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According to a report, Martin Berres, a 62 year old New Yorker, has allegedly ripped off his internet lovers for multiple hundreds of thousands of dollars. Arrested yesterday, Mr. Berres is scheduled to return to court November 27th where he faces one count of Grand Larceny in the Second Degree, a class “C” felony, punishable by up to 15 years in state prison.

Mr. Berres allegedly met two women on JDate, a Jewish internet dating website. One of those women was allegedly victimized by Mr.Berres earlier this month when her 7-carat diamond necklace was stolen. The police believe Mr. Berres not only stole that necklace from her apartment, but sold the $50,000 piece of jewelry for $11,000. Additionally, the Manhattan District Attorney’s Office may be investigating whether Mr. Berres perpetrated the crimes of Identity Theft, Forgery, Falsifying Business Records and Grand Larceny when a girlfriend’s bank account and credit card was emptied and used to the tune of $360,000. Earlier this year, according to a report, Mr. Berres stole a girlfriend’s identification and withdrew $10,000 from her Chase bank account.

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While you shouldn’t need a NY criminal defense attorney to tell you it is a bad idea to get behind the wheel of a vehicle in New York State (or any state for that matter) after having consumed alcohol, Saland Law PC has provided our readers with a tool that can assist them in understanding how much alcohol one must consume before one is legally intoxicated. In New York, that legal level to sustain a conviction for Driving While Intoxicated (DWI /DUI) is .08. However, even if one’s BAC is not recorded, courts can still find one guilty under the “Common Law” DWI / DUI statute that is satisfied through observations of drunkenness on the part of a police officer.

The tool linked on our DWI / DUI web page, should not be used as a means to guide you as you are drinking to ascertain whether you are “ok” to drive. There are too many factors that need to be taken into consideration and in no way will this calculator give you an exact determination of your BAC. Under no circumstance should it be relied on for that purpose. Instead, the calculator is a means to get a general understanding of the relationship between your weight, type of alcohol, amount of alcohol and time of consumption on your BAC.

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The Brooklyn District Attorney’s Office has announced that along with the 105 count indictment against Watson Joachin and Ryan Woodard for Criminal Possession of a Weapon and Criminal Sale of a Firearm, the NYPD has taken 56 guns off the streets of New York.

According to to the Brooklyn District Attorney’s Office:

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Whether you are charged in NY with Criminal Possession of a Weapon in the Fourth Degree, pursuant to New York Penal Law 265.01, for possessing a revolver, firearm, pistol, switchblade, gravity knife or even metal knuckles, under certain circumstance prosecutors can “bump up” or raise the level of your crime from a misdemeanor to a felony. The basis of this “bump up” to Criminal Possession of a Weapon in the Third Degree, pursuant to New York Penal Law 265.02(1), is whether you have any prior criminal convictions.

Pursuant to Penal Law section 265.02(1), a person is guilty of Criminal Possession of a Weapon in the Third Degree if such person commits the crime of Criminal Possession of a Weapon in the Fourth Degree as defined in subdivision one, two, three or five of section 265.01, and has been previously convicted of any crime. That is right…if you were ever convicted of a misdemeanor Trespass, Petit Larceny for shoplifting, or even Theft of Services for jumping a turnstile and you are now arrested for having a switchblade in your pocket, prosecutors can charge you with a felony. The ramifications are enormous as the misdemeanor is punishable by up to one year in jail and the felony by up to seven years in state prison.

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The NYS Senate, Assembly and Governor have all agreed. If you perpetrate the misdemeanor crime of DWI / DUI in New York and there is a child in the vehicle who is 15 years old or younger, then the crime will be “bumped up” to an “E” felony punishable by up to 1 and 1/3 to 4 years in state prison for a first time offender. Prior to this change, one could be charged with misdemeanor VTL 1192.2, VTL 1192.3 and 1192.4 (New York’s DWI / DUI statutes) as well as the misdemeanor Endangering the Welfare of a Child in the event one drove drunk with a child in the car (certainly, other charges might be applicable as well). From the NYS Senate press release:

“Under Leandra’s Law, driving impaired or with at least a blood alcohol level of .08 with a child passenger age 15 and under, is a Class E felony – for both first-time and repeat offenders. The offense carries a sentence of one to four years in state prison, a fine of $1000 to $5000, and the issuance of a mandatory ignition interlock device.”

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Whatever the recipe, the dough was a little too sticky. According to the Manhattan District Attorney’s Office and Robert Morgenthau, a Grand Jury has indicted bagel wholesaler Helmer Toro for Gand Larceny, Offering a False Instrument for Filing and violating the labor law through unemployment insurance tax rate manipulation. Prosecutors allege that Mr. Toro, the owner of H & H Bagels, collected, but failed to pay, $369,318.77 withheld from his bagel business employees. This occurred during a six year period from 2003 through his arrest in 2009.

According to the Manhattan District Attorney’s Office:

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According to reports, “Leandra’s Law” is coming closer to reality. The New York State Assembly agreed on their version of the bill that will raise Driving While Intoxicated / DWI (1192.2 and 1192.3) to a felony offense in the event that a child under the age of 15 is a passenger in the vehicle. It is not clear if the felony will be applicable on DWI / DUI crimes involving drug use or merely alcohol. Both the New York State Senate and the Assembly have to agree on their respective bills before Governor Patterson signs the bill into law. We will keep our readers informed.

Saland Law PC is a criminal defense firm founded by former Manhattan prosecutors. Follow our legal updates online at NewYorkCriminalLawyerBlog.Com and on Twitter.

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Any NY criminal defense attorney experienced in New York criminal law should be able to explain to you that if you are a predicate felon in New York State and charged with a non-controlled substance offense, a second felony conviction will land you in state prison even if your offense is “merely” and “E” Felony. In other words, if you are a predicate felon, as will be explained below, a sentence of state prison is mandatory on felony plea.

Pursuant to New York Penal Law Section 70.06, for one to be deemed a predicate felon or second felony offender, one must have a prior felony conviction in the past ten years. In the event you were incarcerated or on probation, the ten years starts from the completion of your incarceration. This only applies to felonies and not prior misdemeanors. Therefore, while a judge or prosecutor might take the prior misdemeanors into consideration when arranging for a disposition or determining a sentence, from a technical standpoint, the prior misdemeanors will not impact your sentence on a new felony (from a practical standpoint it often does).

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He may have loved the book, theatrical performance or even the movie, but Manhattan District Attorney Robert Morgenthau is not a fan of real life Oliver Twists. According to reports, the New York County District Attorney’s Office unsealed a 639 count indictment involving the arrests of 15 alleged pickpocket crew members. The defendants, including Arthur Franklin, Jospeh Simms, Vincent Franklin, James Mannix, Kathleen Miller, Carol Dibitetto, Larry Ford, Kandra Lysland, Tina Barboza, Mary Bennett and Yvonne Harris are alleged to have stolen over $600,000 and compromised at least 60 bank accounts. The 639 count indictment includes numerous felonies such as Grand Larceny, Identity Theft, Criminal Possession of a Forged Instrument, Conspiracy, Scheme to Defraud, Attempted Grand Larceny, Forgery and Criminal Possession of Stolen Property. It is interesting to note that prosecutors did not charge the defendants with Enterprise Corruption. While there could be numerous reasons, it is possible that the crew had no ascertainable structure, but was alleged to be more consistent with a loose knit band of thieves. Regardless, the scheme is purported to have operated for at least one year before the arrests and indictments.

According to the District Attorney’s Office, vigilant investigators at Chase Bank reviewed video surveillance of fraudulent transactions and noticed a common theme of women wearing wigs and glasses. Further investigation revealed that Arthur Franklin, Vincent Franklin and Joseph Simms were present either inside or outside the bank when the transactions occurred. Chase Bank put the dots together when they learned that many of the victims of the fraudulent bank transactions were also victims of pickpockets.

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The Manhattan District Attorney announced the arrest and indictment earlier today of Michael Batalias, Elisavet Batalias, Vassiliki Stergiou and EMB Contracting Corporation for defrauding employees in the neighborhood of $1 million dollars. The defendants are charged with Grand Larceny in the First Degree and Scheme to Defraud in the First Degree. Moreover, Elisavet Batalias was charged with eleven counts of Offering a False Instrument for Filing in the First Degree.

According to the Manhattan District Attorney’s Office:

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