FOR BREAKING NEWS VISIT WWW.QNS.COM JUNE 14, 2018 • THE QUEENS COURIER 23
Ozone Park iman’s murderer spending
life in prison without parole
BY ROBERT POZARYCKI
rpozarycki@qns.com / @robbpoz
Th e Brooklyn man convicted of fatally
shooting an Ozone Park imam and an
associate nearly two years ago is spending
the rest of his natural life in prison.
Oscar Morel, 37, was convicted in
March of fi rst- and second-degree murder
as well as second-degree criminal possession
of a weapon. On June 6, Queens
Supreme Court Justice Gregory Lasak
ordered Morel to a life prison sentence
without the possibility of parole.
Queens District Attorney Richard
A. Brown said that Morel “showed not
an ounce of sympathy or respect for
human life when he gunned down” Imam
Maulana Akonjee, 64, and his friend
Th ara Uddin, 55, in August of 2016 as
they walked home from prayers at a nearby
mosque.
“Th e cowardly actions of this defendant
did not just take the life of two admired
men, but the killings ripped at the heart of
the Muslim community — our community,”
Brown said on Wednesday. “It is my
hope that today’s conclusion to this case
brings some closure and comfort to the
many family and friends of the victims.”
To this day, detectives have yet to determine
the motive behind the execution.
During sentencing, when Judge Lasak
asked Morel why he did it, a source familiar
with the case said, Morel avoided
answering it directly, but claimed that he
was innocent.
Law enforcement sources said Akonjee
and Uddin had just left the Al-furqan
Jame Masjid Mosque and were walking
home in the area of Liberty Avenue
and 79th Street at about 2 p.m. on Aug.
13, 2016, when Morel approached them
from behind.
Prosecutors said Morel pointed a
.38-caliber revolver at their heads, fi red
several shots and ran from the scene.
Akonjee was shot four times in the head
and body, while Uddin sustained a gunshot
wound to his head.
Offi cers from the 106th Precinct
and EMS units rushed to the scene.
Paramedics brought Akonjee and Uddin
to a local hospital, where they died of
their injuries.
During the investigation, police
obtained video camera footage that
showed Morel getting out of and back
into a black SUV near the intersection at
the time of the shooting.
Th ey further learned that, about 12
minutes aft er that footage was fi lmed,
Morel’s SUV struck a bicyclist at the corner
of Pitkin and Pine Avenues in East
New York, Brooklyn. Brown said that a
good Samaritan who saw the incident followed
Morel in his own vehicle, obtained
the license number and provided it to
police.
Police later located the SUV and staked
it out; they apprehended Morel the following
evening as he attempted to enter
the vehicle.
“Detectives from the Fugitive Task
Force Unit approached the car, and then
he rammed the detectives’ car several
times in an eff ort to get away,” NYPD
Chief of Detectives Robert Boyce said
aft er Morel’s arrest. “He was placed under
arrest without any further incident and
brought back to the precinct for more
debriefi ng.”
During a search of Morel’s home, prosecutors
said, cops found the .38-caliber
revolver hidden behind a kitchen wall.
Forensic analysis determined that the bullets
that killed Akonjee and Uddin had
been fi red from that weapon.
Photo courtesy of New York Daily News/Bryan Pace
Oscar Morel, shown here following his arrest in August of 2016, was convicted on March 23 of
fi rst-degree murder for executing an Ozone Park imam and an associate.
Richmond Hill man found guilty of raping
a 14-year-old girl to repay a drug debt
BY EMILY DAVENPORT
edavenport@qns.com / @QNS
A Richmond Hill man was convicted
of raping a 14-year-old girl as payment
for a drug debt from another man, prosecutors
announced Monday.
Albert Premnauth, 24, was found guilty
of second-degree rape, second-degree
criminal sexual act and endangering the
welfare of a child. He is due to return to
court on July 18, where he faces up to
seven years in prison and will have to register
as a sex off ender upon his release.
“Th e defendant, despite the victim’s
tears and literally begging not to be
raped, was violated by the defendant,”
said District Attorney Richard A. Brown.
“A jury weighed all the evidence presented
at trial and found the defendant
guilty. He will now face serious prison
time for his actions.”
According to charges, the 14-year-old
victim sent a nude video of herself to
her 14-year-old female friend as a joke.
Th e friend shared the video with Jacob
Marcial, who was 18 years old at the
time, who allegedly owed Premnauth
money for marijuana.
Th e victim was then coerced into having
sex with Premnauth aft er Marcial
threatened to post the video online.
On Feb. 20, 2016, the victim met with
Premnauth at his home and begged him
to give her time to pay him the money
allegedly owed by the other man, saying
that she was only 14 years old. However,
Premnauth refused and forced her to
have sex with him.
Premnauth then paid the victim $100
cash and gave her a pair of Beats by Dre
headphones. She handed both the cash
and headphones to Marcial, who sold the
headphones to pay off his debt.
“Th is case tragically demonstrates how
dangerous it is for teenagers to take
explicit images or videos of themselves
and then to send them to others —
even those they consider to be their
friends,” Brown said. “Once the image
is sent, they have lost all control over
what happens next with the images. In
this instance the 14-year-old victim, as a
joke, sent a naked video of herself to her
14-year-old female friend on Snapchat.
Th e video then ended up in the hands of
the 18-year-old male friend, who threatened
to post it online if the victim did
not have sex with the defendant to pay
off his debt.”
Photo: Shutterstock
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