Plea In Litany Of Criminal Activities

MOUNT VERNON, NY — Nygel Joseph, 21, of Mount Vernon, New York was sentenced to two to six
years in state prison by Judge Barry Warhit after pleading guilty on Aug. 30 to:

• one count of Criminal Possession of a Forged Instrument in the First Degree, a class “C” Felony,
• one count of Grand Larceny in the Second Degree, a class “C” Felony,
• one count of Grand Larceny in the Third Degree, a class “D” Felony,
• one count of Identity Theft in the Second Degree, a class “E” Felony,
• one count of Unauthorized Use of a Vehicle in the Third Degree, a class “A” Misdemeanor.

Today’s sentence is the culmination of a prosecution in which Joseph was originally charged via three Grand Jury Indictments and one Felony Complaint, Westchester County District Attorney Anthony A. Scarpino, Jr. announced.

Joseph possessed counterfeit money, perpetrated a $75,000 identity theft scheme, perpetrated another identity theft scheme to steal auto parts from an out of state vendor, and possessed a stolen car.

On Feb. 10, 2016 at 3:32 p.m., the Eastchester Police received a phone call from an employee of a Mobil Gas Station located on White Plains Road that the defendant had tried to pass a counterfeit one hundred dollar bill.

The defendant was located by the police later that day and identified by the employee. He was subsequently arrested.

While that case was pending, in February of 2017, the Mount Vernon Police Department was contacted by the owner of an auto parts business in New Hampshire. A subsequent investigation revealed that the defendant had obtained personal identifying information of four victims whose names, home addresses and debit card numbers were used to illegally purchase $2,000 worth of auto parts from the New Hampshire business owner.

The investigation also revealed that between March 7, 2016 and March 8, 2016, Joseph assisted in the theft of a 2006 Acura from a parking lot in Peekskill. The vehicle was transported to Mount Vernon where it was to be stripped for parts. Joseph was arrested by investigators from the Westchester County District Attorney’s
Office.

From Aug. 10, 2016 to Feb. 13, 2017, the defendant stole $75,962.74 from Capital One Bank. The investigation by the Mount Vernon Police Department revealed that the defendant through a fraudulent scheme, caused Capitol One Bank to issue refund checks on various credit card accounts. Those refunds were predicated themselves on fraudulent overpayments made on low credit balances. Those overpayments were then returned for insufficient funds after the defendant had stolen the proceeds of the refund checks.

The defendant was remanded into the custody of the New York State Department of Corrections. Economic Crimes Bureau Chief Gwen Galef and Assistant District Attorney Celia Curtis of the Investigations Division prosecuted the case.

PHOTO/ Westchester DA's Office