20 THE QUEENS COURIER • AUGUST 29, 2019 FOR BREAKING NEWS VISIT WWW.QNS.COM
Cops crush street gang crew terrorizing Hollis area
BY EMILY DAVENPORT
edavenport@qns.com
@QNS
Fift een reputed members of Hollisbased
Attorney defends former Queens congressman against sex abuse suit
BY MARK HALLUM
mhallum@schnepsmedia.com
@QNS
Aft er a lawsuit fi led in Manhattan
Supreme Court alleged that former
Queens Congressman Gary Ackerman
engaged in sexual misconduct as a camp
director with a 17-year-old boy more
than 50 years ago, the Boy Scouts of
America (BSA) and Ackerman’s attorney
are crying foul.
Oscar Michelen, who is representing
the well-known politician, said the John
Doe complaint was based on false claims
and that the plaintiff may only be looking
to profi t off a class action lawsuit with
BSA pertaining to the surfacing of sexual
misconduct within the organization.
Further, the BSA said they have no
record of any complaint about Ackerman
prior to the suit fi led on Aug. 16. which
claims Ackerman was “known predator”
whom the Boy Scouts “should have
known” about, according to the civil complaint.
“Th is suit was the fi rst time that the
congressman had ever heard of these allegations
and no complaint had ever been
made to the Boy Scout or camp. In his
three decade career of exemplary service,
there’s never been any allegation of this
kind, not just this incident but any other
incident in the 15 times he ran for congress,”
Michelen said.
He strongly denied the section of the
complaint which claimed that Ackerman
had a history of misconduct, claiming
that the BSA has good documentation of
known incidents — and a query of anything
involving Ackerman came back
with no results.
“Th at allegation is made up, because
had there been prior allegations the
Boy Scouts would have found them,”
Michelen said. “I think that’s a question
for the plaintiff ’s attorney. I think they’re
going to say, ‘it’s based on opinion and
belief ’ – legal speak.”
BSA confi rmed to the Queens Courier
in a statement that there are no records
to uphold the allegation that Ackerman
was ever known as a predator. Th e organization
is currently dealing with an
onslaught of sexual abuse claims that are
surfacing aft er the Child Victims Act was
passed on Aug. 14.
“(BSA) has no record of any allegation
of abuse against Mr. Ackerman in our
Volunteer Screening Database, a system
established in the 1920s to bar individuals
from Scouting who should not work with
youth. Had the National Organization
been made aware of credible allegations
against Mr. Ackerman, we would have
acted to remove him from Scouting,”
the BSA said. “We are outraged that
there have been times when individuals
took advantage of our programs to abuse
innocent children. We believe victims.
We support them. We pay for unlimited
counseling by a provider of their choice,
and we encourage them to come forward.”
Jordan Merson, the attorney representing
the anonymous plaintiff , did not
return a request for comment before our
deadline.
Th e complaint claims that the 1966 incident
occurred at Ten Miles River Scout
Camp in Sullivan County. Ackerman was
23 at the time, and wouldn’t be elected
to public offi ce for another decade.
According to the complaint, Ackerman
allegedly locked the John Doe in his car
and forcibly fondled and performed oral
sex on the victim without consent.
Emotional scarring the plaintiff
received has caused him to seek medical
attention and economic loss for which
they are requesting compensation, the
complaint noted.
Ackerman served in the district now
represented by Congresswoman Grace
Meng centered in Flushing. But in
Ackerman’s time, the district covered
much of northeast Queens and Long
Island where Ackerman still carries out a
public life at the age of 76.
Th ough the suit has yet to hit a courtroom,
it may already have implications
for Ackerman in Suff olk County political
spheres.
According to the Long Island Press,
Suffolk County Comptroller John
Kennedy called on Suff olk County
Executive Steve Bellone to terminate a
$24,999 contract awarded to Ackerman.
A copy of the contract obtained by the
Queens Courier says Ackerman was
awarded the funds through the state
Department of Civil Service and was set
to run between March 2019 and February
2020.
Ackerman was contracted as a civil services
consultant.
Th e contract indicated by the comptroller’s
offi ce strikes just below the $25,000
threshold that would require the deal to
go through a public vetting process such
as a Request for Proposal.
As the Long Island Press noted,
Kennedy, a Republican, is mounting a
general election challenge to Bellone in
November.
Th e bill signed into law by Governor
Andrew Cuomo allows victims to take
up claims against individuals and institutions
that harbored them regardless of the
previous statute of limitations.
street gang were arrested in a longterm
drug and fi rearms investigation,
prosecutors announced on Tuesday.
Th e arrests came following a nearly
two-year probe by the NYPD and the
Queens District Attorney’s offi ce. Among
those charged are a father-and-son team
that allegedly peddled cocaine in Hollis;
two teenagers who participated in a violent
assault in a McDonald’s parking lot;
and three associates accused of plotting to
murder a rival gang member.
“Th e defendants are accused of peddling
death by traffi cking in the sale of
illegal drugs and fi rearms,” said acting
District Attorney John M. Ryan on Aug.
27. “Today’s arrests, targeting the gang’s
alleged leaders, will put a signifi cant dent
in the drug traffi cking and drug-related
violence plaguing the area. I want
to commend the New York City Police
Department’s Gun Violence Suppression
Division for their hard work. We will continue
to fi ght crime with our law enforcement
partners to rid our streets of illegal
drugs and fi rearms.”
Prosecutors said the probe began in
September 2017, when the NYPD’s Gun
Violence Suppression Division and the
Queens District Attorney’s Narcotics
Investigation Bureau learned of a narcotics
and fi rearms traffi cking organization
that allegedly also included three brothers
— Cliff ord Heyward, Erik Heyward and
Devante Heyward — as well as Kareem
Brown.
Th e investigation found that the brothers
worked with each other and unapprehended
others to possess and sell narcotics
and fi rearms in Queens County and
elsewhere in New York state.
Using various investigative techniques,
including intercepting telephone calls,
GPS location monitoring and physical
surveillance, the NYPD made 11 arrests
in that investigation — and obtained further
intelligence that led them to the
Henderson New York (HNY) gang.
Th roughout the course of two-yearlong
probe of HNY, the NYPD recovered
10 fi rearms and over one kilo of
cocaine. Investigators gained knowledge
through-court-authorized wiretaps that
the gang stashed communal gang fi rearms
in various locations, including trap compartments
in vehicles as well as a barbecue
grill at one individual’s residence. Th e
communal guns were allegedly shared
among gang members to use in shootings.
Th ree of the defendants in the case are
iDwayne Bratton, 19, Jerrel Henderson,
18, and Hanif Campbell, 21. Th ey were
charged, along with three others, in a seven
count indictment with plotting to kill
a rival gang member in the vicinity of the
Baisley Park Houses on May 6, 2018.
Another pair of defendants, Wallace
Stevenson, 57, and Darron Swinnie, 27,
are accused of allegedly being father-andson
drug dealers who distributed cocaine
throughout Hollis. Th e pair is specifi cally
charged with selling more than 200
grams (equal to more than seven ounces)
of cocaine on Jan. 31, 2019.
Two teenagers tied to the gang – Issac
Wheeler and Khoran Simmons — were
also charged for their role in a violent
attack of a 23-year-old man during a
dispute in a McDonald’s parking lot
on Springfi eld Boulevard in Hollis in
September 2018. Th e victim suff ered
a laceration to the cheek that required
stitches, plus bruising to his ribs and eye.
Eight months later, on May 31, 2019,
Wheeler, along with two others, allegedly
stabbed the victim’s brother in an eff ort
to intimidate the September victim into
dropping the criminal charges. Th e stabbing
victim suff ered a puncture wound to
his back that required surgery.
“Th is long-term investigation illustrates
the NYPD’s commitment to precision
policing and our mission to making the
city even safer,” said Police Commissioner
James O’Neill. “Th e NYPD and the
Queens District Attorney’s Offi ce will
never tolerate drugs, guns and violence in
our communities. I want to thank the acting
Queens DA and the investigators who
worked on this case.”
Each defendant faces a number of
charges including attempted murder,
criminal possession of a weapon, criminal
possession of a fi rearm, tampering with a
witness, reckless endangerment and more.
File photo
Former Congressman Gary Ackerman.
Photo via Getty Images
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