People v. Agnello
| Decision Date | 02 December 1991 |
| Citation | 577 N.Y.S.2d 290,178 A.D.2d 414 |
| Parties | The PEOPLE, etc., Respondent, v. Michael AGNELLO and Joseph Leto, Appellants. |
| Court | New York Supreme Court — Appellate Division |
Mahler & Harris, P.C., Kew Gardens (Stephen R. Mahler, of counsel), for appellants.
Robert Abrams, Atty. Gen., New York City (John M. Ryan, Christine Duisin and
Peter A. Crusco, of counsel), for respondent.
Before THOMPSON, J.P., and ROSENBLATT, MILLER and RITTER, JJ.
MEMORANDUM BY THE COURT.
Appeals (1) by the defendant Michael Agnello from a judgment of the Supreme Court, Queens County (Appelman, J.), rendered August 21, 1990, convicting him of criminal possession of stolen property in the fourth degree (two counts), illegal possession of a vehicle identification number, and criminal sale of a motor vehicle with a changed identification number, upon a jury verdict, and imposing sentence, and (2) by the defendant Joseph Leto from a judgment of the same court, rendered August 24, 1990, convicting him of criminal possession of stolen property in the fourth degree (two counts), illegal possession of a vehicle identification number, criminal sale of a motor vehicle with a changed identification number, and criminal possession of stolen property in the fifth degree (three counts), upon a jury verdict, and imposing sentence.
ORDERED that the judgments are affirmed, and the matters are remitted to the Supreme Court, Queens County, for further proceedings pursuant to CPL 460.50(5).
The defendants stand convicted of charges arising from their ownership and operation of A & L Reliable Used Auto Parts of Jamaica (hereinafter A & L), a licensed New York State vehicle dismantler in Queens. As part of an undercover investigation of certain Queens vehicle dismantlers or auto salvage yards, commonly known as "chop shops", by the Auto Crime Division of the Organized Crime Control Bureau of the New York City Police Department, two undercover officers, Sergeant Joseph Guzzardo and Police Officer Gary Weisbecker, established an "auto rebuilding" concern in Whitestone, Queens, known as F & M Classics (hereinafter F & M). They conducted business with A & L from this establishment. Over the course of a year, the undercover officers consummated numerous transactions with the owners and operators of A & L, the defendants Michael Agnello and Joseph Leto, and the codefendants Michael DeLuca and Joseph Agnello, resulting in the purchase of a total of 12 automobile parts, six of which were determined to have been stolen.
The defendants' convictions of criminal possession of stolen property in the fourth degree (two counts), illegal possession of a vehicle identification number and criminal sale of a motor vehicle with a changed identification number are the result of the purchase by the undercover officers of a "nose" and two doors for a Pontiac Bonneville from A & L in November 1988. The undercover officers' order for these parts was taken by the defendant Leto and filled within one day. The parts were personally delivered to F & M's premises by the defendant Agnello. It was later discovered that these parts were from an automobile which had been reported stolen, identified by the vehicle identification number (hereinafter VIN) located on a fender. The confidential VIN under the radiator support was cut out.
On appeal, the defendants claim that the People failed to adduce sufficient evidence of guilty knowledge, i.e., that the defendants knowingly possessed and sold stolen and tampered-with motor vehicle parts. In support of this contention, they rely upon the trial testimony of Michael DeLuca, who explained that A & L had acquired the parts in issue from another "junk yard" via a teletype system, and that a delivery truck from this other yard stopped at A & L's yard only momentarily, without unloading the parts, as it was rerouted to F & M's premises by the defendant Agnello, who accompanied the driver in order to collect payment for the parts from the undercover officers.
Viewing the evidence in the light most favorable to the People (see, People v. Contes, 60 N.Y.2d 620, 467 N.Y.S.2d 349, 454 N.E.2d 932), we find that it was legally sufficient to...
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