Man charged in scam accused of assaulting officer

A man accused of stealing hundreds of thousands of dollars from couples by pretending to broker adoptions of nonexistent infants was arrested Thursday after prosecutors say he assaulted a correction officer at the Nassau County jail.

Kevin Cohen, 41, of Roslyn, assaulted a corporal at the jail on Friday after being told he had to let someone else have a turn using the copy machine, officials with the district attorney's office and sheriff's officers union said.

Cohen pleaded not guilty Thursday afternoon in First District Court in Hempstead to charges of second-degree assault and second-degree obstructing governmental administration, said Carole Trottere, a spokeswoman for Nassau District Attorney Kathleen Rice. His bail was set at $30,000, but he was remanded to the jail in East Meadow on charges stemming from the alleged adoption scam.

Michael Adams, president of the Nassau County Sheriff Officers Association, said Cohen was using the copy machine near the jail's law library Friday when the corporal told him he needed to give someone else a turn. It was then that Cohen became aggressive, Adams said.

Adams said the corporal, whose name was not released, suffered some bruised ribs and other minor injuries.

Elizabeth Loconsolo, a spokeswoman for the Nassau County Sheriff's Department, said the officer was treated at a local hospital and released. She said Thursday was his first day back at work.

Cohen, who is representing himself, is set to begin trial Monday in the alleged adoption-scam case.

He has been in the Nassau County Correctional Center since Sept. 25, 2009, when he pleaded not guilty to a 69-count grand jury indictment that includes multiple counts of second- and third-degree grand larceny, scheme to defraud and forgery, among other charges.

Prosecutors said Cohen scammed 13 couples from as far away as Georgia and Texas into giving him a total of more than $300,000 for adoption expenses.

If convicted, Cohen faces 5 to 15 years on the most serious charge, but could face more time if a judge rules that he should serve his sentences consecutively, prosecutors said.