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Nassau County District Attorney Anne T. Donnelly

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Nassau District Attorney Anne Donnelly announces charges against Navdeep Singh on June 9. Photo courtesy of Nassau D.A.'s office

Nassau County District Attorney Anne T. Donnelly and Nassau County Police Department Commissioner Patrick Ryder announced on June 9 that a Dix Hills man was charged with conspiracy and criminal solicitation for allegedly plotting to kidnap and kill a man and promising to pay a hitman $100,000 and 10 acres of land in India to complete the job.

Navdeep Singh

Navdeep Singh, 48, of Dix Hills, was arraigned Sunday before Judge Lisa Locurto on charges of Conspiracy in the Second Degree (a B felony) and Criminal Solicitation in the Second Degree (a D felony).

The defendant’s bail was set at $1 million cash, $2 million bond, and $5 million partially secured bond, and he was ordered to surrender his passport. He is due back in court on June 10, 2025. If convicted, he faces up to 25 years in prison.

“The allegations against Navdeep Singh are deeply disturbing. Because of a years-long dispute with a former business associate and multi-million dollar pending civil litigation between their two construction companies, this defendant allegedly decided to hatch a plot to have his rival kidnapped and murdered,” said DA Donnelly. “Singh was allegedly willing to pay $100,000 and give his would-be hitman 10 acres of land in India to brutally torture, extort, and eventually kill his former colleague. It is unfathomable the lengths to which this defendant was allegedly willing to go, but because of the incredible work of the Nassau County Police Department’s District Attorney Squad and my prosecutors his plot was thwarted, and we can say we saved a life this past weekend.”

“This was a very dangerous situation,” said Police Commissioner Patrick Ryder. “Thanks to the hard work of our District Attorney Squad working in partnership with DA Anne Donnelly and her tenacious prosecutors we prevented what would have been a tragedy: settling a business dispute with murder. We are very pleased to bring this man to justice and stop him from harming his intended victim or any Nassau County resident.”

DA Donnelly said that, according to the charges, between May 29, 2025, and June 3, 2025, the defendant contacted and met with another co-conspirator multiple times about planning to kidnap and kill a man with whom he was engaged in extensive civil litigation.

The victim knew the defendant for several years as part of ongoing businesses dealings with his construction company and has been engaged in litigation with the defendant’s company, Gravity Construction Corp., for approximately two years after he took the defendant’s company off a job he was managing.

The defendant allegedly offered the would-be hitman $100,000 dollars and 10 acres of land in India if he kidnapped the victim, took him out of the state, tortured him, extorted him for millions of dollars, and eventually killed him.

The defendant allegedly took photos of the victim’s home and vehicle and sent them to the hired assassin to help him identify the victim.

Singh also allegedly purchased multiple burner phones for the intended solicitor to avoid law enforcement detection. He also allegedly made a down payment of $7,000 to the man during a meeting about the plot.

Singh was arrested by members of the Nassau County Police Department’s District Attorney Squad in Manhasset on June 7, 2025, after the defendant drove around again near the victim’s home.

The case is being prosecuted by Pharmaceutical Diversion and Cybercrimes Unit Chief Kelsey Lorer of the Organized Crimes and Rackets Bureau, under the supervision of Bureau Chief Jeremy Glicksman, and under the overall supervision of Executive Assistant District Attorney for the Investigations Rick Whelan. The defendant was represented at arraignment by The Legal Aid Society.

The charges are merely accusations, and the defendant is presumed innocent until and unless found guilty.

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Nassau County District Attorney Anne T. Donnelly announced that a Selden woman was sentenced to up to four years in prison for stealing more than $1 million from two Long Island construction companies, one of which she worked for as a bookkeeper, in a press release on May 28.

Mary Spora, 59, pleaded guilty on August 14, 2024, before Judge Tammy Robbins to two counts of Grand Larceny in the Second Degree (a C felony) and one count of Falsifying Business Records in the First Degree (an E felony).

The defendant was sentenced today to 1 1/3 to 4 years in prison. NCDA recommended a sentence of 2 to 6 years in prison.

“This defendant selfishly took advantage of her employer, abusing her position and access to siphon more than a million dollars from two businesses over the course of six years,” said DA Donnelly. “Financial crimes hurt businesses and the employees who work for them. We will continue to investigate and follow the money when an allegation of financial fraud is made and hold defendants accountable for using deceit and deception to line their own pockets.”

DA Donnelly said that, between February 2017 and May 2023, the defendant worked as a bookkeeper for construction equipment company Independent Equipment Corp. (Independent) and building material company Coastal Materials (Coastal). The defendant embezzled a total of $1,152,160 from Coastal and another company under the same owner, Big Apple Concrete Supply, Inc. (Big Apple), by writing approximately 113 unauthorized checks from their bank accounts.

Spora was responsible for handling accounts payable for Independent and Coastal, and recording payments in the companies’ books. She was also responsible for preparing payments to vendors and had access to the accounting and payroll software for all three companies, as well as their financial records.

According to certified bank records, more than 75 checks from Coastal, totaling more than $608,000, were deposited into a bank account held by the defendant and her husband between March 2, 2017, and February 1, 2023.

Bank records also indicate that more than 30 checks, totaling more than $540,000, were deposited into the same bank account from Big Apple between February 15, 2017, and May 25, 2023.

An audit of Coastal and Big Apple’s payroll software records also reflected that the defendant made an entry into the software designating a company owned by her husband as payee for the checks and altered the payee information of those checks to make it appear as though a company that does do business with Coastal and Big Apple was the appropriate payee.

A review of the defendant’s bank accounts indicated that between 2017 and 2021, she spent the stolen money on personal expenses, credit card and retail store payments, and travel.

The case is being prosecuted by Senior Investigative Counsel Heidi Bausk under the supervision of Major Financial Frauds Bureau Chief Maureen McCormack and under the overall supervision of Executive Assistant District Attorney for the Investigations Division Rick Whelan. The defendant is represented by Robert Schalk, Esq.

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Nassau County District Attorney Anne T. Donnelly announced on June 2 that a South Setauket man pleaded guilty today to Assault in the First Degree for the repeated abuse of his five-week-old son in January 2024 that caused a subdural hematoma to the baby’s brain that required life-saving surgical intervention.

Vincent Distasi, 33, pleaded guilty today in Suffolk County Court before Judge Richard Ambro to Assault in the First Degree (a B violent felony) in satisfaction of the indictment.

The defendant is expected to receive 17 years in prison and five years post release supervision when he is sentenced. NCDA recommended a sentence of 19 years in prison. Distasi is due back in court on August 4, 2025.

The Nassau County District Attorney’s Office was designated as special prosecutor on this case.

“Vicent Distasi is a sick and angry man who repeatedly beat up on his five-week-old son, filling that child’s first weeks on this earth with pain and violence,” said DA Donnelly. “When Distasi’s shocking, repeated abuse culminated in a near-fatal brain injury to his son and a trip to the emergency room, doctors horrifyingly discovered additional injuries, some already in the stages of healing, that told the full story of the disgusting abuse that this baby endured at the hands of his own father. To this day, the child – now one and a half years old – continues to have medical complications and recently underwent another surgery on his skull to drain fluid in his brain. While he survived his father’s brutal attack, the child’s quality of life remains uncertain. But what is certain is that Distasi will spend nearly two decades in prison for his crimes and will never be a danger to his son again.”

DA Donnelly said that on January 21, 2024, at approximately 3:30 p.m., the five-week-old son of defendant Vincent Distasi was rushed to Stony Brook University Hospital unresponsive and required emergency brain surgery.

Doctors later determined the child suffered from multiple injuries, including rib fractures, fractures to both arms, and a subdural hematoma to his brain, among other acute injuries.

The infant’s injuries were in various stages of healing indicating that the child had suffered prolonged abuse.

As part of the criminal investigation, Ring video footage was secured from the Distasi home that recorded the family’s living room.

Review of the footage showed the defendant abusing the infant throughout the first five weeks of his life. The video showed the defendant tossing, punching, smacking, and smothering the child over the course of weeks. On January 21, 2024, the defendant violently shook the infant, causing the injuries that resulted in the child’s emergency surgery.

The defendant was arrested on January 29, 2024, outside of Stony Brook University Hospital by members of the Suffolk County Police Department’s 6th Precinct and Special Victims Section.

The case is being prosecuted by Bureau Chief Emma Slane and Deputy Bureau Chief Laura Dorfman of the Special Victims Bureau under the overall supervision of Executive Assistant District Attorney for the Litigation Division Kevin Higgins. The defendant is represented by Anthony LaPinta, Esq.

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Tania Gonzalez stole more than $40,000 from victims by misrepresenting herself as an immigration attorney between December 2015 and March 2020

Nassau County District Attorney Anne T. Donnelly recently announced that a Ronkonkoma woman was sentenced to two to four years in prison for stealing more than $40,000 from undocumented immigrants seeking assistance with legal matters over the course of four years by misrepresenting herself as an immigration attorney.

Tania Gonzalez, 48, of Ronkonkoma, pleaded guilty before Judge Terrence Murphy on January 26, 2024, to one count of Grand Larceny in the Third Degree (a D felony) and one count of Scheme to Defraud in the First Degree (an E felony).

The defendant was sentenced on Dec. 18  to two to four years in prison and payment of restitution totaling $43,525.02. NCDA recommended a sentence of two-and-a-half to five years in prison.

“Tania Gonzalez exploited and deceived dozens of immigrants by claiming to be an immigration attorney and filing asylum paperwork with the federal government without their knowledge,” said DA Donnelly. “This defendant’s shameless actions cost vulnerable victims thousands of dollars over the course of four years. Today’s prison sentence holds her accountable for crippling so many lives including some who may never financially recover.”

DA Donnelly said that between December 2015 and March 2020, Gonzalez misrepresented herself as an immigration attorney to numerous undocumented immigrants seeking assistance, providing them with advice and giving them the impression that she had the expertise to assist them with their immigration problems. She also went by the name Tania Ayala in the past.

Gonzalez also told some victims that if they had been in the country for 10 years, they qualified for a 10-year visa, even if they had entered the country illegally. No such visa exists under Immigration Law.

The defendant requested substantial down payments from her victims and, as part of her scheme, oftentimes filed a fraudulent Application for Asylum with U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (“USCIS”) without the victims’ knowledge.

Gonzalez knew that USCIS would provide work authorization documents to individuals with asylum claims that are pending over six months, so that those individuals may support themselves and their families while awaiting processing of their applications. When USCIS provided employment authorization documents to Gonzalez’s clients, she used the issuance of these documents to demonstrate to her victims that she was working on their cases to obtain work permits and a green card. When these asylum applications began to be processed, USCIS became aware that applications were filed without the victims’ knowledge and began investigating the matter.

Gonzalez received funds in excess of $40,000 from the victims as a result of this conduct. She was arrested on June 7, 2021, in Ronkonkoma by Nassau County District Attorney investigators.

The NCDA thanks the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, USCIS New York Asylum Office – Fraud Detection and National Security Unit for its dedicated assistance throughout this investigation.

The case is being prosecuted by Major Financial Frauds Bureau Senior Investigative Counsel Jennifer Contreras under the supervision of Bureau Chief Maureen McCormack, under the overall supervision of Executive Assistant District Attorney for the Investigations Division Rick Whelan, and with the assistance of Office of Immigrant Affairs Director Silvia Finkelstein. Gonzalez is represented by Kristin Galison, Esq.

 

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