Nassau County District Attorney Anne T. Donnelly announced a former Commissioner of the Woodmere Fire District was convicted yesterday of sending a knowingly falsified court transcript to a representative of his synagogue to attempt to regain access after a misdemeanor sex abuse case against him was dismissed on procedural grounds. The defendant also used language from the falsified transcript in several Notices of Claim he filed with the Woodmere Fire District and Fire Department as well as Nassau County seeking tens of millions of dollars in compensation.
Judah Karkowsky, 43, was convicted Thursday after a jury trial before Judge Robert A. Schwartz of Criminal Possession of a Forged Instrument in the Second Degree (a D felony); three counts of Offering a False Instrument for Filing in the First Degree (an E felony); two counts of Making an Apparently Sworn False Statement in the First Degree (an E felony); and two counts of Criminal Contempt in the Second Degree (an A misdemeanor). Karkowsky is due back in court for sentencing on June 20, 2024, and faces up to 2-1/3 to 7 years in prison.
“In more than three decades of prosecuting cases, I have never seen a defendant go to the lengths this defendant did to stand by his blatant fraud. Through his actions, Judah Karkowsky launched a brazen attack on the integrity of the criminal justice system. Karkowsky’s earlier sex abuse case had been dismissed on procedural grounds, but he wanted so badly to have the charges dismissed on their merits, that he doctored the court’s official transcript. Karkowsky invented language, attributed it to a sitting District Court judge, and then distributed the fraudulent transcript,” said DA Donnelly.
“What’s more, this defendant was determined to go to trial despite the existence of an audio recording of the dismissal proceedings that clearly and concretely refuted his sham and exposed his guilt. Even after his indictment, instead of withdrawing his duplicitous Notices of Claim, this defendant pushed forward and filed his lawsuit in federal court,” DA Donnelly continued. “I will not stand for our system of justice – that I hold sacred – to ever be manipulated or exploited as was this defendant’s intention.”
DA Donnelly said that Judah Karkowsky, a former Commissioner of the Woodmere Fire District, and a volunteer EMT in the Woodmere Fire Department, was arrested on September 23, 2021, for two misdemeanor offenses, including a sex abuse charge. After his arrest, Karkowsky was suspended from the Fire Department.
The misdemeanor case against Karkowsky was dismissed on May 6, 2022, due to a violation of CPL 30.30, which required the people to be ready for trial within 90 days of the defendant’s arraignment on the charges.
Karkowsky ordered a copy of the minutes, or court transcript, from the May 6, 2022 court appearance in which Nassau County District Court Judge Douglas Lerose ordered that the case be dismissed and explained the procedural grounds for the dismissal.
On May 16, 2022, Karkowsky sent a photograph of a page of the minutes to the co-chairman of the board of trustees at his synagogue that included a sentence that did not appear in the original, official minutes of the proceeding. The sentence said, “Notwithstanding, this court has believed for some time that the People’s case lacked substance and should not have reached this point.”
Karkowsky intended to use the forged minutes to convince the leadership of the synagogue that his case was dismissed on merit, that he was innocent of the charges, and that he should be welcomed back to the synagogue.
Karkowsky was reinstated to the Woodmere Fire Department after his case was dismissed but was not allowed to return to the synagogue.
On August 4, 2022, Karkowsky served a Notice of Claim on the Woodmere Fire District and Fire Department seeking $15 million in compensation, claiming that members of the Fire Department caused him to be falsely arrested. The Notice of Claim quoted the fraudulent statement attributed to Judge Lerose from the May 6, 2022 minutes as evidence of Karkowsky’s innocence. Karkowsky swore before a Public Notary to the contents of the statements in the Notice of Claim.
On August 1, 2022, Karkowsky served a Notice of Claim on Nassau County seeking another $15 million in compensation, alleging that members of the Nassau County Police Department and Nassau County District Attorney’s Office willfully ignored exculpatory evidence. Again, Karkowsky made a false statement about the comments made by Judge Lerose on May 6, 2022.
Karkowsky was arrested on these charges on November 9, 2022.
The case is being prosecuted by Deputy Bureau Chief Jesse Aviram and Senior Investigative Counsel Jennifer Boyle of the Public Corruption Bureau. Karkowsky is represented by Camille Abate, Esq.
