Bay Shore man convicted in fatal shooting

A Bay Shore man was found guilty of murder Wednesday in Suffolk County Court in the fatal shooting two years ago of a man who, prosecutors say, was a rival drug dealer.

Maurice Wallace, 26, was convicted of second-degree murder in the shooting of Paul Joell, 40, of Bay Shore, a longtime Newsday collator. Wallace also was convicted of second-degree menacing for threatening a witness to the shooting. He faces a maximum sentence of 25 years to life in prison on the murder conviction.

Wallace shot Joell on Sept. 5, 2008, on the front porch of Joell's home on Third Avenue, then fled to Georgia, prosecutors said. Suffolk police arrested him several weeks later at the Port Authority bus terminal in Manhattan.

Wallace's attorney, Craig McElwee of North Babylon, argued that someone else killed Joell. "My client maintains his innocence and intends to appeal," he said.

Prosecutors said Wallace and Joell were rival drug dealers and Wallace believed Joell was stealing his customers.

Joell worked for Newsday for at least a decade before he was killed, his supervisor said. He raised two of the four children he had with his ex-wife, friends said at the time.

Sentencing is scheduled for Oct. 5 before County Court Judge Gary Weber.