Feds: David Brooks’ prosecutor named deputy chief

The prosecutor who secured the convictions of body armor magnate David Brooks and the leaders of multimillion-dollar Ponzi schemes has been named deputy chief of the Long Island Criminal Division of the Eastern District of New York’s branch of the U.S. attorney’s office, officials said Thursday.

Christopher C. Caffarone, who joined the office in 2008, has “also been at the forefront of the Office’s efforts to disrupt and dismantle violent street gangs,” the office of acting Eastern District U.S. Attorney Bridget M. Rohde said in a statement.

Caffarone “directed an investigation targeting members and associates of the Bloods street gang, which resulted in the arrest and conviction of a dozen defendants, including the leaders of two Bloods sets on Long Island,” Rohde said.

He has prosecuted a number of other “significant” fraud cases, securing convictions of the operators of a $96 million Ponzi scheme and a $60 million Ponzi scheme, officials said.

One high-profile fraud case involved Brooks, who was convicted of looting his Westbury company and masterminding a massive stock fraud scheme to pay for a lavish life.

Brooks, 61, once the chief executive of DHB Industries Inc., died last year while serving a 17-year sentence.

Caffarone, a cum laude graduate of the New York University School of Law, has been a supervisor in the Long Island office since last year and will continue his duties as branch manager.

By John Valenti

john.valenti@newsday.com

John Valenti, a reporter at Newsday since 1981, has been honored nationally by the Associated Press and Society of the Silurians for investigative, enterprise and breaking news reporting, as well as column writing, and is the author of “Swee'pea,” a book about former New York playground basketball star Lloyd Daniels. Valenti is featured in the Emmy Award-winning ESPN 30-for-30 film “Big Shot.”