Bronx judge who let migrant squatters go free with no bail released suspects who beat up cop

A Bronx judge last week released six suspected illegal aliens arrested on drug and weapons charges, but not before freeing two men who had beaten a police officer.

Bronx Criminal Court Judge Eugene Bowen (D-2023) released six people against the wishes of prosecutors. One of the migrants, Hector Desousa Villalta, 24, from Venezuela, was arrested on suspicion of attempted murder in August before the case collapsed.

Prosecutors had asked DeSousa-Villalta to post bail at $150,000 cash. But Bowen instead released him and five others without bail. And this is not the first time he has caused controversy by posting bail.

In November, Bowen was the subject of an incident. A scathing editorial in the New York Post The incident has shaken his decision to release two men who were filmed hitting a police officer. According to the NYPD, officers asked the men to extinguish their cigarettes at the Freeman Street subway station.

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Kareem McCrary, 23, and Isaiah Jessamy, 20, were arrested on assault charges after they allegedly beat Officer John Hernandez, the newspaper reported. According to court records, prosecutors asked for bail to be set at either $10,000 or $30,000, but Judge Bowen granted bail without bail.

At the time, the decision angered Patrick Hendry, president of the Police Benevolent Association union.

“This shows the completely upside-down world we live in,” Hendry said in a statement to the Post.

“New Yorkers need to start speaking out and demand real punishment for those who assault police officers,” he said. “If the officers protecting our streets and subways are not safe, they are not safe.”

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A group of eight illegal immigrants were found squatting in a Bronx apartment and are facing firearms and other charges. All were previously captured at the southern border and released, authorities said. (WNYW)

Mr. Bowen was elected to the New York State Civil Court in 2022 and has served as a juror for just over a year. He was appointed as a judge in the Bronx County Criminal Court in New York City in 2023 by Acting Chief Administrative Judge Tamiko Amaker. Prior to his election, Bowen served as a criminal defense attorney for the Legal Aid Society. He graduated from the University of Miami School of Law in 2010.

“As a public defender with the New York City Legal Aid Society, I fought tirelessly for my clients in the trial courts of the New York City boroughs and the New York State Court of Appeals,” Bowen wrote in a Ballotpedia.org survey. “I have won hundreds of cases dismissed, reversed wrongfully obtained convictions, prevented clients from incarceration, burdensome probation and parole requirements, and potential loss of employment, immigration status, parental rights, and housing. We have negotiated countless favorable dispositions that have spared us.”

“Most importantly, we ensured that our clients’ voices and concerns were heard and their rights respected and protected,” he wrote.

All eight immigrants who turned themselves in to Bowen last week were charged with possession of a weapon, possession of a controlled substance and child endangerment, police said. A 7-year-old child was discovered living in the home with the group.

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Federal agents raided the back of a New York City home at the center of an immigration, drug and firearms scandal on Wednesday and detained three people. (Fox News)

of New York City Police Department releases photos Police found four guns, ammunition and bags of cocaine and ketamine after they were called to an apartment complex last Wednesday on a report of a person with a gun.

When police arrived at the scene, they said they saw DeSousa-Villalta pointing a gun outside the property. Javier Alborno, 22, also from Venezuela, tried to flee the scene with his handgun under his arm, so the officers chased him and tackled him, but they handcuffed him.

Police confiscated the weapon.

DeSousa Villalta was released on supervised release despite the Bronx District Attorney’s Office asking Fox News to set her bail at $150,000 cash or $450,000 bail. He was previously arrested on attempted murder charges for allegedly shooting a fellow immigrant in the leg during an argument over a woman in Yonkers in August 2023.

Immigrant believed to be illegal alien found in New York apartment with face gun, suspected of drug use

A man was taken into custody by federal agents in the Bronx on Wednesday. (Fox News)

Alborno is being held with bail set at $100,000 cash, but prosecutors had asked that bail be set at $150,000.

Also in custody is Mikel Vermondes Barrios, 31, whose bail was set at $25,000. He is wanted on retail theft and shoplifting charges in both New York and Pennsylvania, police said.

It is unclear why Barrios and Alborno were being held. remaining immigrants He was released on non-cash bail.

The remaining migrants released include one woman, Yoesi Pino Castillo, 20, as well as Yervin Rosado-Muñoz, 25, Yojailo Martinez, 42, and Jefferson Orlando. They included Abloh, 39, and Johan Cárdenas Silva, 35.

All eight people have reportedly been charged with possess drugs with the intention of selling them.

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Fox News contributor Andrew McCarthy, a former assistant U.S. attorney, said New York’s soft approach to crime is not surprising given how lower court judges are selected.

“In New York City, these elections tend to have low turnout and a progressive Democratic majority,” McCarthy told Fox News Digital. He also noted that the district elected District Attorney Alvin Bragg, a progressive reformer who has been repeatedly criticized for downgrading felonies to misdemeanors.

“New York City’s Progressive Democrats are the main proponents of sanctuary cities and criminal justice ‘reform’ policies,” McCarthy said. “In the former, the city prohibits the NYPD from cooperating with federal authorities in immigration cases. In the latter, felons are typically released immediately after arrest. “We are the only state in the country that does not allow people to be detained in the United States,” evidence of the danger they pose to the community. ”

“This is why crime is increasing and the quality of life is decreasing in cities,” he added.