Gilgo Beach trial: DA says his office lacks funds to meet judge’s ‘ambitious’ deadlines
(SUFFOLK COUNTY, N.Y.) The Suffolk County District Attorney’s office in New York lacks the resources to meet “ambitious” deadlines imposed by the judge overseeing the Gilgo Beach serial killing case, DA Ray Tierney said Wednesday.
Tierney called on the Justice Department to release some money tied up in an ongoing investigation into the office to help defray the cost of a prosecution that he said presents “a singularly unique strain on our budget.”
Heuermann is charged in the murders of six women: Melissa Barthelemy, Megan Waterman, Maureen Brainard-Barnes, Amber Costello, Jessica Taylor and Sandra Costilla. The first victim was found in 1993 and the last victims were found in 2010.
He has pleaded not guilty.
Judge Timothy Mazzei said he wants to set a trial date at the next hearing, which is scheduled for Dec. 17.
Tierney called the schedule “ambitious” because of the large amount of evidence amassed in the case against Heuermann.
“I think the timeline right now is very ambitious and very compressed given the ridiculous nature of our discovery laws, where I have to provide every single piece of paper that was generated in a case that started in 1993,” Tierney said.
Tierney is asking for millions in federal asset forfeiture proceeds frozen by the Justice Department as part of an ongoing investigation into a previous district attorney. He estimated about $13 million is tied up in that investigation.
(NEW YORK) — Harvey Weinstein was rushed from Rikers Island, where he is being held, to Bellevue Hospital for emergency heart surgery after experiencing chest pains, his representatives told ABC News.
“Mr. Weinstein was rushed to Bellevue Hospital last night due to several medical conditions,” Weinstein representatives Craig Rothfeld and Juda Engelmayer said in a statement. “We can confirm that Mr. Weinstein had a procedure and surgery on his heart today however cannot comment any further than that.”
They continued, “As we have extensively stated before, Mr. Weinstein suffers a plethora of significant health issues that need ongoing treatment. We are grateful to the executive team at the New York City Department of Correction and Rikers Island for acting swiftly in taking him to Bellevue Hospital.”
The emergency comes as Weinstein, 72, is due in court this week in New York, where prosecutors had been presenting evidence to a grand jury as they work to secure a new indictment against Weinstein on sex crimes charges.
Weinstein has denied any wrongdoing and has said his sexual encounters with women were consensual.
Weinstein has appeared in court recently in a wheelchair and has asked to stay in custody at Rikers, where he has been undergoing medical care.
In a shocking move this April, the New York Court of Appeals, in a scathing 4-3 opinion, overturned Weinstein’s conviction on sex crimes against three women, finding the trial judge “erroneously admitted testimony of uncharged, alleged prior sexual acts against persons other than the complainants of the underlying crimes.”
The court said that testimony “served no material non-propensity purpose” and “portrayed defendant in a highly prejudicial light.”
However, the Manhattan district attorney’s office has since presented evidence to a grand jury that could return a new indictment against Weinstein over an alleged sexual assault that occurred sometime in a four-month time period between late 2005 and mid-2006 in a lower Manhattan residential building, according to a transcript of an unannounced court hearing last week.
Prosecutors also indicated during a hearing on Sept. 3 that they were aware of two other potential offenses: a sexual assault in May 2016 in a hotel in Tribeca and a potential sexual assault that occurred at the Tribeca Grand hotel.
This isn’t the first time Weinstein has been rushed to a hospital recently. In July, he was transferred to Bellevue after testing positive for COVID-19 and double pneumonia, according to his Rothfeld.
(LOS ANGELES) — Five people have been charged in connection with the ketamine death of “Friends” star Matthew Perry, federal officials in Los Angeles announced Thursday.
Three of the defendants, including a doctor, are in plea agreements for federal drug charges in connection with this death, while two others — including a second doctor and a woman known as “The Ketamine Queen” who is accused of selling Perry the batch of ketamine that killed him, were arrested on Thursday, according to the Department of Justice.
U.S. Attorney Martin Estrada said investigators conducted a wide-ranging investigation following Perry’s death in October 2023 that “revealed a broad, underground criminal network responsible for distributing large quantities of ketamine to Mr. Perry and others.”
Defendants accused of taking advantage of Perry’s addiction
The lead defendants in the case are Jasveen Sangha, 41, allegedly known as “The Ketamine Queen,” and Dr. Salvador Plasencia, 42, a licensed medical doctor known as “Dr. P,” who are expected to be arraigned later Thursday, the DOJ said.
The three others separately charged in the case include Perry’s live-in assistant, Kenneth Iwamasa, 59, who admitted in court documents to administering the ketamine on the day that Perry died; Dr. Mark Chavez, 54, a licensed medical doctor who admitted in court documents to selling ketamine to Plasencia; and Eric Fleming, 54, who admitted in court documents that he distributed the ketamine that killed Perry, the DOJ said.
“These defendants took advantage of Mr. Perry’s addiction issues to enrich themselves,” Estrada said during a press briefing on Thursday. “They knew what they were doing was risking great danger to Mr. Perry, but they did it anyway.”
Estrada said that in the fall of 2023, Perry, who has struggled with addiction in the past, “fell back into addiction, and these defendants took advantage to profit for themselves.”
Plasencia allegedly worked with Chavez to obtain ketamine and with Iwamasa to distribute that ketamine to Perry. Over two months, they distributed approximately 20 viles of ketamine to Perry in exchange for $55,000 in cash, Estrada said.
“Plasencia saw this as an opportunity to profit off of Mr. Perry,” Estrada said, noting that the doctor allegedly wrote in text messages, “I wonder how much this moron will pay,” and that he wanted to be the actor’s “go-to for drugs.”
The vials cost the doctors $12 but they were selling them for $2,000 a vial to Perry, authorities said.
As a doctor, Plasencia “knew the danger of what he was doing” and allegedly told another patient that Perry was “spiraling out of control with his addiction,” Estrada said.
“Nevertheless, he continued to offer ketamine to Mr. Perry,” Estrada said.
The other lead defendant, Sangha, is accused of selling 50 vials of ketamine for approximately $11,000 in cash over two weeks to Perry, working with Fleming and Iwamasa to distribute the drugs to Perry, according to Estrada. She is accused of selling Perry the batch of ketamine that killed him.
Perry died on Oct. 28, 2023, at the age of 54. He was discovered unresponsive in a jacuzzi at his Los Angeles home, police said. An autopsy report revealed he died from the acute effects of ketamine.
After his death, some of the co-conspirators allegedly talked about distancing themselves from the actor, according to the indictment. After Perry’s death was reported in the news, Sangha instructed Fleming on Oct. 28, 2023, “Delete all our messages,” according to the prosecutors.
Plasencia allegedly provided altered and falsified medical records, “purporting to show that he had a legitimate ‘treatment plan’ in place for Perry, with the intent to influence the investigation into Perry’s death,” in February and March in response to a request amid the federal investigation, prosecutors said.
The defendants allegedly used encrypted messaging and coded language referring to ketamine as “Dr. Pepper” to distribute their drugs, according to the indictment.
The indictment alleges that the two doctors were the initial sources of Perry’s ketamine supply, but at one point federal officials believe the drugs became too expensive and Perry switched to a new source, including Sangha, a federal source said.
A search of Sangha’s home following Perry’s death revealed a “drug-selling emporium,” including ketamine, methamphetamine, cocaine, scales and ledgers, Estrada said.
An 18-count superseding indictment returned by a grand jury on Wednesday charges Plasencia and Sangha with conspiracy to distribute ketamine and distribution of ketamine.
Plasencia is also charged with seven counts of distribution of ketamine and two counts of altering and falsifying documents or records related to the federal investigation.
The indictment alleges that Sangha was additionally aware of the danger of ketamine after, years earlier, selling the drug to someone who hours later died from an overdose in August 2019. A family member of the victim sent a message to Sangha, telling her the cause of death was ketamine, according to the indictment.
Plasencia faces a maximum of 120 years in federal prison if convicted, while Sangha faces a maximum of life in prison, prosecutors said.
3 defendants in plea agreements
The three others charged in connection with Perry’s death are in various stages of plea agreements, the DOJ said.
Chavez has agreed to plead guilty to one count of conspiracy to distribute ketamine, admitting in his plea agreement to selling ketamine to Plasencia, the DOJ said. Estrada said prosecutors filed a plea grant for him on Thursday. He is scheduled to be arraigned on Aug. 30 and faces up to 10 years in prison, prosecutors said.
Fleming and Iwamasa have signed plea agreements that have been entered, Estrada said. They face up to 25 and 15 years, respectively, when they are sentenced, prosecutors said.
Fleming pleaded guilty on Aug. 8 to one count of conspiracy to distribute ketamine and one count of distribution of ketamine resulting in death, admitting in court documents that he distributed 50 vials of ketamine that he obtained from Sangha to Iwamasa, including the ketamine that killed Perry, the DOJ said.
Iwamasa pleaded guilty on Aug. 7 to one count of conspiracy to distribute ketamine causing death. According to his plea agreement, Perry asked Iwamasa to help him procure ketamine in September 2023 and provided his assistant with “money, or promised to reimburse him, and directed him to find sources from whom to acquire the drugs.”
Prosecutors alleged that Plasencia taught Iwamasa how to inject Perry with ketamine. Iwamasa “admitted to repeatedly injecting Perry with ketamine without medical training, including performing multiple injections on Perry on October 28, 2023 — the day Perry died,” the DOJ said.
Plea agreement recounts Perry’s final hours
Iwamasa’s plea agreement also details the day Perry died.
At Perry’s direction, Iwamasa injected him with a shot of ketamine at approximately 8:30 a.m., then again at 12:45 p.m. while the actor watched a movie, according to the plea agreement.
About 40 minutes later, Perry asked his assistant to prepare the jacuzzi for him and “‘shoot me up a big one,’ referring to another shot of ketamine,” the plea agreement stated.
Iwamasa admitted to administering the shot while Perry was in or near the jacuzzi, then leaving the house to run errands for him, according to the document.
“After returning to the residence, defendant found [Perry] face down in the jacuzzi and deceased,” the document stated.
Perry had high levels of ketamine in his blood, likely lapsed into unconsciousness and then went underwater, according to the autopsy report.
He was reported to have been receiving ketamine infusions for depression and anxiety, with the most recent therapy coming 1 1/2 weeks before his death, according to the autopsy report. However, the medical examiner wrote the ketamine in his system at death could not have been from that infusion therapy, as ketamine’s half-life is three to four hours or less.
The autopsy report also listed drowning, coronary artery disease and buprenorphine effects as contributing factors not related to the immediate cause of death. The manner of death was ruled an accident.
Prescription drugs and loose pills were found at his home, but nothing near where he was found dead, according to the autopsy report.
Multiple agencies have been investigating in the months since his death, including the DEA, Los Angeles Police Department, United States Postal Service and the U.S. Attorney’s Office.
Perry was known for playing Chandler Bing on the hit sitcom “Friends,” which ran from 1994 to 2004.
The actor’s family, which includes his mother, Suzanne Morrison, and his stepfather, Keith Morrison, said in a statement Thursday that they are “heartbroken by Matthew’s death, but it has helped to know law enforcement has taken his case very seriously. We look forward to justice taking its course.”
This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.
(LOS ANGELES) — The man who allegedly hijacked a bus in Los Angeles and led police on an hourlong chase while holding the driver at gunpoint has been identified as Lamont Campbell, a 51-year-old man from L.A., according to the LAPD.
Campbell was arrested on murder charges after allegedly carjacking a bus early Wednesday morning in southern Los Angeles which ultimately left a currently unnamed 48-year-old Hispanic man from L.A. dead after Campbell allegedly shot him with a semi-automatic handgun, according to police.
The incident began at approximately 12:46 a.m. when the Los Angeles Police Department received radio calls about a disturbance on a bus in the area of Manchester Street and Figueroa Street in southern Los Angeles, Deputy Chief Donald Graham said in a briefing Wednesday morning.
“Officers located the Metro bus at South Figueroa Street and West 117th Street. Upon finding the bus, they observed passengers running from it and seeking help from the officers,” LAPD said in a statement on Wednesday evening. “The officers quickly learned from the passengers that there was an armed suspect on the Metro bus. They attempted to stop the bus but were unsuccessful, later discovering that the armed suspect had instructed the driver not to stop.”
Multiple spike strips were deployed by officers during the pursuit, deflating several tires on the bus and ultimately causing it to stop at 6th Street and Alameda Boulevard, according to LAPD.
“SWAT personnel quickly observed that a victim was down inside the bus, formulated a tactical plan, and made entry without delay. The suspect was taken into custody without further incident,” authorities said.
Officers immediately began to render medical aid to the victim who was suffering from gunshot wounds before he was taken to a local hospital where he was pronounced deceased, LAPD confirmed.
Police have not yet given a motive in the case but did say that Campbell has since been charged with murder and booked at the 77th Area Jail where he is being held on a $2 million bail.