Oct. 5, 2017 -- Westchester County District Attorney Anthony A. Scarpino, Jr. announced today that Nygel Joseph, 21 years old of Mount Vernon, New York was sentenced to two to six years in state prison by Judge Barry Warhit after pleading guilty on August 30, 2017 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 this defendant was originally charged via three Grand Jury Indictments and one Felony Complaint. In the course of his actions, this defendant 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.

More specifically, on Feb. 10, 2016 at approximately 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 Feb. 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, the defendant 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. The defendant 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.

Nygel Joseph

Nygel Joseph

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Media contact: Robert Wolf
111 Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Blvd.
White Plains, NY 10601
Tel: (914) 995-3586
Fax: (914) 995-2116