4
Mid Hudson Times, Wednesday, January 13, 2016
DA announces guilty verdict in crack
cocaine possession case
Orange County District Attorney David
M. Hoovler announced that on Tuesday,
Jan. 12, , Jose Cruz-Lanza, 26, of the City
of Newburgh, was convicted of Criminal
Possession of a Controlled Substance in
the Third Degree and Criminal Possession
of a Controlled Substance in the Fourth
Degree, following a jury trial before Orange
County Court Judge Nicholas DeRosa.
Cruz-Lanza faces a maximum term of nine
years in prison when he is sentenced on
Feb. 23, 2016.
Prosecutors alleged that on May 11, 2015,
police recovered over five grams of cocaine
from Cruz-Lanza’s pants pocket. Police
had confronted Cruz-Lanza when they
responded to reports of gunshots on South
Clark Street in the City of Newburgh, and
observed him running from the location.
It was later determined that Cruz-Lanza
had not been involved in the shooting. The
cocaine, which consisted of both crack-cocaine and powder cocaine, was contained
in a plastic bag that held seven smaller
bags containing the cocaine. Police experts
testified that the manner in which the cocaine was packaged showed that Cruz-Lanza possessed the cocaine with
the intent to sell it, rather than for his personal use.
The Orange County jury convicted Cruz-Lanza of
both Criminal Possession of a Controlled Substance
in the Third Degree, for possessing the cocaine with
intent to sell it, and Criminal Possession of a Controlled
Substance in the Fourth Degree, for possessing more than
one-eighth of an ounce of cocaine. The maximum sen-
tence for Criminal Possession
of a Controlled Substance in
the Third Degree is nine years
in state prison. The maximum sentence for Criminal
Possession of a Controlled
Substance in the Fourth
Degree is five and one-half
years in state prison. Both of
those sentences would have to
run concurrently. Cruz-Lanza
was remanded without bail to
the Orange County Jail following the jury’s guilty verdict.
Hoovler thanked the
City of Newburgh Police
Department for their assistance in the investigation of
the case.
“The evidence in this
case clearly supported the
jury’s determination that this
defendant possessed cocaine
Jose Cruz-Lanza
with the intent to sell it,” said
District Attorney Hoovler. “The illegal narcotics trade
is the number one crime-driver in Orange County, and
elsewhere. We simply cannot tolerate the devastation that
illegal narcotics are causing on our communities. My
office will continue to seek lengthy state prison sentences
for narcotics traffickers.”
Hoovler highly commended Senior Assistant District
Attorney Matthew Healy for his work on the prosecution
of the case.
$81K settlement in Lembhard case
Continued from page 1
for the children of Michael Lembhard,” Kennedy said,
reading a prepared statement Monday.
“We continue to express our condolences to the
Lembhard family and our respect for the work our police
officers do each and every day under very difficult conditions.”
Lembhard was shot on March 7, 2012, while being
arrested by police. Lembhard, 22, lunged at police with a
knife. He was shot 15 times. City police officers Nicholas
Cardinale and Eric Henderson were not charged in the
shooting, which ignited racial tensions and a slew of
protests around the city.
“This kid’s life was worth $81,000?” asked Mark
Coolidge of the council, expressing anger over what he
and other family members described as a pittance in
exchange for his nephew’s life.
Several family members yelled obscenities at the council before they were escorted out of the meeting by police.
City Corporation Counsel Michelle Kelson expanded
on details on the settlement. “The city received one
notice of claim and one lawsuit,” Kelson said. “The plain-
tiffs in this claim are Rachel McCants, who was named by
the Surrogate’s Court of Orange County as the representative for the estate of the deceased, Michael Lembhard,”
and two mothers of Lembhard’s children.
They were all represented by attorneys, who requested
the appointment of a federal mediator in the case, Kelson
said. “This was a voluntary process,” she explained.
“They did not have to agree. But, the people in the room,
with the help of the mediator, reached a resolution to try
and provide a financial nest egg for the living children.”
The Surrogate’s Court will “decide how this money
is placed in trust for these three minor children until
they reach the age of majority,” Kelson said. “That’s the
major premise of the settlement,” she said.
Regarding family members at the meeting who
appeared not to have been aware of the settlement, “that
is on the representatives of the individuals who brought
the lawsuit,” said Kelson. She added, “The value of an
individual life – there is no price tag for that.”
Rayford became visibly upset as she spoke about the
shooting following the vote. “It’s heavy on our hearts as
a community,” she said.
In Brief
BHC celebrates a ‘Legacy of Service’
on MLK Day
The 47th Annual Rev. Dr. Martin Luther
King Jr. national holiday will be celebrated by the
Black History Committee of the Hudson Valley on
Monday, January 18, 9:30 a.m. – 2:30 p.m. The event
will be held at New Hope Baptist Church, 20 Rev.
Brigg’s Way (Mills Street), Newburgh, New York.
The holiday activities will include:
• An ecumenical initiative joining various religious traditions and governmental sectors.
• Workshops for Youth – Toddler to 2nd Grade,
3rd-5th Grades, 6th – 8th Grades and High School.
• Worksh