Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg's office reversed course and sought high bail for a group of illegal immigrants accused of attacking two NYPD officers.
Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg's office sought high bail for a group of illegal immigrants accused of attacking two NYPD officers near Times Square last month after their initial no-bail release caused a national uproar.
The suspects each pleaded not guilty at their arraignment on a superseding indictment Friday morning. Despite the prosecution's change in stance, one suspected Venezuelan gang member who was ordered to leave the country last year had his bail set at $1.
First up, the judge set $100,000 bail or $250,000 bond for Yorman Reveron, 24, one of four no-bailed suspects believed to have skipped town after his release.
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Prosecutors asked for further investigation into the release of Yohenry Brito, another 24-year-old whose $15,000 bail was posted earlier this week by an unknown source. His defense attorney claimed that the cash had come from a bail-fund group of "well-meaning people." The judge noted he has four criminal cases after being in the U.S. for just eight months and sent him back to jail.
Kelvin Servita-Arocha, 19, is one of two suspects captured by Immigration and Customs Enforcement with ties to the Venezuelan criminal organization, Tren de Aragua, or TdA.
He is accused of kicking a radio away from police during the assault and had initially been released without bail. The defense asked for $1 bail. Prosecutors requested that he be remanded without bail. The judge is considering setting bail at $15,000 or $50,000 bond pending a motions hearing on April 2. He will remain in ICE custody until at least that date.
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Wilson Omar Juarez-Aguilarte, 21, the other illegal immigrant and suspected TdA member now in ICE custody, was supposed to be deported a year ago.
Defense attorney Adrienne Edward, who is also representing the 15-year-old illegal immigrant charged in a midtown shooting, told the court that her client has a two-year-old child and has been sending money back to the mother in Venezuela.
The judge set his bail at $1 because the charges against him involved evidence tampering for allegedly swapping clothes after the fact with Brito and Reveron and not participating in the attack.
Nicole Parker, a former FBI agent and Fox News contributor, called the low bail "insulting."
"Clearly, they don't abide by the laws," she said. "All of them are obviously a danger to society and flight risk with no solid ties to the community. The progressive judges and open border are putting citizens' safety at risk."
The final suspect to appear Friday was Darwin Andres Gomez-Izquiel, a 19-year-old who has been in the U.S. for just five months.
Just two weeks after his release in the police-assault case, he was accused of stealing $600 worth of merchandise from a Macy's store.
The judge granted prosecutors' request for $100,000 bail or $250,000 bond.
Bragg did not appear at the hearings.
Fox News' David Hammelburg contributed to this report.
