Man Bargains with Police for Pot

Steven Alan Locasio, 48, of Coco Plum Rd, Marathon, Fl. was in the marijuana growing business. He had six plants growing in a wooded lot in Marathon. As luck would have it, the plants were discovered by Monroe County detectives who decided to see if they could catch the owner.

The detectives uprooted the plants but left a note behind with a phone number and the following message: “Thanks for the grow! You want them back? Call for the price.”

Steven Locasio took the bait. Within 10 minutes of leaving the note the detectives received a call. Steven offered them $200 for the plants and agreed to meet up with them to make the exchange.

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After meeting with the detectives things went from bad to worse for Steven. He was arrested and when the detectives searched his apartment, they really hit the jackpot. They found 20 more pot plants, four pounds of harvested weed, Oxycontin and $1,380 in cash.

Steven Locasio was charged with 4 felonies and a misdemeanor.

1 Felony Count(s) of 893.13.1a2, MARIJUANA-PRODUCING – SCHEDULE I,
1 Felony Count(s) of 893.13.2a2, MARIJUANA – PURCHASE SCHEDULE I,
1 Felony Count(s) of 893.13.6a, MARIJUANA-POSSESS – POSSESS MARIJUANA OVER 20 GRAMS,
1 Felony Count(s) of 893.13.6a, DRUGS-POSSESS – CNTRL SUB WO PRESCRIPTION,
1 Misdemeanor Count(s) of 893.147.1, DRUG EQUIP-POSSESS – AND OR USE

 

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Burj Khalifa - The Tallest Building in the World

It's official, Dubai is now home to the tallest building in the world. On January 4, 2010, with much pomp and ceremony Burj Khalifa (formerly Burj Dubai) was opened with an extravagant multimedia and fireworks display.

According to Wikipedia, the structure - which was started on Sept. 21,  2004 and completed Jan. 4, 2010 and stands more than a 1/2 mile high - holds a total of 15 world records including:

• Tallest structure ever built: 828 m (2,717 ft)
• Building with most floors: 160
• World's fastest elevators at speed of 64 km/h (40 mph)
• World's highest mosque (located on the 158th floor)
• First world's tallest structure in history to include residential space

Burj Khalifa, the centerpiece of the $20 billion Downtown Dubai project includes 37 office floors, 1,044 apartments and 160 hotel rooms designed by Giorgio Armani. Emaar, the developer, said it expects 12,000 people to live or work in the tower and connected office buildings. 90% of the building space had already been sold before completion.

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The Burj Khalifa opens in the midst of a severe financial crisis in the city-state of Dubai — one of seven small sheikdoms that make up the United Arab Emirates. It was renamed - from Burj Dubai - in honor of the ruler of Abu Dhabi, Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan, who has provided $25 billion in bailout funds for the financially troubled, state-run Dubai World in the past year.

"Crises come and go. And cities move on," Mohammed Alabbar, chairman of the tower's developer Emaar Properties, told reporters before the inauguration. "You have to move on. Because if you stop taking decisions, you stop growing."

Burj Khalifa developer Emaar is itself partly owned by the Dubai government, but is not part of struggling Dubai World. For more on Burj Khalifa: See the website here.

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Justice or Brutality?

Sher Mohammed, from the small village of Zafarkey, outside of Lahore, Pakistan, wanted to marry his 22-year-old cousin Fazeelat Bibi. So, as is the tradition in Pakistan, along with his brother Amanat and other family members, he went to her parents to ask for her hand in marriage. The parents of Fazeelat refused.

"My eldest sister was already married into their family and she was not happy and was facing a lot of problems because of their family. My parents also thought they were bad people," explained Fazeelat.

According to Fazeelat, after being turned down Sher and his family threatened her saying they would destroy her face, presumably so that no one else would be interested in her. About one month later, that is exactly what they did.

It was about 6:30 am one morning when Fazeelat was on her way home from work at the brick kiln with her brother, Sabir Ali, and elderly father. Five people jumped them. They held her brother and father at gunpoint warning that they would be killed if they tried to interfere.

While her brother and father watched in horror, they viciously beat Fazeelat and strangled her with a rope. Not content with the beating, Sher - the man who wanted to be her husband - approached her with a knife and proceeded to cut off her nose and slashed her ear. That was when Fazeelat lost consciousness. Later she awoke in the hospital:

"When I came to my senses at the hospital, I was still crying out, begging them to stop, saying the same things I was saying at the time of the attack. All I could see was the attackers in front of my eyes." she said.

After all she had been through, Fazeelat wanted her mother. She cried for her only to be told of what had happened. When Fazeelat's mother saw how Sher had disfigured her daughter, she went into shock and collapsed. She never recovered. Fazeelat Bibi's mother was dead.

Sher and his brother Amanat, were caught and tried by a court in Lahore. They were found guilty. In addition to the 70-year sentence, and $15,500 (Rs 1,300,000) fine, the court also decided to apply the rarely used Islamic law of Qisas. Islamic laws were introduced in Pakistan during the military regime of General Ziaul Haq in the 1980s.

This particular law also known as - An eye for an eye - requires that the perpetrators suffer the same treatment they inflicted upon their victim. Accordingly, the Pakistani court has ordered that the two men, Sher and Amanat Mohammad, have their ears and noses cut off, as punishment for doing the same to Fazeelat Bibi.

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Jose Pacheco Pleads Guilty

Marcelo Lucero, an Ecuadorian immigrant was stabbed and killed on Nov. 8, 2008. His attackers were 7 teenagers - all between 16 and 17 at the time. They were all students at Patchogue-Medford High School in Long Island, NY and were out ''beaner jumping,'' a derogatory term used as a euphemism for attacking Hispanics.

Jeffrey Conroy is being held on charges that include second-degree murder as a hate crime, manslaughter and gang assault. Prosecutors have said that it was Jeffrey Conroy who did the actual stabbing leading to Marcelo Lucero's death.

See the details here and here

Charged were: Jordan Dasch, Nicholas Hausch, Kevin Shea, Anthony Hartford, Christopher Overton, Jose Pacheco and Jeffrey Conroy. See the indictment here

Jose M. Pacheco has followed the lead of Nicholas A. Hausch and pleaded guilty to gang assault as a hate crime, conspiracy and three counts of attempted assault as a hate crime. He faces 5 to 25 years behind bars when sentenced. The others have all pleaded not guilty.

Jose Pacheco, the son of a black mother and a Puerto Rican father, is the only Hispanic in the gang of 7 and, as part of his plea deal, will be expected to testify against the others. Pacheco admitted that he had participated in other attacks on Hispanics. He said they often used racial epithets when confronting victims.

Dressed in a dark suit, with his hands shackled behind him, the 18-year-old Pacheco was asked by prosecutor Megan O'Donnell, "Were all seven of you walking the streets looking for an Hispanic man?" "Yes," Pacheco responded, his head bowed.

"These were marauders," Suffolk County District Attorney Thomas Spota said, "bent on attacking Hispanics."

"It confounds me," Suffolk County District Attorney Thomas Spota said of Pacheco's involvement in attacks on Hispanics. He was one of the ring leaders, I can't understand why or how he could possibly do this."

Joselo Lucero, the brother of Marcelo Lucero, was in court when Pacheco admitted to participating in the racially-motivated attack. He said the second confession made the case against the others much stronger. Speaking of Pacheco he also said:

"This is unspeakable," Joselo Lucero said in broken English. "I don't understand how you can attack someone of your own kind. Just because you were born here doesn't make you no better than nobody."

Suffolk County has seen thousands of Hispanics settle there in recent years. U.S. Census figures show the number of Hispanics has nearly doubled, from 7.1 percent of the population in 1990 to 13.7 percent in 2008. 

The Southern Poverty Law Center issued a report in September titled "Climate of Fear; Latino Immigrants in Suffolk County," cataloguing a litany of anti-immigrant attacks dating back a decade. they found “a pervasive climate of fear in the Latino community” in Suffolk County.

Many victims have been reluctant to contact the police, fearing that they would be asked about their immigration status. However, at the Marcelo Lucero funeral, the preacher encouraged any other victims of these kinds of attacks to come forward. Many did. Prosecutors were able to charge the gang of 7 with eight additional charges because of their cooperation.

Suffolk County Police Commissioner Richard Dormer has said officers don’t ask victims whether they’re illegal immigrants. He assigned a Hispanic officer to command a local precinct after the killing.

Pacheco will be sentenced in January and faces 5 to 25 years in prison. His lawyer said Pacheco has "deep regrets" about what happened.

"There are only losers here, no winners," said attorney Christopher Brocato.

 Joselo Lucero agrees but says he will be present for all future court dates for the remaining five defendants.

"I need to be here for my brother," Lucero said. "To see justice."

 

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Where is Marc Anthony Bookal?

Marc Anthony Bookal, aged 4 of 11 Benkard Ave. in the city of Newburgh, NY has been missing since Dec 14, 2009. His mother, Christina, the police and indeed the entire city is wondering: Where is little Marc?

Marc was last seen around 1pm on Dec. 14. He was in the care of Cory Byrd, 30, Christina Bookal's boyfriend. He said that the little boy had slipped outside while they were getting ready to go visit relatives. Byrd said he followed the boy outside just a few minutes later and found that he had disappeared.

The city of Newburgh Police Dept. were notified and they began an intensive door-to-door search for Marc. That search was later widened. They brought in search dogs, helicopters and received assistance from the NY State police and other agencies. Marc Anthony Bookal has not yet been located.

The National Center for Missing & Exploited Children issued the following notice regarding the Newburgh youngster:

MARC A BOOKAL
Case Type: Endangered Missing
DOB: Oct 7, 2005	Sex: Male
Missing Date: Dec 14, 2009	Race: Black
Age Now: 4	Height:  3'6" (107 cm)
Missing City: NEWBURGH CITY	Weight:  42 lbs (19 kg)
Missing State :  NY	Hair Color: Brown
Missing Country: United States	Eye Color: Brown
Case Number: NCMC1137211
Circumstances: Marc was last seen at his home on December 14, 2009 at approximately 1:00 p.m. He has a gap between his front teeth. Marc's skin is discolored on the back of each hand. He was last seen wearing a red long-sleeved shirt, gray Rocawear sweatpants, and white Nike sneakers.

The day after admitting that 4-year-old Marc Bookal went missing while under his care, Cory Byrd was arrested by the City of Newburgh police on misdemeanor child endangerment charges. Byrd was also charged with violation of parole. He was arraigned in City Court and sent to the Orange County Jail in lieu of $2,500 bail or $2,500 bond on the misdemeanor charge, but he won't be able to leave the jail while his parole violation proceeding is pending.

Cory Byrd has a violent criminal record with at least one incident involving his own child.

Cory Byrd served five years and five months in state prison for the 2002 attack of an 18-year-old. Now 25 years old, the victim in that attack remembers Byrd as a “vicious animal” who brutally beat him and slashed his face even though he did everything Byrd asked.

The young man, who asked that his name be withheld, had come from out of town and stopped on Benkard Avenue to buy $10 worth of marijuana. Byrd and another man got in his car and stuck a gun against his ribs. They told him to drive. He was taken to a secluded street and they beat him nearly unconscious before Byrd delivered a final blow. It looked like a punch, but Byrd had a knife in his fist and opened a gash that split the young man's face from his right eye to his left ear.

“After I got cut, they left me there to die,” the young man said.

Doctors at Westchester Medical Center needed about 250 stitches to close the 7-inch gash.

At the request of the police Christina, the boy's mother, and Yul Bookal, the boy's biological father both took a polygraph test. Both were found to be truthful in their responses said Police Sgt. Paul Weber.

The police made a similar request of Cory Byrd through his lawyer, Erik Indzonka. However, according to his lawyer, Byrd has refused to participate.

In the meantime two anonymous donors have stepped up and offered a reward for information leading to the safe return of 4-year-old Marc Bookal. One donor offered $10,000 while the second one offered $5,000.

One other donor, the Carlie’s Crusade Foundation has also added $1,000 to the reward increasing the amount offered to $16,000. However, echoing what has been unsaid so far, the money is offered for the safe return of 4-year-old Marc Bookal or the recovery of his remains. 

Anyone who wishes to contribute to the Carlie's Crusade reward may contact www.CarliesCrusade.org or at (800)496-6720 or 309-2961. Donations are in addition to the organization's contribution and tax deductible, officials said. To report any information about Bookal's whereabouts, call City of Newburgh police at 561-3131.

 

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