smuggled $250K Worth Of Cocaine On Flight Sentenced American Airlines Mechanic Who Smuggled $250K Worth Of Cocaine On Flight Sentenced
American Airlines Mechanic Who Smuggled $250K Worth Of Cocaine On Flight Sentenced An airplane mechanic from New York will spend nearly a decade behind bars for smuggling over 25 pounds of cocaine on an American Airlines plane. Long Island resident Paul Belloisi, age 56, of Smithtown, was sentenced to nine years in prison in Brooklyn federal court on Friday, Sept. 6, for possessing and importing cocaine. Belloisi, a former mechanic for American Airlines, was arrested in February 2020 after US Customs and Border Protection discovered 10 bricks of cocaine in an electronics compartment beneath a plane arriving from Jamaica at Kennedy International Airport in Queens . The c…

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by Michael Mashburn
Police & Fire
Ex-Deputy Mayor In Hudson Valley Headed For Jail On Gun Charges Ex-Deputy Mayor In Hudson Valley Headed For Jail On Gun Charges
Ex-Deputy Mayor In Hudson Valley Headed For Jail On Gun Charges A former Hudson Valley deputy mayor has pleaded guilty to six felony counts of criminal possession of a weapon. Ramapo resident Brian Downey, age 49, of Airmont, plead guilty on Tuesday, Feb. 28 in connection with the discovery of a cache of weapons during a search of his Airmont home on Thursday, Sept. 2, 2021, said Rockland County District Attorney Thomas Walsh. He faces two years in the Rockland County Jail for his convictions, Walsh said. The sentence will run concurrently to a plea of guilty entered in federal court on Friday, Feb. 10, on weapons charges and possession of federal badg…

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by Kathy Reakes
News
NY Man Accused Of Smuggling Snakes In His Pants Into US From Canada NY Man Accused Of Smuggling Snakes In His Pants Into US From Canada
NY Man Accused Of Smuggling Snakes In His Pants Into US From Canada A 36-year-old man from New York is accused of smuggling three snakes in his pants across the United States-Canadian border. Calvin Bautista, a resident of Richmond Hill in Queens, was arraigned on Tuesday, Oct. 4, on an indictment charging him with smuggling three Burmese pythons into the United States at the Champlain Port of Entry, according to United States Attorney Carla Freedman. The US Attorney's Office said Bautista smuggled the snakes in his pants during a bus ride across the border. The charge filed against Bautista carries a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison, a fin…

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by Nicole Valinote
Business
Public Health Alert Issued For Imported Meat, Poultry Products Public Health Alert Issued For Imported Meat, Poultry Products
Public Health Alert Issued For Imported Meat, Poultry Products Officials have announced a public health alert for an undetermined amount of imported meat and poultry products. The United States Department of Agriculture’s Food Safety and Inspection Service said in an announcement on Wednesday, Dec. 29, that a recall hasn't been issued because officials have not been able to identify and contact the importers from China. Find the full list of products included in the health alert here. According to the announcement, the products didn't identify an eligible establishment number on their packaging, and they weren't presented to the Food Safety and I…

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by Nicole Valinote
News
Deputy Mayor In Hudson Valley Indicted On Dozens Of Felony Charges Deputy Mayor In Hudson Valley Indicted On Dozens Of Felony Charges
Deputy Mayor In Hudson Valley Indicted On Dozens Of Felony Charges A deputy mayor in the Hudson Valley has been indicted on a host of charges following his arrest on gun possession charges earlier this year. In Rockland, Brian Downey, age 47, the deputy mayor of the Village of Airmont is facing dozens of felony charges following a federal, county, and local law enforcement investigation into the purchase of illegal gun parts. Downey was indicted by a Rockland County Grand Jury on these charges:
 First-degree criminal possession of a weapon; Twelve counts of third-degree criminal possession of a weapon under penal law §265.02(2); Nineteen counts of third…

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by Zak Failla
Police & Fire
Lack Of COVID Test Stops Kidnapper's Bid To Cross Canadian Border With Girl In Trunk Lack Of COVID Test Stops Kidnapper's Bid To Cross Canadian Border With Girl In Trunk
Lack Of COVID Test Stops Kidnapper's Bid To Cross Canadian Border With Girl In Trunk A teenage man who was stopped at the Canadian border for lack of a COVID-19 test had kidnapped a 16-year-old from Connecticut, sexually assaulted her, and put her in the trunk of his car, according to police. The kidnapping was reported in Connecticut when the suspect, 19-year-old Christopher Jesus Constanzo, abducted and sexually assaulted the female victim on Thursday, Dec. 2, according to Vermont State Police.  Constanzo is then reported to have held the victim in the trunk of his car while he drove from Connecticut toward the US border crossing in Highgate Springs, Vermont. Early …

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by Joe Lombardi
News
Two Men Admit To $50K Department Store Fraud Scheme In Westchester Two Men Admit To $50K Department Store Fraud Scheme In Westchester
Two Men Admit To $50K Department Store Fraud Scheme In Westchester Two men admitted to their roles in a scheme to several department stores in Westchester out of more than $50,000. Patrick Onogwu and Asanimo Risea, both of the Bronx, pleaded guilty for their part in a more than a year-long scheme that included using fraudulently obtained credit cards to steal from several Westchester County TJX Companies, Inc. stores, including TJ Maxx, Marshalls, and Home Goods. The two had been charged in a 54-count indictment along with Bronx resident Donald. Original story - Three Suspects Indicted For $50K Department Store Fraud Scheme In Westchester Westchester C…

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by Zak Failla
News
COVID-19: Cuomo Calls On Mandatory Pre-Flight Testing For International Travelers COVID-19: Cuomo Calls On Mandatory Pre-Flight Testing For International Travelers
Covid-19: Cuomo Calls On Mandatory Pre-Flight Testing For International Travelers New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo is doubling down on his demands that the federal government step in and mandate mandatory pre-flight COVID-19 testing for international travelers coming into the country. During his third COVID-19 briefing of the week on Wednesday, Jan. 6 in Albany, Cuomo said that with the new, more-transmittable UK strain beginning to spread around the country, it is imperative that the federal government demands testing for travelers before stepping foot stateside. “We’ve seen many countries say that this virus has mutated (repeatedly), so any international traveler coming into…

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by Zak Failla
News
Four Hudson Valley Brothers Accused Of $19M Scam To Defraud Amazon Four Hudson Valley Brothers Accused Of $19M Scam To Defraud Amazon
Four Hudson Valley Brothers Accused Of $19M Scam To Defraud Amazon Four brothers from the Hudson Valley have been charged for allegedly engaging in a scheme to systematically defraud Amazon.com of millions. "Through the course of the scheme, they manipulated Amazon’s vendor system in attempts to fraudulently induce Amazon to pay for goods that Amazon had not ordered," Audrey Strauss, the Acting United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, said. In executing the scheme, they fraudulently attempted to obtain at least approximately $32 million and successfully obtained at least approximately $19 million, Strauss said. The four are:…

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by Joe Lombardi
Politics
Ocasio-Cortez Cites 'Inhumane Behavior,' But Denies Threatening Border Control Agents Ocasio-Cortez Cites 'Inhumane Behavior,' But Denies Threatening Border Control Agents
Ocasio-Cortez Cites 'Inhumane Behavior,' But Denies Threatening Border Control Agents U.S. Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez denied she threatened Customs and Border Protection officers on a visit to migrant detention centers in El Paso, Texas. The New York congresswoman, a 2007 graduate of Yorktown High School, was accused of screaming and yelling at border patrol agents after allegedly catching them discussing setting up a GoFundMe fundraising page for an officer who photoshopped her face on an illicit image. AOC reportedly shouted at federal law enforcement agents "in a threatening manner," and refused to complete a tour of the facility, according to news reports. "She comes…

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by Jon Craig
Police & Fire
Area Man Attempting To Flee US Threatened To Blow Up Government Building, Police Say Area Man Attempting To Flee US Threatened To Blow Up Government Building, Police Say
Area Man Attempting To Flee US Threatened To Blow Up Government Building, Police Say A 53-year-old area man attempting to fly out of the country now is behind bars after authorities say he threatened to blow up a government building in New York. In January, State Police from the Poughkeepsie barracks were forwarded a letter from Domick Volino threatening to blow up an unidentified New York State government building.  With the assistance of Amtrak Police Department, the U.S. Marshals Service, U.S. Customs and Border Protection, Broward County Sheriff’s Office in Florida, and the Dutchess County District Attorney’s Office Volino, a Poughkeepsie resident, was arrested on …

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by Joe Lombardi
News
O Cannabis: U.S. Won't Ban Canadian Pot Industry Workers After Legalization Of Marijuana O Cannabis: U.S. Won't Ban Canadian Pot Industry Workers After Legalization Of Marijuana
O Cannabis: U.S. Won't Ban Canadian Pot Industry Workers After Legalization Of Marijuana Canadian cannabis growers are no longer banned from entering the country, after U.S. border guards reversed course on an earlier decision, despite marijuana being legalized in several states. Last month, the U.S. Customs and Border Protection announced that, with the legalization of marijuana in our neighbor to the north, some growers may have their admissibility into the country questioned. In a new statement, officials changed their tune, with the caveat that they may still be deemed inadmissible if they are coming into the country for “reasons related to the marijuana industry.” “A Cana…

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by Zak Failla