Mid Hudson Times Oct. 03 2018 | Page 4

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Mid Hudson Times , Wednesday , October 3 , 2018

Guilty plea in murder case

Orange County District Attorney David M . Hoovler announced that on Friday , September 28 , 2018 , Wilfredo Mercado , 52 , of Newburgh , pleaded guilty before Orange County Court Judge Craig Stephen Brown to Murder in the Second Degree , in connection with the May 2017 , stabbing death of man inside a temporary emergency housing facility in the City of Newburgh .

At the time that he pleaded guilty , Mercado admitted that at approximately 11:15 p . m ., on May 23 , 2017 , he killed an employee inside the temporary emergency housing facility located at 44 Grand Street , where Mercado resided , by repeatedly stabbing him in the torso . Prosecutors had argued that that in addition to stabbing the victim , Mercado had repeatedly bludgeoned him and strangled the victim with his own belt .

Pursuant to a plea agreement which was placed on the record at the time that Mercado pleaded guilty , he faces up to twenty-one years to life in prison when he is sentenced on January 8 , 2019 .

Hoovler thanked the City of Newburgh Police Department for their investigation and the arrest of Mercado , as well as the New York State Police Major Crimes Unit who assisted in the investigation .

The case is being prosecuted by Senior Assistant District Attorney Jason Rosenwasser .

“ This was a particularly violent murder of a man who worked to help those who required assistance ,” said Hoovler . “ I commend the City of Newburgh Police Department for their investigation of this case and for their fast apprehension of the defendant . Those who kill by committing senseless violent acts deserve lengthy prison sentences , whether or not they used a firearm . The community will be safer while this defendant remains incarcerated .”

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In Brief

Newburgh woman pleads guilty to sex trafficking

A Newburgh woman pled guilty before Orange County Court Judge Craig Stephen Brown last week to two counts of sex trafficking for forcing two teenage girls to engage in prostitution .

Franiqua Patterson , 25 , also pled guilty on Friday to attempted assault for injuring a woman with a knife in January .

Patterson admitted that between November 12 , 2017 and February 5 , 2018 , she compelled a 15-year-old girl to engage in prostitution by threats of violence . Patterson admitted she forced the girl to act as a prostitute by beating and threatening her . She admitted taking most of the money the girl received from acts of prostitution .

Patterson also admitted that between February 20 , 2018 and April 5 , 2018 , she compelled a 19-year-old girl to engage in prostitution by threatening and beating her . She also admitted to taking most of the money from that girl had received from prostitution .

Patterson also admitted that on January 4 , 2018 she attempted to assault another woman with a knife while inside a First Street , Newburgh apartment and that she intended to cause the victim serious injury . Prosecutors had argued that the victim suffered lacerations to her arms .

District Attorney David Hoovler thanked the City of Newburgh Police Department for their investigation and the arrest of Patterson .

The sex trafficking cases are being prosecuted by Senior Assistant District Attorney Maryellen Albanese . The assault case is being prosecuted by Assistant District Attorney Neal Eriksen . Patterson is expected to get 12 years in prison and five years of post-release supervision when sentenced in December

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P-Tech Tries to bring home a $ 100,000 grant to build Memorial

Newburgh Free Academy P-Tech scholars are finalists for a $ 100,000 grant to build a memorial for the City of Newburgh .

“ The memorial will be designed to use a public space in the city to foster awareness of the history and acknowledge the factors that have impacted Newburgh and honor the resilience and hope seen everyday by the community in Newburgh ,” said P-Tech teacher Jackie Hess .

The grant comes from the Thank America ’ s Teachers ’ grant program by Farmers Insurance . Christine McCartney is one of the 15 teachers that have been chosen as the finalist for the grant . The six teachers with the most votes will each bring home one of the six $ 100,000 grants .

To vote for PTECH you can vote for McCartney of Newburgh Free Acadmemy daily at www . ThankAmericasTeachers . com . Voting opens on October 1 , 2018 and closes on October 31 , 2018 .

Anyone that votes for McCartney everyday the polls are open will have their name on a plaque at the memorial . To get daily reminders to vote you can visit https :// tinyurl . com / NewburghVote .

“ We have learned about public spaces used for healing ,” said Aiyanna Beltren , a student at Newburgh Free Academy . “ This is an opportunity to bring the type of healing to our community in Newburgh .”

- Kaitlyn Cordero

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City of Newburgh makes a huge commitment passing SAFER Grant

The City of Newburgh has found a possible long term solution to the underfunded fire department with the passing of the Department of Homeland Security ’ s Staffing for Adequate Fire and Emergency Response ( SAFER ) grant program .

The grant has rehired five positions and allowed the department to hire four more . This money does come with an incentive for the city . The city must provide a 25 percent match of contributions for the first two years and a 65 percent match for 2021 . This adds up to over $ 200,000 for the first two years and over $ 300,000 for the final year .

“ I ’ m in favor of supporting this [ resolution ] no matter what we need to do to make this happen . I think we need to make it happen ,” said Mayor Torrance Harvey . “ It ’ s going to take some creativity in terms of the budget in terms of what we need to do financially . There was a lot of conversation that members of this city council with the fire chief we all have a lot of dialogue and disc with our state partners and our county partners .”

According to Chief Terry Ahlers in a budget meeting Monday night the new positions will allow the department to eliminate a large portion of overtime with more men on hand to cover the firefighter hours .

The firefighters who were rehired or hired through the grant must go through the proper training before they can all start at the same time .

“ At the moment the momentum is slow , as we wait for the guys to come in and we deal with the building issues ,” said Chief Ahlers at Monday night ’ s city budget meeting .

Kaitlyn Cordero

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New Windsor to host dedication of Butterhill Wells Facility

The Town of New Windsor will be hosting a dedication ceremony for the new Butterhill Wells Water Treatment Facility on Friday , October 5 , 2018 .

The town has undertaken this ambitious project which consists of three new municipal wells and a new treatment facility . Residents on municipal water have started to receive water from the new system and the entire town will be transitioned in time for the Catskill Aqueduct to go offline for its planned shutdown .

The Town of New Windsor partnered with the NYCDEP which contributed over $ 12 million to help fund the overall project costs . The Commissioner and Deputy Commissioner of NYCDEP will be in attendance at the dedication .