Long Island

Nassau

Nicole Fuller

A federal judge has denied former Nassau County Executive Edward Mangano’s bid for a new trial in his 2019 corruption conviction and set a March 23 date for sentencing. 
U.S. District Court Judge Joan M. Azrack, in a 162-page memorandum and order issued Thursday, rejected post-trial defense motions seeking to overturn Mangano’s 2019 conviction. 
Mangano’s wife and co-defendant, Linda Mangano, who was found guilty of lying to the FBI and obstruction of justice, had joined the motion for a new trial. Her bid was also denied and she’ll be sentenced on the same day as her husband. 
Mangano’s attorney Kevin Keating had sought his client’s acquittal on bribery charges based on multiple factors, including his contention that the government’s star witness, Harendra Singh, a restaurateur, committed perjury when he testified at trial. 
In a text message Thursday night, Keating said: "We are surprised and disappointed as we believe that, both on the law and the facts, dismissal of these remaining counts was required. But we are unbowed and will continue our fight." 
Keating additionally cited the 2020 decision by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit, which tossed three of the seven counts in the corruption conviction of former New York State Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver. Keating argued the Silver case set new standards for prosecutors in similar cases, and that Mangano should get a new trial and be acquitted on the bribery charges because of flaws in the jury instructions and insufficient trial evidence. 
Keating also sought a new trial based on the prosecution’s post-trial disclosure that another cooperating witness, Anthony Gulino, had bribed National Grid officials who dealt with him as a vendor for thousands of dollars in cash. Gulino had not disclosed his conduct to the government previously, which deprived Keating of the ability to cross-examine Gulino on the topic. 
Gulino, a businessman who won millions of dollars in Nassau County contracts, had testified at trial that he gave Mangano $3,600 in cash to gain "access" to the then-county executive after repairing a railing at Mangano’s home for free. 
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But the judge, in dismissing the argument, said: "To the extent that Gulino’s testimony has any relevance to sentencing, Mangano now knows about Gulino’s additional conduct and failure to disclose that conduct to the government, and he can raise arguments about that conduct at sentencing." 
John Marzulli, a spokesman for the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of New York, which prosecuted the Manganos, declined to comment. 
Linda Mangano’s attorney John Carman said in a text message Friday morning: "While the decision is disappointing, it represents the beginning of the end of a process that has already taken six years. Even so, Linda continues to show incredible strength and determination." 
Also on Friday, Azrack granted a prosecution request requiring Edward Mangano, who in 2020 began working at Oheka Castle, to provide the government’s Probation Department with updated information on his employment and earnings. Keating did not answer Friday when asked if Mangano is still working at the castle. 
During a seven-week jury trial in 2019, Edward Mangano was found guilty of conspiracy to commit federal program bribery, federal program bribery, conspiracy to commit honest services wire fraud, honest services wire fraud and conspiracy to obstruct justice. 
The jury convicted Mangano of using his influence as Nassau’s then-new county executive in 2010 to sway Oyster Bay officials into indirectly backing what amounted to $20 million in loans for Singh. 
Jurors found Linda Mangano guilty of conspiracy to obstruct justice, obstruction of justice and two counts of lying to the FBI in connection with what prosecutors said was a bribe in the form of her more than $100,000 annual no-show job provided by Singh. 
The couple’s first trial ended with a hung jury in May 2018. Another defendant, former Town of Oyster Bay Supervisor John Venditto, was acquitted of corruption charges. 
The former county executive faces up to 20 years in prison, and Linda Mangano faces two to three years, although both are likely to receive lesser sentences under federal sentencing guidelines. 
During an April hearing on the motions, Keating questioned Singh about a statement he made in a sworn deposition in a civil court case later in 2019 that the bribes he gave Mangano related to Nassau County "had nothing to do with the Town of Oyster Bay." 
Singh testified that he felt "under duress" during his civil case appearance and was being a "wise guy" and "jerk" because of the way he was being questioned. 
Federal prosecutors have denied that Singh committed perjury during his lengthy testimony on the witness stand. 
Azrack, in her Thursday order, said the evidence presented at the April hearing failed to establish that Singh lied under oath. 
While Mangano was convicted on the Oyster Bay loan scheme, the jury acquitted him on charges that he steered two county contracts to Singh in 2012 that together were worth more than $400,000 — one for bread and rolls at Nassau’s jail, and one to feed relief workers after Superstorm Sandy. 
Mangano has also been disbarred as an attorney. 
Prosecutors put forth evidence at trial that Singh had given the Manganos a series of gifts that were bribes, including a $3,000 office chair, a $3,600 massage chair, about $3,000 for flooring in the Manganos’ bedroom, $19,000 in vacations and around $5,000 toward a luxury watch for the Manganos’ son. 
Singh also discounted a food bill for Mangano’s campaign by $42,000, prosecutors have said. 
While the defense argued they were not bribes, but simply presents from a longtime family friend, prosecutors countered that the gifts did not begin until after Mangano was elected county executive. 
Azrack said the defenses’ sentencing memos for both Manganos must be filed with the court by Feb. 11. The prosecution has until March 4 to respond.

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Federal judge denies former Nassau County Executive Edward Mangano's bid for new trial

Judge denies Mangano's bid for new trial

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Suffolk County District Attorney-Elect Raymond Tierney has won convictions of MS-13 gang members, child abusers and a powerful political boss during 26 years as a career prosecutor. 
Tierney told Newsday that next on his agenda is pushing to overhaul the state's bail reform law, which eliminated cash bail for people arrested for most misdemeanors and nonviolent crimes. 
Since it became law in 2020, opponents of bail reform have blamed it for spurring a rise in crime, including in Suffolk. But proponents of the law argue there is no evidence connecting crime increases, which they attribute mostly to the pandemic and ensuing economic woes. 
"I think bail reform is a disaster," Tierney said in an interview. "What we can do as the professionals in the field is talk about how these laws don't work and don't keep us safe. I can be loud and unequivocal in saying which aspects of these laws are not good for the safety of our citizens." 
Tierney, 55, of Holtsville, is set to be sworn in as district attorney Jan. 1. He will oversee an office with an estimated $43 million annual budget and a staff of 441 full-time employees, including about 225 prosecutors. Tierney's salary for his first year in office is budgeted at $215,250. 
In addition to lobbying the State Legislature to repeal the bail reform law and give judges discretion on bail, he said he plans to reestablish a unit concentrating on gangs. 
A career prosecutor 
Tierney spent about 14 years in the Suffolk district attorney's office in two separate stints, worked in the Brooklyn district attorney's office and also as a federal prosecutor based in Central Islip for more than a decade. 
He said he plans to bring a "tough on crime" approach to prosecuting alleged gang members and others accused of committing violent crimes or selling drugs like fentanyl, a highly addictive and sometimes lethal opioid. 
"When I talk about being tough on crime … I'm talking about those individuals, or individuals who are profiting handsomely from selling drugs to the community," Tierney said. "So I'm going to be very strict and very tough on those individuals." 
Tierney left the Brooklyn district attorney's office in February to become the chief counsel for compliance and enforcement at Suffolk County Off Track Betting Corp. He needed to be Suffolk-based in order to run for the county's top law enforcement job. 
As a prosecutor, he has gotten an up-close look at political corruption on Long Island. 
Tierney won a conviction in 2016 against Suffolk Conservative Party leader Edward Walsh, who was sentenced to two years in prison for illegally pocketing more than $200,000 in pay he collected in the sheriff’s department while he was actually golfing, gambling or politicking. 
Tierney was also part of a team of federal prosecutors who in 2018 tried a corruption case against former Nassau County Executive Edward Mangano, his wife Linda Mangano and former Oyster Bay Town Supervisor John Venditto. 
Venditto was acquitted and a mistrial was declared in the Manganos’ cases after the jury deadlocked. The Manganos were retried in March 2019 and were convicted by a team of prosecutors that didn't include Tierney. 
The panel found Edward Mangano, 56, guilty of conspiracy to commit federal program bribery, federal program bribery, conspiracy to commit honest services wire fraud, honest services wire fraud and conspiracy to obstruct justice. Jurors found Linda Mangano, also 56, guilty of conspiracy to obstruct justice, obstruction of justice and two counts of lying to the FBI. They are awaiting sentencing. 
In a separate corruption case in Suffolk, Tierney's brother-in-law, former Suffolk Police Det. Kenneth Bombace, testified with immunity at the obstruction trial of former Suffolk District Attorney Thomas Spota and top aide Christopher McPartland, that he was one of the detectives, along with ex-Suffolk Police Chief James Burke, who beat a handcuffed prisoner inside a police precinct in December 2012. 
Spota and McPartland were both convicted of conspiracy, obstruction of justice, witness tampering and acting as accessories to the deprivation of prisoner Christopher Loeb’s civil rights. They began serving 5-year prison sentences this month for their roles in orchestrating the cover-up of Burke's prisoner beating. Burke, who pleaded guilty to depriving a person of civil rights and conspiracy to commit obstruction of justice for beating Loeb, served most of a 46-month prison sentence. 
Tierney was not involved in the Spota and McPartland prosecutions. Asked about Bombace's role, Tierney said: "That's my brother-in-law and I have a great relationship with him. I never had a professional relationship with him." 
Tierney has also prosecuted scores of MS-13 murder cases, including the 2014 conviction of alleged MS-13 gang member Adalberto Guzman, who was found guilty in the February 2010 killings of Vanessa Argueta and her 2-year-old son Diego Torres. 
Tierney's education 
A graduate of St. Anthony's High School in South Huntington, Tierney was recruited by Brown University in Providence, Rhode Island, to play football. A knee injury during his freshman year sidetracked the running back’s college career, though he resumed playing in his junior and senior years. 
After graduating from Brown in 1988, he worked as a paralegal for a year before entering law school at St. John's University in Queens. His grandfather and namesake was a lawyer and a judge in Queens. 
Tierney — who with his wife, Erica, has four children — began his career in the Suffolk district attorney’s office under former District Attorney James Catterson in 1992 and left after seven years to work for the law firm Shaub, Ahmuty, Citrin &amp; Spratt LLP in New Hyde Park. He returned to the Suffolk district attorney’s office in 2002, when Spota unseated Catterson. 
He left that job in 2008 and went to the U.S. attorney's office, where he worked as assistant United States attorney until 2019. 
He then returned to the state system, as an executive assistant district attorney to Brooklyn District Attorney Eric Gonzalez, a Democrat. 
Randi Chavis, the now-retired staff attorney-in-charge of the Central Islip office of the Federal Defenders of New York, an independent nonprofit, battled Tierney as a defense attorney for defendants too poor to hire their own counsel. 
"It's fair to say that we certainly didn't see eye to eye on the issues in the cases or the appropriate outcomes, but Ray was always respectful, fair. Integrity, he had plenty of it." 
Among Tierney's law school classmates was Richard Donoghue, who served as the U.S. attorney in the Eastern District in Brooklyn for about two years under former President Donald Trump. 
Tierney's desire to be a prosecutor dates to law school, Donoghue said. The two reconnected when Tierney was a prosecutor in the Suffolk district attorney's office and called Donoghue's office to ask about coordinating on a child sexual abuse case. 
"He came over with some detectives and laid out a case and as soon as I looked at it, I said 'we'll take it,'" Donoghue said. "I'm sure people in the DA's office were not encouraged to walk their cases over to the U.S. attorney's office. So I think he stuck his neck out in doing that." 
The defendant was convicted of sexually abusing minors and possessing child pornography and was sentenced to 30 years in prison. 
Clashing with former bosses 
Working on child abuse and domestic violence cases under Spota, Tierney recalled clashing with his bosses. 
"Obedience was weighed more heavily," Tierney said. "I would stick to my guns and that was not really appreciated." 
Tierney, later working in the Public Corruption Bureau under McPartland, said the case of then-Ocean Beach acting Police Chief George Hesse, accused of police brutality, was "my demise." 
"Chris [McPartland] and I had a disagreement and he said I was insubordinate and he wanted me to be fired," Tierney said. 
Tierney kept his job, but he was reassigned to rackets before leaving months later in 2008 to work as a prosecutor in the U.S. attorney's office. 
"I acted contrite and I acted sorry because I didn't want to be fired," he said. 
Heading into the election 
Tierney said his 15 percentage point victory in November over incumbent one-term District Attorney Timothy Sini — a former federal prosecutor and Suffolk police commissioner — didn't surprise him. 
Running on both the Republican and Conservative lines, Tierney said he felt the pulse of a community concerned about a perception of escalating crime and angry with the new limits on bail. 
Sini, a Democrat, raised nearly $2 million for his campaign and had the backing of the powerful Suffolk County Police Benevolent Association, which typically more closely aligns with Republican candidates. 
Tierney's campaign website displayed photos of him with prominent Republicans like former Vice President Mike Pence and ex-Attorney General Jeff Sessions. Tierney said his vows to push for overturning bail reform and his self-described title as a "political neophyte" appealed to voters. 
Jesse Garcia, chairman of the Suffolk Republican Party, said he recruited Tierney to run after hearing his name from ex-judges and lawyers. 
"He had prosecuted everything from drug cartels, to gangs, murderers and political corruption; he had the full gamut," Garcia said. 
Suffolk County Legis. Robert Trotta, a Republican and former police detective and an outspoken critic of the police union leaders, has known Tierney since they were kids. 
"I've known him as being honest, with integrity, a great prosecutor who's honest and isn't political," Trotta said. 
The office priorities 
Tierney said despite assertions during the campaign that he would scrap Sini's Conviction Integrity Bureau, which reviews claims of innocence and prosecutorial misconduct in earlier convictions, he's keeping it, making it stronger and "more efficient in protecting those wrongly convicted." 
The unsolved murders of 10 people, mostly young women who were sex workers, known collectively as the Gilgo Beach killings, is a case that Tierney is eager to take on. 
"It's an absolute priority," Tierney said. "I don't think you can come to the case with any preconceived ideas because then you're sort of limiting yourself. … Nothing is unsolvable." 
Tierney said he wants to provide more updates to the victims' families, some of whom, according to Tierney, have felt frustrated by a lack of information from authorities. 
But he insisted he'll invest much of his energy on the bail issue, acknowledging that any changes to the state's cashless bail system will have to come from the State Legislature. 
Tierney said he'll use his post as district attorney to lobby aggressively for changes to the law, including for judges to have more discretion over bail. 
"You can reform any system, and should continually strive to reform systems," he said. "But I think when it comes to drivers of violence, you have to first and foremost protect society."

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Incoming Suffolk DA Raymond Tierney plans to use 'tough on crime' approach

Suffolk County District Attorney-elect Ray Tierney sat down with Newsday to discuss his plans for when he takes over the office in January.

 


Suffolk County District Attorney-elect Tierney discusses plans for office

Newsday

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Rachelle Blidner

RAYMOND A. TIERNEY 
No party affiliation 
BACKGROUND: 
<ul> 
 <li>Tierney, 55, of Holtsville, is a former prosecutor who works as chief counsel for compliance and enforcement at Suffolk County Off-Track Betting Corp. Tierney, who is not registered to any political party, is running on the Republican and Conservative party lines.</li> 
 <li>He spent nearly 14 years as an assistant Suffolk County district attorney and 11 years as an assistant U.S. attorney for the Eastern District of New York, where he served as a trial supervisor in federal district court. Tierney served most recently as executive assistant district attorney for violent criminal enterprises and crimes strategies at the Kings County District Attorney’s Office in Brooklyn. He worked previously in private legal practice.</li> 
 <li>Tierney received an undergraduate degree from Brown University and a law degree from St. John’s University in Queens.</li> 
</ul> 
ISSUES: 
<ul> 
 <li>Tierney touts his experience as a federal and county prosecutor in cases including the Westhampton Beach beating of Shane Daniels, the MS-13 gang murder of Vanessa Argueta and her 2-year-old son Diego in Central Islip, and corruption cases against former Nassau County Executive Ed Mangano and former Oyster Bay Town Supervisor John Venditto.</li> 
 <li>He says he would run a politically independent district attorney’s office, increase training for prosecutors, improve relationships with federal authorities, place the most experienced prosecutors in courtrooms and consolidate some bureaus.</li> 
 <li>Tierney says he would more aggressively prosecute gang violence, shootings, white collar, domestic violence and child abuse crimes. He says he is concerned about a rise in shootings, along with the ramifications of the state bail reform law. He wants to create a dedicated gang unit, indict defendants accused of having illegal firearms, and use technology such as ShotSpotter to identify shooting locations and increase gang surveillance.</li> 
</ul> 
Watch DA Tim Sini and challenger Ray Tierney answer LIers' questions in a <a href="https://www.newsday.com/long-island/politics/tim-sini-ray-tierney-suffolk-district-attorney-1.50393649">virtual town hall.</a>

Politics

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Raymond A. Tierney, Suffolk County District Attorney

Scott Eidler

LAURA CURRAN 
Democratic 
BACKGROUND: 
<ul> 
 <li>Curran, 53, a former Baldwin school board member and Nassau County legislator, is seeking a second term as Nassau County executive. </li> 
 <li>A former newspaper reporter for the New York Daily News and the New York Post, Curran received her bachelor's degree in humanities from Sarah Lawrence College and did graduate work in American Studies at the CUNY Graduate School.</li> 
 <li>Curran succeeded former County Executive Edward Mangano, a Republican, after he was arrested on federal corruption charges, along with his wife, Linda Mangano, and now-deceased Oyster Bay Supervisor John Venditto. Venditto was acquitted on federal charges in 2018 but pleaded guilty to a state felony and state misdemeanor charge in 2019. Edward and Linda Mangano, who are appealing their federal convictions in a 2019 retrial, are awaiting sentencing.</li> 
</ul> 
ISSUES: 
<ul> 
 <li>Curran reassessed all 385,000 residential properties in 2018 after a nearly decadelong freeze of property values. Republicans, who joined Democrats to approve the reassessment, say Curran's program was "botched" and caused property taxes to increase sharply. Assessment experts praised the new roll as highly accurate and say her plan to phase-in assessment increases, which won approvals from the State Legislature, the governor's office and the Nassau County Legislature, helped to prevent huge sticker shock for many property owners.</li> 
 <li>Curran says her administration has addressed Nassau's "culture of corruption" — boosting financial disclosure requirements and contracting procedures through executive orders — and turned around county finances. The county achieved budget surpluses in 2019 and 2020 and is on track to secure one in 2021, and is planning to offer a $70 million tax levy cut in 2022. Officials from the Nassau Interim Finance Authority, Nassau's financial control board, say a $1 billion refinancing of Nassau debt, along with receipt of hundreds of millions of dollars in federal pandemic aid, have helped stabilize county finances. But NIFA has warned Nassau could experience large budget deficits after 2022.</li> 
 <li>Curran cites her leadership during the early days of the coronavirus pandemic and her work in securing high vaccination rates across the county in 2021. Curran also cites administration programs to provide aid to small businesses during the pandemic, and to promote the county's economic recovery.</li> 
</ul> 
Watch Laura Curran, Bruce Blakeman clash over taxes, crime at a <a href="https://www.newsday.com/long-island/politics/laura-curran-bruce-blakeman-nassau-county-executive-1.50389844">Newsday town hall</a>.

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Laura Curran, Nassau County Executive

In the race for Suffolk County district attorney, the question of who will be tougher on crime — Democrat Tim Sini or Ray Tierney, the Republican and Conservative Party nominee — has arisen as the top issue. 
Sini, the incumbent, is seeking election to a second term against Tierney, a former federal and Suffolk County prosecutor. 
Sini, 41, of Babylon, says he has targeted MS-13 gang violence, environmental crimes, drug dealing and political corruption since taking office in 2018. 
Sini, a former federal prosecutor, has held frequent news conferences touting arrests and cases his office is pursuing throughout his tenure. 
"We've been keeping Suffolk safe for the past six years and will continue to fight for the residents to keep Suffolk as safe as possible, and will continue to decimate gangs like MS-13," Sini told Newsday, referring to his service as police commissioner and district attorney. 
Tierney, 55, of Holtsville, points to his experience as a former assistant United States Attorney for the Eastern District of New York and as a former Suffolk County prosecutor.<a data-onecms-id="contentid/storywidget.1.50391967" data-onecms-type="storywidget" href="#/content/contentid/storywidget.1.50391967">Story Widget Link</a>
 
Tierney, chief counsel for compliance and enforcement at Suffolk County Off-Tracking Betting Corp., said as district attorney he would bring more indictments in criminal cases, reestablish a dedicated gang unit, reinstall ShotSpotter technology in the county and lobby the state Legislature to overturn bail reform laws. 
During the campaign, Tierney has held regular news conferences in which he highlights what he says were failures by Sini to aggressively prosecute criminal defendants who allegedly committed more serious crimes while on bail or court-ordered release. 
"I'm not portraying myself as tougher on crime," Tierney, who is not registered with a political party, told Newsday. "I am tougher on crime." 
It's not unusual for district attorney races to focus on the question of which candidate will fight crime most effectively, said political consultant Michael Dawidziak, who has worked primarily for Republicans. 
" ‘I’m the person who’s going to keep your neighborhoods safe, keep the criminals off the street,’ " Dawidziak said of typical campaign messaging. 
But district attorney campaigns have a twist this year on Long Island and in some other areas of the state, Dawidziak said. 
Republicans are attacking Democrats for bail reform laws the Democrat-controlled state Legislature passed in 2019. 
The reform package eliminated cash bail for most misdemeanor and nonviolent charges, so defendants won't have to wait in jail before trial if they can't afford to post bail. 
Opponents of the law, including many county district attorneys, warned it could enable criminal defendants to commit crimes while out of jail. 
Supporters of the law say reoffending is rare, and argue that detaining people based on their ability to post bail discriminates against low-income defendants and pressures them to accept plea bargains. 
Dawidziak said polling has shown bail reform to be unpopular in suburban areas such as Nassau and Suffolk counties. 
"I haven't seen anything this unpopular in a long time," Dawidziak said. 
Both Sini and Tierney say they oppose the bail reform law. 
Sini served as a federal prosecutor for more than four years. 
He prosecuted cases against the former national leader of the Trinitarios gang, a Bronx drug trafficking group and a murder-for-hire conspiracy, according to the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Southern District of New York. 
Sini, a graduate of American University in Washington, D.C., and Brooklyn Law School, worked for about a year as deputy Suffolk County executive for public safety under County Executive Steve Bellone, who appointed him as county police commissioner. 
Sini served as commissioner for 18 months. He was elected as Suffolk County district attorney in November 2017. 
Sini, who was elected recently as president of the state district attorneys association, said if reelected he would continue to invest in new technology and "make the office a national model." 
Tierney, a graduate of Brown University and St. John's University School of Law in Queens, started his career in the Suffolk County district attorney's office. 
During 14 years in the office, Tierney prosecuted two men charged in the near-fatal beating of Shane Daniels outside a Westhampton Beach nightclub in 1996, as well as rape, domestic abuse and child pornography cases. 
Tierney joined the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Eastern District in 2008. He prosecuted cases against the MS-13 gang, and political corruption cases against former Nassau County Executive Ed Mangano, former Oyster Bay Town Supervisor John Venditto and former Suffolk Conservative Party leader Edward Walsh. 
In 2019, Tierney joined the Kings County district attorney's office, where he oversaw units focused on violent criminal enterprises, crime strategies and police body-worn cameras. 
He served there for about a year, before moving to Suffolk OTB. 
As the challenger in the DA's race, Tierney has focused on Sini's record as district attorney, arguing the incumbent is "soft on crime." 
Tierney’s primary argument is that Sini's office has failed to indict enough suspects, including in dozens of illegal gun possession cases. 
Tierney says he would indict in every gun possession case possible. 
Tierney has held weekly news conferences focused on issues including a spate of fentanyl overdoses on the East End in August, a murder in April in Bay Shore and a shooting there in September. 
Of the suspects in those cases, three had been out of jail on bail or court-ordered release for previous arrests for crimes such as illegal gun possession and assault, according to court records. 
Tierney says Sini's 's office should have indicted the suspects immediately after their first offenses, or on more serious charges. 
If that had happened, judges who dealt with them as defendants after subsequent arrests may have taken the cases more seriously and been more likely to have set higher bail or remanded the defendants to jail, according to Tierney. 
"They presented a clear and present danger to the community," Tierney said of the defendants. "You take that individual off the street as soon as possible." 
Sini defended his performance in all the cases Tierney cites, and said his office fought for higher bail or to remand defendants to jail when allowed by law. 
"There's literally not a single thing in this procedural history that one could even remotely argue was handled anything but appropriately by my office," Sini told Newsday. 
The three cases Tierney has focused on in his news conferences on the indictment issue involve Black male defendants 
Jason Williamson, executive director of New York University’s Center on Race, Inequality, and the Law, said campaign narratives such as Tierney's play to "existing fears and stereotypes" about Black men. 
Tierney responded that in raising the issue of whether Sini is prosecuting aggressively enough, he is speaking up on behalf of crime victims in the county, who include people of color. 
Attorneys for some of the defendants say Tierney is blaming their clients for serious past crimes they have not been convicted of, when they deserve the presumption of innocence. 
Sini said his prosecutors have used their discretion to seek indictments appropriately. 
When an indictment was not brought immediately for earlier criminal allegations, prosecutors were either negotiating plea deals with defense attorneys, gathering more evidence for a broader investigation or trying to protect witnesses or victims who did not want to be identified in court, Sini said. 
"Any prosecutor knows that there are circumstances where you do not indict," Sini said. "But let's be clear, we've indicted thousands of cases." 
In New York, indictments handed up by grand juries in secret proceedings represent the primary pathway for prosecuting felonies, legal experts said. 
Yet, indictments are handed up in only a relatively small percentage of cases, according to data from the state Office of Court Administration. 
With 101,369 felony arrests of adults statewide in 2020, there were 12,394 felony indictments, the data show. 
In Suffolk County, there were 3,560 felony arrests last year, and 438 felony indictments. 
In Nassau, the rate was higher in 2020: 4,607 felony arrests, and 971 indictments. 
Hofstra University criminal law professor Alafair Burke called it unusual for defendants to be arrested for crimes while awaiting resolution of earlier charges. 
In New York City, for instance, 14% of people released on bail for felony charges were rearrested on other charges in 2020, according to the New York Police Department website. Such statistics are not available for Nassau and Suffolk counties. 
Burke, a former Portland, Oregon, prosecutor and a novelist, said the only way to ensure defendants won't reoffend while on bail would be to remand all of them pending trial, which is "neither practical nor just." 
Nonetheless, Burke said, "that's every prosecutors’ nightmare — you don't charge a case for some reason and then something bad happens."

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Democrat Tim Sini, Republican Ray Tierney battle over who's toughest on crime in Suffolk

Sini, Tierney battle over who'll be toughest on crime

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Mangano-Venditto trial

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A team of NASA engineers is studying the Apollo Lunar Module on display at the Cradle of Aviation in Uniondale in preparation of America's next moon landing.

'It's an incredible engineering triumph'

More than 200 people marched through the streets of Hempstead Village in an anti-ICE protest. NewsdayTV's Virginia Huie reports.

'ICE out of Hempstead'

Law enforcement sources say one suspect is in custody in connection with fatal stabbings in Island Park and Valley Stream.

Man in custody in connection with fatal stabbings in Nassau

A rehearsal was held on Monday at the United Methodist Church of Hempstead for an upcoming gospel concert that will raise funds for local social justice movements.

'Empowered to use our voice'

Dina Navid, of Roslyn, said she has been trying to keep in touch with family members in the country, and described the war as "heartbreak." NewsdayTV's Andrew Ehinger reports.

'I feel like this is only the start of it'

The use of the armory has put the mayor at odds with advocates who want a written directive keeping ICE away from village property. NewsdayTV's Andrew Ehinger reports.

Advocates: ICE should be banned from village properties

Fifty people from 25 different countries became citizens at a naturalization ceremony at Paul D. Schreiber High School in Port Washington. NewsdayTV's Ken Buffa reports.

'Hope for a better life'

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Liberty Water has applied to raise rates in three of the areas it serves on Long Island. NewsdayTV's Andrew Ehinger reports.

Liberty seeks water rate hikes of $21-$28 a month for some Nassau customers

Make the jump to light speed on this week's LI Works. NewsdayTV's Ken Buffa meets with a member of The 501st Legion, Empire City Garrison.

LI Works: Explore the dark side of the Force with Ken

The report identified over half a million hateful posts on X between January 2025 and June 2026, with monthly growth of 75%. NewsdayTV's Andrew Ehinger reports.

Anti-South Asian rhetoric surging on some social media platforms, report says

NewsdayTV's Doug Geed goes inside Critterville Farm Sanctuary to meet the rescued animals finding a second chance and the local passion that keeps it all going.

Out East: Critterville in Riverhead

NewsdayTV's Macy Egeland talks to Andrea McCade, founder of The Social Mom Club LI, about how new moms can connect with others.

Working Moms: Making mom friends

NewsdayTV's Ken Buffa visits Co-Owner, Dough & Co. Pizza to try the Apple Bay Pizza, which is exclusive to their Oyster Bay location.

Trendy Bites: An apple pie ... pizza?

Video of two Suffolk police officers joining a group of teens playing soccer goes viral. NewsdayTV's Shari Einhorn has more.

Chance encounter turns into viral video

High school athletes striving to play sports in college might want to look at niche sports that give them a better chance. NewsdayTV's Jared Valluzzi reports.

Niche sports might get you a leg up to play at college level

NewsdayTV's Carissa Kellman explores the historic and festive charm of Sleepy Hollow during a fall day trip.

A hauntingly good time in Sleepy Hollow

NewsdayTV's Andi Berlin tried some new martini combinations at Beacon in Long Beach.

Design your own martini at this Long Beach speakeasy

<a href="https://www.newsday.com/video/newsdaytv-top-stories">Get more on these and other NewsdayTV stories</a>

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