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NY Teacher Who Admitted Raping Teen Student Ripped By Judge At Sentencing: ‘Twisted Fantasy’
A Capital Region high school teacher was living in a “twisted fantasy, false reality” when he started a sexual relationship with his 16-year-old student, a judge said at his sentencing hearing Friday, Aug. 21.
Drake Galarneau, 36, of Cohoes, got four years in prison after pleading guilty to two counts of third-degree rape, the Albany County District Attorney’s office said.
“What sort of twisted fantasy, false reality were you living in, sir, to think this was appropriate or somehow right for you as a teacher to have a sexual relationship with a 16-year-old student?” Judge Roger McDonough as…
DWI Driver Who Killed Wynantskill Man In Crash Had ‘No Remorse,’ Victim’s Mom Says
A Capital Region man who killed another man in a drunken car crash last year was sentenced Friday, Aug. 21 to prison time, authorities said.
Matthew Merriman, 30, of Rotterdam, will serve between six and two-thirds and 20 years in prison, the Albany County District Attorney’s office said. The sentence was in line with a plea deal Merriman took in June.
Merriman ran a red light while traveling northbound on Everett Road in Albany and slammed into a driver who was exiting I-90 around 5:45 p.m. on Sept. 30, 2025, investigators said. Matthew Mardon, a 34-year-old Wynantskill man, was kille…
Child Sex Abuse Material Found On Albany Man’s Phone, Jury Takes One Hour To Convict: DA
An Albany man with child sex abuse material on his phone was convicted on eight counts, authorities said Thursday, Aug. 20.
Kurt Nous, 54, faces a maximum of four years in prison for each count of possessing a sexual performance by a child, the Albany County District Attorney’s office said.
Authorities began investigating Nous in October 2024 following a report from the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children, prosecutors said. State troopers searched his residence on March 12, 2025, and seized electronics, police said.
Investigators found Nous had downloaded and saved child sex…
Child's Severed Ear Found In Home After Dogs' 2nd Attack; 3 Charged: Court Docs
A portion of a 6-year-old girl's ear was found inside a Lebanon County home after two dogs mauled her — their second serious attack on a young child at the residence — according to court documents obtained by Daily Voice on Friday, Aug. 21.
Rebecca Hresko, 31, and her parents, Andrew "Andy" Hresko, 70, and Debra Hresko, 61, of the Hresko family, who run Hresko's Bar-B-Que Pit, have been charged for their respective roles in the attacks involving the family's dogs, Chip and Zeus, at their South Lebanon Township home.
Rebecca Hresko faces First-Degree Felony Aggravated Assault of a Child, Sec…
Capital Region Coke Dealer Busted In Traffic Stop On I-87, Police Say
A Capital Region man was busted in a traffic stop with more than half a pound of cocaine, police said Friday, Aug. 21.
Chasaun Pearson, 33, of Queensbury, was traveling on I-87 through Saratoga Springs on Monday, Aug. 17 when he was pulled over multiple violations around 1 p.m., New York State Police said.
As troopers investigated Pearson, they found more than eight ounces of cocaine inside the vehicle, authorities said. The troopers were assisted by the Saratoga County Sheriff’s office’s K9 unit.
Pearson was charged with first- and third-degree drug possession, along with the vehicle and …
‘Demon’ Made BF Stab College Soccer Star Dead, Mom Helped Hide Body: Court Docs
A soccer player days away from starting her freshman year was stabbed to death by her boyfriend after he claimed a “demon” took over and told him to stab her in a Jeep parked near her dorm — then his mother helped clean up and conceal her body, according to court documents obtained by Daily Voice on Friday, Aug. 21.
Royce Joel Moser, 18, of Canonsburg, is charged with criminal homicide in the death of 18-year-old Karoline Jordyn Heintz, along with abuse of a corpse, conspiracy, tampering with evidence, conspiracy to tamper with evidence, and obstructing the administration of law, court recor…
Feds Detail NY Woman's Alleged Plan To Bomb State Capitol, Kill Senators For ISIS
Federal officials are detailing a New York woman's alleged plan to bomb the State Capitol, kill senators, and flee to ISIS-controlled territory in Syria.
Jessica Bowie, 35, of Albany, made her initial appearance in federal court on a charge of attempting to provide material support to ISIS, the US Department of Justice said (see criminal complaint attached at the bottom of this news story).
Bowie was arrested Wednesday, Aug. 19, as she took possession of what she believed was an explosive device intended for an attack on the New York State Capitol and state senators, authorities said. …
NY Man Admits Murdering Girlfriend, Triggering Adirondack Manhunt: Authorities
A New York man admitted to stabbing his girlfriend to death then fleeing last year, leading to a multicounty manhunt across the Adirondack Mountains, authorities said.
Anthony Bechand, 54, of Cohoes, copped to second-degree murder in the killing of 41-year-old Amanda Rodriguez on Sept. 13, 2025, the Albany County District Attorney’s office said.
Bechand faces 20 years to life behind bars as part of his plea deal, prosecutors said. His sentencing hearing was set for Oct. 30.
Rodriguez’s body was found Sept. 14, 2025, after a family friend walked into her home, investigators said. Cohoes Pol…
Ex-NY Giants Star Raising Money After Losing $500K: Alleged Scheme's Founder Dies, Report Says
Former New York Giants linebacker Tae Crowder says he lost his entire life savings in an alleged financial scheme that also ensnared other former NFL players, leaving him trying to rebuild after losing at least $500,000.
Tae Crowder, who spent three seasons with the Giants, launched a GoFundMe on Saturday, Aug. 8, saying the loss has left him without the financial stability he spent years building.
The fundraiser follows allegations involving Motion Venture, a company run by 23-year-old New Jersey resident Mohamed Coulibaly, who was found dead on Friday, July 31, ESPN reported.&…
Molotov Cocktail Plot: Massachusetts Trans Woman Sentenced In Plan To Firebomb Scott Bessent
A Massachusetts woman will spend more than six years in federal prison after admitting to bringing two homemade firebombs and a knife to Washington, D.C., in an attempt to kill then-Treasury secretary nominee Scott Bessent, federal authorities said.
Ryan Michael English, 26, of South Deerfield, previously pleaded guilty to two federal weapons charges. A judge sentenced English to 73 months in prison on Tuesday, Aug. 18, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Columbia announced. English must also serve three years of supervised release.
The plot unfolded on Jan. 27, 2025, when Bessen…
‘No Words’: NY DWI Crash Victim’s Mom Describes Her Pain At Driver’s Sentencing
A Capital District man who admitted to causing a fatal highway crash has been sentenced to several years in prison, authorities said.
Lewis Thomas, 44, of Coxsackie, got five to 15 years behind bars for the drunken wreck on Interstate 787 through Albany, the Albany County District Attorney’s office said. Thomas pleaded guilty in the case back in April.
Eric Hurley, 38, of Albany was killed in the wrong-way collision on Oct. 12, 2025.
“There are no words that truly describe that pain,” Rita Hurley, his mother, said at Thomas’s sentencing hearing Tuesday, Aug. 18. “I still expect to hear his…
NY ‘Handyman’ Who Stole $1K Arrested For Skipping Court: Police
A Capital Region man facing grand larceny charges has been arrested again for failing to show up in court, authorities said.
Charles J. Ferrara, 54, of Malta, took $1,045 from a client after promising a variety of handyman services for a Clifton Park resident, the Saratoga County Sheriff’s office said.
Instead of completing the projects, Ferrara cashed the check and cut off all communication with the victim, police said. He was arrested in June 2025, then released on appearance tickets for Clifton Park Town Court.
But when it came time to make that appearance, Ferrara was nowhere to be fou…
