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Suffolk County District Attorney Ray Tierney

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Suffolk County District Attorney Ray Tierney. Photo from Tierney's office

Suffolk County District Attorney Raymond A. Tierney in partnership with the New York State Department of Labor and the New York State Insurance Fund announced on March 2 that his office was able to secure multiple agreements as well as convictions from numerous businesses in order to reimburse more than $750,000 in wages and contributions owed to workers and state agencies.

“Suffolk County residents who work hard to earn an honest living deserve to be compensated fairly for their hard work. Several of the businesses we held accountable have either shortchanged their employees’ wages, or found ways to circumvent the system and line their own pockets with money while emptying the pockets of the same people who contribute to their businesses’ success,” said District Attorney Tierney. “My office will continue to fight against the fraudulent and illegal practices of corporations when they fail to pay employees for their honest labor and will also strive to recover any funds unlawfully obtained by companies defrauding workers. I thank our Wage Theft Prevention Task Force partners for helping us get these workers what was owed to them.”

“Any employer who steals from their workers will be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law in New York State,” said New York State Department of Labor Commissioner Roberta Reardon. “I thank Suffolk County District Attorney Tierney for being a steadfast ally in our fight against wage theft and for ensuring justice for the victims.”

This past year, the Suffolk County District Attorney’s office worked with their Wage Theft Prevention Task Force partners to return the proper wages owed to hard-working employees. Although the COVID-19 pandemic and the requisite shutdown severely curtailed the Suffolk County District Attorney’s Office’s capabilities to pursue long-term labor related crime operations, its investigative staff was nonetheless able to recover hundreds of thousands of dollars and effectuate numerous arrests. Many of the victimized employees finally saw justice when their cases were resolved in the past year. Some of those cases include:

 JERNAIL SINGH, 64, of Glen Head, owner and principal agent of MH ONE ENTERPRISE, INC., a gas station and convenience store in Brentwood – Between October 2015 to January 2019, the business underpaid 19 employees by compensating them below the statutory minimum wage rate and did not pay their employees overtime wages if they worked in excess of 40 hours a week. Singh routinely made false promises to the employees to pay them properly for the time they worked, and threatened them if they complained to the New York State Department of Labor about the underpayments and the poor working conditions. In addition, Singh bullied one employee by threatening to contact immigration authorities and falsely report him to the police for a crime the employee did not commit. In another instance, after an employee complained to the New York State Department of Labor about his working conditions, Singh retaliated by contacting the employee’s subsequent employers in an attempt to get that employee terminated. Singh was arrested on December 15, 2020. On July 6, 2022, he pleaded guilty to Scheme to Defraud in the Second Degree, a Class A misdemeanor and Prohibited Retaliation, a Class B misdemeanor. As part of his plea agreement, Singh paid nearly $240,000 in restitution to cover the amount he owed to his employees and the New York State Department of Labor. He was sentenced to three years of probationary supervision.

 TRI-STATE CONSTRUCTION OF NEW YORK CORP. of Flushing – Between June 2018 and August 2018, while the company worked on a capital improvement project for the Huntington Union Free School District, it willfully failed to pay its employees the mandated prevailing wages and overtime wages for hours worked in excess of 40 hours per week. The corporation was charged in August 2020 and pleaded guilty on March 28, 2022 to Willful Failure to Pay the Prevailing Wage and Supplements, a Class E felony.  As part of the plea, the company paid back $121,530 in restitution to 14 employees who labored on the school district project.

 ALPHA CARTING & CONTRACTING SERVICES INC. of Bay Shore – Between June 2016 and May 2018, the corporation systematically underpaid four employees by reducing their wages below the statutory prevailing wage rate while they collected solid waste in the Village of Lake Grove. The corporation was charged on May 11, 2021, and pleaded guilty on August 30, 2022 to Scheme to Defraud in the Second Degree, a Class A misdemeanor. As part of the plea, they paid $96,732 to the affected employees and the New York State Department of Labor.

 GOLDSTAR INSTALLATION SERVICES, INC. aka THE FLOOR WORX OF NY, INC. of Selden – From July 2016 to July 2019, while working on public works projects throughout Suffolk County, the company misclassified 12 employees in order to avoid paying them the statutorily mandated prevailing wage rate for public works contracts. On February 27, 2020, Paul Gilistro, 59, the principal agent of the corporation and the corporation itself were charged with criminal complaints. Both the corporation and Gilistro pleaded guilty on April 7, 2022 to Scheme to Defraud in the Second Degree, a Class A misdemeanor. As part of their plea agreement, the defendants paid $40,000 upfront in restitution to the victims and an additional $40,000 to be paid through probation.

 WOODSTOCK CONSTRUCTION GROUP LTD. of Bayville – From November 2016 to May 2017, the company misclassified 19 employees and systematically failed to pay them the statutory prevailing wage rate and overtime wages for the hours worked in excess of 40 hours a week while working on the public works projects. Those projects were the Gilgo Beach Marina Dock Reconstruction Project in the Town of Babylon, the Bayport Beach Breakwater and Reconstruction Project in Town of Islip. On February 27, 2020, the corporation was charged, and on July 13, 2022 pleaded guilty on to Scheme to Defraud in the Second Degree, a Class A misdemeanor, conditioned on the corporation paying back $66,776 to its employees for the underpayment of their wages.

 BOB 1232 JERICHO CORP. aka DHCW Inc., of Huntington, operated DIX HILLS BRUSHLESS CAR WASH – Between 2014 to 2017, the business failed to pay its employees the statutory minimum and overtime wage rates for hours worked. This business additionally submitted a fraudulent New York State Department of Labor NYS-45 form containing false information in order to avoid paying unemployment contributions. After facing criminal charges, the corporation pleaded guilty on March 23, 2022 to Offering a False Instrument for Filing in the Second Degree, a Class A misdemeanor, and was required to recompense $120,000 in restitution to their 11 employees and reimburse the New York State Unemployment Insurance Fund its required contributions.

 APJ RESTORATION, INC. of St. James – Between August 2015 and August 2016, the corporation knowingly underreported their gross sales on documents submitted to the New York State Insurance Fund (NYSIF). On February 27, 2020, the corporation and its principal agent, Alan James, 71, were charged and both later pleaded guilty on April 29, 2022 to Falsifying a Business Record in the Second Degree, a Class A misdemeanor. James is due back in court for sentencing on March 27, 2023. The defendants agreed to pay $32,575.63 owed in workers’ compensation insurance premiums due to the NYSIF.

These matters were investigated by Suffolk County District Attorney Detective Investigators, the New York State Department of Labor, the New York State Insurance Fund and the Suffolk County Police Department.

### Criminal complaints and indictments are merely accusatory instruments. Defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty. No one is above the law.

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Pixabay photo

Suffolk County District Attorney Raymond A. Tierney announced on March 1 the guilty plea of Ivan A. Inoasuero, 31, of Manhattan, for his role in a scam in which two elderly Suffolk County residents received phone calls where they were falsely informed that their grandchildren had been arrested in a different jurisdiction and they needed to send large sums of money to post their bail immediately.

Ivan Inoasuero. Photo from Suffolk County DA’s office

“Since taking office in January of last year, I have been shocked and dismayed to see the degree in which fraudsters are targeting our elderly residents to steal money,” said District Attorney Tierney. “If you target the elderly in Suffolk County and fraudulently steal their money, you will be held responsible and required to pay back the money you stole.”

According to the investigation and the defendant’s admissions during his guilty plea allocution, Inoasuero posed as a bail bondsman and came to the Smithtown home of the first victim in April 2021 to pick up $15,000 where the elderly woman believed she was posting bail for her grandson. Inosuero again posed as a bail bondsman in December 2021 when he met a Stony Brook resident at MacArthur Airport to pick up $20,000 where again, the elderly man believed he was posting bail for his grandson.

On March 1,  Inoasuero pleaded guilty to Grand Larceny in the Third Degree, a Class D felony. He is due back in court on April 26 for sentencing. Inoasuero will be required to pay restitution back to the victims and if he does not, he faces up to two and a half to seven years in prison.

Criminal complaints and indictments are merely accusatory instruments. Defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty. No one is above the law.

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Suffolk County District Attorney Raymond A. Tierney announced on Jan. 27 the indictment of Jaquan Casserly, 34, of Holbrook, who is accused of allegedly selling fentanyl to a female from Lake Grove that resulted in her fatal overdose.

“Sadly, this is yet another example of an alleged drug dealer pushing poison onto our streets without any regard for the inevitably destructive and deadly consequences of such sales,” said District Attorney Tierney. “Our office is steadfast in its mission to investigate every overdose in Suffolk County and hold drug dealers accountable for selling illegal and deadly substances, especially fentanyl.”

According to the investigation, on August 18, 2022, Suffolk County Police Department officers responded to a residence in Lake Grove for an apparent drug overdose. The victim was found unresponsive in the bathroom by her mother. The victim was administered Narcan, which works to reverse the effects of fentanyl, and she regained a pulse. She was transported to Stony Brook University Hospital where she ultimately passed away several days later as a result of the drug overdose.

On August 24, 2022, a cell phone belonging to the victim was turned over to police by her parents. 2 Using the phone, an undercover detective from the Suffolk County Police Department contacted Casserly and arranged for another sale of narcotics. Casserly, unaware of the victim’s condition, allegedly instructed the undercover detective to go to the same location where he sold fentanyl to the victim a week earlier.

On August 25, 2022, while at the Holbrook Commons in Holbrook, Casserly allegedly sold the undercover detective a combination of heroin and fentanyl contained in a red glassine envelope.

On August 27, 2022, police executed a search warrant at Casserly’s Holbrook residence and recovered a combination of heroin and fentanyl, a digital scale used to weigh narcotics, red and black glassine/wax envelopes used to package narcotics, a pair of metal knuckles, and Casserly’s cell phone. The red envelopes were similar in appearance to the ones sold to the undercover detective two days prior. A search of Casserly’s phone allegedly showed that he made arrangements to meet the victim on August 17, 2022 at the Holbrook Commons offering to sell her a “fetty mix,” a street term used to describe a mix of fentanyl and heroin.

Casserly is charged with two counts of Criminal Sale of a Controlled Substance in the Third Degree, a Class B felony; three counts of Criminal Possession of a Controlled Substance in the Third Degree, a Class B felony; Criminal Possession of a Controlled Substance in the Fourth Degree, a Class C felony; Criminal Possession of a Weapon in the Third Degree, a Class D felony; and two counts of Criminal Possession of Drug Paraphernalia, a Class A misdemeanor.

Criminal complaints and indictments are merely accusatory instruments.                                                      Defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty. No one is above the law.

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Leslie Mroz

Suffolk County District Attorney Raymond A. Tierney announced on Jan. 27 that Leslie Mroz, 39, of Selden, was sentenced to two to six years in prison for allegedly embezzling more than $340,000 from her employer over the course of approximately three years.

“This defendant wasted no time abusing the trust that her employer placed in her by stealing from her employer,” said District Attorney Tierney. “She will now face justice and serve prison time for her greed.”

An investigation conducted by the Suffolk County District Attorney’s Office and the Suffolk County Police Department revealed that from February 2016 to February 2019, Mroz was employed by a Medford company where she handled payroll as part of her responsibilities as the Human Resources manager. The position gave her the ability to manipulate her salary and the benefits she received. At the time her theft was discovered, Mroz was paying herself more than double the salary that her employer had authorized. A review of company records also revealed that Mroz was also making unauthorized contributions to her retirement fund and health insurance.

The owner of the small family-run Medford business where Mroz worked, who asked not to be named for privacy concerns, stated that Mroz’s theft of over $340,000 had the potential to ruin her company. However, she said what hurt her the most was that Mroz was considered a trusted employee and had been accepted as part of her family.

On October 5, 2022, Mroz pleaded guilty to one count of Grand Larceny in the Second Degree before Supreme Court Justice, the Honorable Timothy P. Mazzei. She was sentenced on January 23 to two to six years in prison.

                                         Criminal complaints and indictments are merely accusatory instruments.                                              Defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty. No one is above the law.

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Donatila O’Mahony

Update on 03/02/23: Donatila O’Mahony, 43, was sentenced to 25 years to life in prison after a jury found her guilty of killing Lee Pedersen, 69, of Aquebogue, in March 2020.

Defendant Donatila O’Mahony Faces 25 Years to Life in Prison

Suffolk County District Attorney Raymond A. Tierney announced on Jan. 24 that a jury has found 42-year-old Donatila O’Mahony guilty in the murder of an Aquebogue man in March 2020 and forging the victim’s will in an attempt to inherit his estate.

“The motive for this murder was greed, pure and simple,” said District Attorney Tierney. “O’Mahony befriended the victim and then deliberately set out to steal his estate. The jury has found this defendant guilty and hopefully the victim’s loved ones will now have a small measure of justice knowing his killer will be held responsible for her actions.”

The evidence at trial established that the body of Lee Pedersen, 69, was discovered in his Aquebogue home on March 8, 2020. Pedersen died of a single gunshot to the back of his head. Several items, including Pedersen’s phone and cash, were missing from the home. The ensuing police investigation, which included interviewing several of Pedersen’s friends, including the defendant, as well as the recovery of surveillance video and the review of cell phone cell sites and records, revealed that the defendant was responsible for his murder.

According to evidence included at the trial, in 2019 O’Mahony asked a friend to purchase two handguns for her, a Glock .9 mm and a Sig Sauer .9 mm, in New Jersey to use for the murder. 2 The defendant borrowed the friend’s car and was captured on video surveillance in the area of Pedersen’s home on the night of the murder. When O’Mahony returned several hours later following the murder, she asked the friend to dispose of several items, including the Sig Sauer handgun he had purchased for her, ammunition and clothes. After returning to New Jersey, the friend destroyed the handgun and disposed of the clothes but kept the plastic bag of ammunition in his home. After the bag was recovered by the police, it was swabbed for DNA.

Analysis by forensic scientists at the Suffolk County Crime Laboratory revealed the presence of both O’Mahony’s and the victim’s DNA. In addition to being convicted for her involvement in Pedersen’s murder, O’Mahony was convicted for forging Pedersen’s will and attempting to steal one of the homes he owned. The evidence regarding those crimes included the testimony of other friends of O’Mahony who she convinced to sign the forged will as witnesses.

O’Mahony was convicted by the jury of all charges against her – Murder in the Second Degree, Criminal Possession of a Forged Instrument in the Second Degree and Attempted Grand Larceny in the Second Degree. She faces a maximum of 25 years to life in prison.

Criminal complaints and indictments are merely accusatory instruments. Defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty. No one is above the law.

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Nicholas Spano

Suffolk County District Attorney Raymond A. Tierney announced Jan. 18 that defendant Nicholas Spano was sentenced to 2 to 4 years in prison for scamming a woman out of $200,000 of her retirement and savings funds while posing as a home improvement contractor between 2019 and 2020.

“Anyone who would take advantage of a vulnerable victim via a home improvement scam or any other type of scam should be forewarned,” said District Attorney Tierney. “We take all consumer crimes seriously at the Suffolk County District Attorney’s Office. “We will prosecute you to the fullest extent of the law and send you to upstate prison for scams such as this.”

According to the investigation and his own admission at the guilty plea proceeding, Spano, 59, exploited the victim from September 2019 to December 2020. Spano had been recommended to the victim by another contractor, and in September 2019 he gave an estimate for home improvement work on the victim’s Huntington residence. Upon gaining the victim’s trust, Spano manipulated the victim into giving him money for different reasons. His behavior escalated to the point where he made threats of violence against the victim, her family, and her associates. This conduct continued for more than a year, until the victim’s retirement and savings accounts were depleted.

When officers from the Suffolk County Police Department, Second Precinct, arrested Spano on April 24, 2022, he exclaimed, “She’s doing this because I took her for the money.”  Spano, pleaded guilty in November 2022, to Attempted Grand Larceny in the Second Degree.

Anyone who believes they may be a victim of any home improvement scam in Suffolk County should contact the Suffolk County District Attorney’s Office at (631) 853-5602.

Criminal complaints and indictments are merely accusatory instruments. Defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty. No one is above the law.

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