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Inwood Man Pleads Guilty to Murder-for-Hire Scheme to Silence Victim of Sexual Assault

Written by Long Island News & PR  |  22. April 2015

Mineola, NY - April 21, 2015 - Acting Nassau County District Attorney Madeline Singas announced that an Inwood shop owner pleaded guilty today to sexually abusing his teenage employee and for plotting to kill that victim to prevent him from testifying against him. The man also pleaded guilty today to stealing over $206,000 in a bogus check writing scam.

Daniel Miller, 47, of Inwood, pleaded guilty before Nassau Supreme Court Justice Angelo Delligatti to charges that included Criminal Sexual Act in the 1st Degree (a B felony), Conspiracy in the 2nd Degree (a B felony), and Grand Larceny in the 2nd Degree (a C felony). Miller received a sentencing commitment from Justice Delligatti of a maximum of nine years in prison and 10 years of post-release supervision. Prosecutors had asked the court to sentence Miller to a maximum of 18 years. He is due back in court for sentencing on June 4.

“Mr. Miller drugged and then sexually assaulted a teenage employee, and when arrested for his crimes, conspired to kill his victim,” Acting DA Singas said. “Thanks to the diligence of law enforcement, this defendant’s attempts to permanently silence his victim were not successful, and today’s guilty plea will ensure that he will be held accountable for his repeated disregard for the law.”

Acting DA Singas said that in January 2012, Miller drugged with a potent sedative lorazepam and sexually assaulted a teenage male employee of a Santeria religious supply store that he owned in Inwood. After Miller was arrested and charged in April 2012 with sexual assault, Nassau detectives were informed by a confidential source of a murder-for-hire plot involving Miller. The source said that he had been approached by a relative of Miller’s to visit Miller at the jail. During the visit, Miller asked the source to arrange to have the sexual abuse victim killed, and then instructed the source to go to Miller’s home for more information.

When the source arrived at Miller’s home, he met with two of Miller’s family members who provided him with documents containing the intended victim’s personal information. The source then contacted police and met with Miller at the jail.

During that meeting, Miller offered to pay the source $15,000 to arrange the killing by making it look like a cell phone robbery, and told the source that his mother, a secretary at a local high school, had stolen the personal records of the intended victim from the school.

Miller’s sister Ann and his mother, Mary, were both arrested and charged with misdemeanors in July 2012 in connection with assisting Miller in the conspiracy scheme. Both pleaded guilty in March 2013 and received conditional discharges and orders of protection for Miller’s victim.

In the bogus check scam case, starting on or about June 5, 2009, Daniel Miller used a company he had established, Secure Technology Services Corp., to defraud a St. Petersburg, Fla.-based check guarantee and payment processing company with forged checks. As each forged check was submitted and processed, the victim business would credit Secure Technology’s account, giving Miller access to the funds. Two checks, for $21,479.07 and $15,975.00 were used in the scheme.

Starting in or about March and April of 2010, Miller, while pretending to be various employees of another company he created named Integrated Solutions Systems Corp., conducted a similar scheme against a Miramar, Fla. check guarantee and payment processing business, using a forged check in the amount of $33,886.93.

Starting on or about Nov. 23, 2010, Integrated conducted a similar scheme against an Atlanta-based check loan and payment processing company. Four checks totaling $68,884.46 were used in this scheme.

In addition to these schemes, from May 20, 2009 to Sept. 14, 2009, Miller also provided 22 fraudulent checks from various bogus companies for merchandise orders to an office supply company valued at $35,101.87. From April 27, 2010 to April 29, 2010, Miller provided six fraudulent checks to a computer supply company for merchandise valued at $31,079.68.

The scheme was discovered through complaints filed with Acting DA Singas’ Criminal Complaint Unit and a referral by the United States Secret Service.

Assistant District Attorney D.J. Rosenbaum of Acting DA Singas’ Special Victims Bureau is prosecuting the sexual assault case. Chief Rick Whelan, Deputy Chief Anne Donnelly, and ADA Cristina Colon of Acting DA Singas’ Organized Crime & Rackets Bureau are prosecuting the conspiracy case. Assistant District Attorney Peter Mancuso of Acting DA Singas’ Government and Consumer Fraud Bureau is prosecuting the fraudulent check case. Miller is represented by William Shanahan, Esq.

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