PRESS RELEASE
For Immediate Release: June 18, 2007

Contact: William J. Smith (718) 556-7150
William.Smith@rcda.nyc.gov

D.A. Donovan: S.I. Graffiti Vandal Faces 60-Day Jail Sentence for Year-Long Vandalism Spree
*** Russell Farriola, 20, Pleads Guilty to Making Graffiti, Additional 15 day sentence for Public Lewdness Incident ***

     STATEN ISLAND, NY – Richmond County District Attorney Daniel M. Donovan, Jr. today announced that a graffiti vandal has today entered a guilty plea in Staten Island Criminal Court to charges that will send him to jail for a period of 60 days following his August 3, 2007 sentencing date before Judge Alan J. Meyer. As part of the plea agreement, to the Class A misdemeanor charge of Making Graffiti, Russell Farriola, (DOB: 6/23/1986) of Bard Avenue, will also serve three years probation. Farriola will also receive a 15 day sentence for a guilty plea he entered today to a charge of Disorderly Conduct for an unrelated incident earlier this year.

     “Russell Farriola was a menace to the entire North Shore community of Staten Island as he senselessly vandalized private and public property,” stated District Attorney Donovan. “I hope this guilty plea, and Mr. Farriola’s upcoming jail time will serve as a stark warning to any aspiring graffiti vandals that there are serious consequences for this type of behavior.”

      Farriola was arrested on January 10, 2007 following an investigation by the NYPD’s Citywide Vandals Taskforce. The defendant was arrested at 3:30 a.m. as police believed he was about to make graffiti on a wall at 616 Forest Avenue with two cans of spray paint in his possession. He was charged with four Class E felony counts of Criminal Mischief in the 3rd Degree, forty-four Class A misdemeanor counts of Criminal Mischief in the 4th Degree, forty-eight counts of the Class A misdemeanor charge of Making Graffiti and two additional Class B misdemeanor charges of Possession of a Graffiti Instrument. The charges referred to a period from January 2006 through the time of his arrest when the defendant vandalized various locations including walls, telephone poles, storefronts, signage and motor vehicles.

      Additionally the defendant pleaded guilty today to a charge of Disorderly Conduct for an incident earlier this year in which he was alleged to have masturbated in front of a thirty-five year old woman in the vicinity of Forest Avenue and Silver Lake Park.

     The case against Russell Farriola was prosecuted by Assistant District Attorney Anthony Katchen of the Criminal Court Bureau, under the supervision of Assistant District Attorney Quentin Smith, Criminal Court Bureau Chief. The defendant was represented at his sentencing by Jason Leventhal, Esq.

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