Man accused of intimidating Bell case witness

BY ROCCO PARASCANDOLA, NEWSDAY STAFF WRITER | rocco.parascandola@newsday.com

March 29, 2007

The Sean Bell case took another twist Wednesday when the supervisor of the janitor who came forward as a witness late in the grand jury proceedings was arrested for trying to persuade his employee not to testify, authorities said.

The suspect, Melvin Cordero, 46, did not threaten to harm the witness, Roberto Manaya, law enforcement sources said, but he told Manaya that testifying would attract unwanted focus on their cleaning company, Meridian, which is subcontracted to clean the AirTrain station across from the strip club outside which Bell was shot dead by police Nov. 25.

"Cordero was telling him, 'You don't really want to do this' and "You don't really want to go there,'" one source said. "He told him, 'You could lose your job and even get arrested or deported.'"

The sources said Cordero has a drug conviction and apparently feared he could lose his job if reporters wrote about the company.

The alleged intimidation came to light when Manaya, 55, apologized to a Meridian boss who supervises both him and Cordero sometime after testifying before the grand jury. The boss was not bothered by Manaya testifying, but was surprised to learn Cordero had leaned on the janitor, the sources said.

The boss alerted Port Authority police, who interviewed Cordero on Tuesday and arrested him Wednesday. Cordero, of Brooklyn, was charged with intimidating a witness, tampering with a witness and coercion.

"One of the major purposes of grand jury secrecy is to obtain the full cooperation of witnesses and to protect them from outside interference that might affect their testimony," Queens District Attorney Richard Brown said in a statement.

"This office will not tolerate the intimidation of, or tampering with, witnesses and is committed to the vigorous prosecution of those who engage in such conduct."

Neither Manaya nor anyone at Meridian could be reached for comment.

Manaya's testimony to the grand jury caused an uproar because he came forward at the last moment, telling investigators he believed someone fired at police before they fired back at Bell's car.

Manaya also said that when he spoke to police much earlier in the case, he was afraid to describe what he saw and heard the night of the shooting, the sources said.

While it is not clear what he told the grand jury, his testimony apparently had little impact. The jury voted to indict detectives Gescard Isnora and Michael Oliver for manslaughter and Det. Marc Cooper for reckless endangerment.

The three detectives, plus two colleagues, fired 50 shots at Bell's car. No gun was ever found.