Courts Reporter

John Annese

John Annese covers federal and state courts in Brooklyn for the New York Daily News. Before coming to the News in 2015, he reported on crime, courts, and the Staten Island opioid epidemic for the Staten Island Advance. He is the recipient of several New York State Associated Press Association Awards.

@johnannese.bsky.social on Bluesky and @john.annese on Threads

A trio of New Jersey men are set to go on trial for killing a bouncer during the botched heist of a Brooklyn underground gambling den. The 2020 stickup at the "G Spot," an illegal cards and dice club in Brownsville, turned into a bloodbath, with four people shot, including Rodney Maxwell, a longtime Bellevue Hospital employee and father of three who was moonlighting as a security guard there.

Crime and Public Safety |
Three men face trial for bouncer’s slaying during Brooklyn gambling den heist

January 12, 2025 at 7:45 p.m.

A trio of New Jersey men are set to go on trial for killing a bouncer during the botched heist of a Brooklyn underground gambling den. The 2020 stickup at...

Suspect Waldo Mejia's neighbor was afraid to leave home without first checking their Ring doorbell to make sure Mejia wasn't around.

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Crime and Public Safety |
SEE IT: Bronx man accused of fatally stabbing boy, 14, knifes neighbor’s Ring doorbell

January 12, 2025 at 6:09 p.m.

Suspect Waldo Mejia's neighbor was afraid to leave home without first checking their Ring doorbell to make sure Mejia wasn't around.

Police investigate after a 25-year-old man driving a dollar van on Utica Avenue near Linden Boulevard in Brooklyn was fatally shot on Sunday afternoon.

Crime and Public Safety |
Dollar van driver, 25, shot dead on Brooklyn street

January 12, 2025 at 4:24 p.m.

A 25-year-old dollar van driver was fatally shot during an argument with a second van driver on a Brooklyn street Sunday afternoon, police said. The victim was driving the van...

Mejia faces murder and manslaughter charges for the Friday morning killing of 14-year-old Caleb Rijos as the victim was walking to school.

Crime and Public Safety |
Waldo Mejia, accused of killing Bronx boy, 14, screams ‘I’m with Satan!’ in court

January 12, 2025 at 4:54 p.m.

Mejia faces murder and manslaughter charges for the Friday morning killing of 14-year-old Caleb Rijos as the victim was walking to school.

Former United States Representative George Santos.

Crime and Public Safety |
Ex-Rep. George Santos, who turned lying into near $1M windfall, granted sentencing delay to record podcast

January 8, 2025 at 7:11 p.m.

Former Rep. George Santos has leveraged his criminal notoriety as a con man and serial liar into a lucrative cottage industry with a nearly million-dollar windfall.

Crime and Public Safety |
Treasurer for Brooklyn boro prez candidate Anthony Jones pleads guilty in straw donor scheme

January 7, 2025 at 7:29 p.m.

The treasurer for an unsuccessful Brooklyn borough president candidate pleaded guilty Tuesday to charges she tried to scam the city out of hundreds of thousands of dollars in public matching...

Zapeta said, "Oh, damn, that's me," when cops showed him the horrific video of the attack that shocked the city, according to court papers.

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Crime and Public Safety |
Sebastian Zapeta says he was drunk, doesn’t remember setting subway victim on fire: prosecutors

January 7, 2025 at 3:10 p.m.

Zapeta said, "Oh, damn, that's me," when cops showed him the horrific video of the attack that shocked the city, according to court papers.

Anthony Regis-Ash went on the run after shooting 18-year-old Sharif Richards as the teen sat in an Infiniti in Canarsie, leaving his girlfriend behind to face murder charges in the Sept. 29, 2021 slaying, prosecutors in Brooklyn said.

Crime and Public Safety |
Fugitive accused of killing Brooklyn teen in pot deal gone wrong extradited from Trinidad and Tobago

January 6, 2025 at 6:57 p.m.

Anthony Regis-Ash went on the run after shooting 18-year-old Sharif Richards as the teen sat in an Infiniti in Canarsie, leaving his girlfriend behind to face murder charges in the...

This image provided by the Justice Department, contained in the complaint supporting the arrest warrant, shows Asif Merchant. The Pakistani man alleged to have ties to Iran has been charged in a plot to carry out political assassinations on U.S. soil, the Justice Department said Aug. 6, 2024.

Crime and Public Safety |
Suspect in plot to kill Trump says MDC Brooklyn jail denying him warm clothes, food seasoning

January 6, 2025 at 7:03 p.m.

An alleged would-be Donald Trump assassin with ties to Iran says he's been held in a cold solitary confinement cell at the notorious Metropolitan Detention Center in Brooklyn without warm...

Judy Rodriguez's body was found Aug. 25, 1991, bound at the ankles under a large wooden board in a grassy area off two Queens parkways.

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Crime and Public Safety |
1991 Queens slay victim to be exhumed from potter’s field for funeral after DNA finally reveals her ID

January 5, 2025 at 6:00 p.m.

Judy Rodriguez's body was found Aug. 25, 1991, bound at the ankles under a large wooden board in a grassy area off two Queens parkways.

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