Another Plea In NYPD Scandal Connected To Rockland 'Expediter'

ROCKLAND COUNTY, NY — The NYPD corruption scandal that began to break open with the arrest of a Rockland man who expedited gun licenses for clients in Brooklyn continues. In 2016 Alex Lichtenstein was the catalyst for a massive probe into the ties between Brooklyn's Orthodox Jewish community and high-ranking officers with the New York City Police Department by federal prosecutors in Manhattan.

• Top NYPD Officials Charged in Corruption Probe Involving Rockland Man
• Little Prison Time for Rockland Gun License 'Fixer'
• More Arrests in NYPD Gun License Bribery Scheme

A Pomona resident, Lichtenstein, 49, is in prison serving a 32-month sentence. He was also ordered to forfeit $230,000.

Meanwhile, the probe into the NYPD's License Division, which came to light when Lichtenstein, whose previous contacts had dried up, approached an officer who reported him, continued to expand.

Thursday, the United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, announced the guilty plea of Paul Dean for his role in a scheme to obtain approval of gun licenses from the NYPD in exchange for cash payments and non-monetary bribes.

Dean, once second-in-command of the License Division, had gotten into the gun license expediter bribery business for himself, prosecutors said.

He pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit bribery before U.S. District Judge Edgardo Ramos.

“Paul Dean betrayed his duty as a former leader within the New York City Police Department to protect and serve the public," Geoffrey S. Berman said in the announcement. "Instead of assuring the integrity of the License Division he oversaw – a division charged with protecting the public safety by restricting access to firearms – he sought to corrupt it by bribing the very officers once under his command. This Office will continue to stop such corruption which undermines the public’s confidence in the law enforcement officers and institutions sworn to serve us all."

According to the Indictment and supporting documents:

• Dean, a Long Island resident, was a member of the NYPD from 1994 through 2016, and was assigned to the License Division from 2008 through 2016. A lieutenant, he was one of the highest-ranking members of the License Division and, from approximately November 2014 through November 2015, regularly ran the day-to-day operations of the License Division. Robert Espinel was a member of the NYPD from 1995 through his retirement in 2016, and was assigned to the License Division from 2011 through 2016.
• From at least 2013 through 2016, multiple NYPD officers in the License Division serving under Dean's command, including David Villanueva and Richard Ochetal, solicited and accepted bribes from gun license expediters in exchange for providing assistance to the expediters’ clients in obtaining gun licenses quickly and often with little to no diligence. They obtained bribes from at least three expediters: Gaetano Valastro, a/k/a “Guy,” Frank Soohoo, and Alex Lichtenstein, a/k/a “Shaya.” Valastro was a former NYPD detective who retired in 1999, and who operated a gun store out of which he sold guns, gun paraphernalia, and gun safety courses.
• The bribes included cash payments, paid vacations, food and liquor, the services of prostitutes, and free guns, among other things. In exchange, Villanueva, Ochetal, and the other officers approved, expedited, and upgraded licenses for clients of Valastro, Lichtenstein, and Soohoo. They did so by foregoing standard License Division diligence, including by failing to interview the applicants and failing to investigate the business-based need for applicants to carry guns. They approved licenses for individuals with substantial criminal histories, including arrests and convictions for crimes involving weapons or violence, and for individuals with histories of domestic violence.
• In 2015, dissatisfied with the fact that private gun expediters were profiting thousands of dollars per gun license applicant when Dean and others did the work to approve those applications, Dean and Espinel decided to retire and go into the expediting business themselves. In order to ensure the success of their business, Dean and Espinel planned to bribe Villanueva and Ochetal, who were still in the License Division, to enable their clients to get special treatment. They also agreed with Valastro to run their expediting and bribery scheme out of Valastro’s gun store.
• According to the plan, Valastro would benefit from the scheme because Dean and Espinel would steer successful applicants to Valastro’s store to buy guns. They also tried to corner the expediting market by forcing other expediters to work through them. Dean and Espinel attempted to coerce Frank Soohoo, another gun license expediter, into sharing his expediting clients with them by threatening to use their influence in the License Division to shut down Soohoo’s expediting business if Soohoo refused to work with, and make payments to, Dean and Espinel.

Dean, 44, of Wantagh, New York, pled guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit bribery. The charge carries a maximum term of five years in prison.

Dean is scheduled to be sentenced by Judge Ramos on Nov. 15, 2018. The maximum potential penalty is prescribed by Congress and is provided here for informational purposes only, as any sentencing of the defendant will be determined by the judge.

Berman praised the investigative work of the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the New York City Police Department, Internal Affairs Bureau.

This case is being handled by the Office’s Public Corruption Unit. Assistant United States Attorneys Russell Capone and Kimberly Ravener are in charge of the prosecution.

Image via Shutterstock