E.V. attorney sentenced
Radical attorney Stanley Cohen was sentenced to a year and a half in prison on Fri., Nov. 21, on tax obstruction charges.
Cohen was sentenced in Federal District Court in Syracuse. In April, he pleaded guilty to the charges.
Cohen, who lives on Avenue D, formerly represented the East Village squatters when they fought eviction in the 1980s. Among his more recent high-profile clients, he has represented Sulaiman Abu Ghaith, Osama bin Laden’s son-in-law, and Mousa Abu Marzook, a Hamas leader.
Cohen pleaded guilty because of the effort and cost of fighting the years-long case. He charged that the government wants to “silence” him because of who he represents.
Unhealthy incident
A visitor did not want to leave the Lenox Hill HealthPlex around 12:01 a.m. on Mon., Nov. 24. Though a police report did not state the reason why, a 26-year-old man working there asked the woman to leave. She then snatched a box cutter from him as he attempted to escort her out of the lobby at 30 Seventh Ave. Police said Wanda Rosado, 35, then began menacing the man with the implement, making him fear for his safety. Police soon arrived and arrested Rosado, who was charged with criminal weapon possession.
Papaya rage
Papaya Dog, at 333 Sixth Ave. near Cornelia St., suffered more than $350 in damage after a young man allegedly went berserk there. According to police, at about 12:30 a.m. on Sat., Nov. 22, the man began yelling and throwing store property. Then he picked up a table and attempted to hurl it at other people. Police arrested Faqir Palmer, 26, who was charged with reckless endangerment.
Where there’s smoke…
Police executing a search warrant at 2 p.m. on Nov. 19 found untaxed cigarettes and synthetic marijuana for the second time in recent months at a Village shop located at 200 W. 14th St. A raid there on Sept. 12 led to two arrests and the seizure of 28 packs of smokes, documents, real pot and synthetic marijuana, as The Villager reported on Sept. 18. This time around, police arrested Saddam Alsaidi, 24, and charged him with violation of tax law, a misdemeanor.
Bouncer beatdown
A 36-year-old man alleges that bouncers at the VIP Room, at 409 W. 13th St., refused him entry and beat him up to boot. Police said that about 1:15 a.m. on Fri., Nov. 21, the man got into a dispute with club security. Three members of the staff were soon upon him, striking him multiple times with their hands and feet, according to a police report. A male witness corroborated the victim’s account of the events, which led to lacerations and bruising to the victim’s head and face. Video of the incident was not readily available due to an uncooperative manager at the business, police said. Felix Arce, 35, Richard Tariuwa, 37, and Pedro Veliz, 25, were all charged with misdemeanor assault after turning themselves in to police on Nov. 22.
Illegal pole dancing
Police arrested three men for dancing inside a train that was moving through the W. Fourth St. subway station. At about 5:50 p.m. on Thurs., Nov. 20, police said they observed Kenneth Miley, 29, Luis Candelario, 27, and James Gonzalez, 27, getting down with somersaults on a southbound D train. The trio were charged with reckless endangerment. A police report did not state whether they “flipped on each other” prior to arrest.
— Zach Williams
