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Vol. 58 No. 21
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officials throw out first pitch
Earning gold at Special olympics
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MAY 18 - 24, 2023
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Brotherhood honors students Seniors receive scholarships, and community leaders are recognized By KARINA KoVAC kkovac@liherald.com
Karina Kovac/Herald
THE doMA PANEMA dance group started the Hispanic Brotherhood Annual Scholarship Dinner off with a Panamanian traditional dance routine, and its members later enjoyed some dinner while scholarships and citations were handed out.
The Hispanic Brotherhood of Rockville Centre held its Annual Scholarship Dinner on May 11 at Temple Avodah, in Oceanside. This year’s scholarship recipients are Darcy Aguirre, John Gutierrez, Brandon Borjas and Xavier Gonzalez. Notable honorees included Dr. Adhi Sharma, the president of Mount Sinai South Nassau; Town of Hempstead supervisor Don Clavin; and Maria Conzatti, the president
of Nassau Community Coll e g e, a m o n g o t h e r s wh o helped support the Scholarship Fund. The fund allows graduating students to enter a higher level of education and supports the organization’s After School Tutorial Program. The Hispanic Brotherhood star ted modestly in 1976 through a grant from the Village of Rockville Centre’s Community Development Block Grants program. In 1984, after a small group of Hispanic residents wanted to Continued on page 4
Large-scale criminal enterprise or ‘American success story’? By KARINA KoVAC kkovac@liherald.com
Alan Pawelsky, 28, and his brother Andrew, 25, are facing an 81-count indictment for their involvement, along with co-conspirator Jovaine Clarke, 29, in an alleged large-scale black-market catalytic converters trafficking operation at their Island Park business, Ace Auto Recycling Inc. Nassau County police raided the shop in December, but did not charge the Long Beach brothers with a crime until last Friday, when they were arrested and arraigned. On May 8, Alan Pawelsky had filed a federal civil
rights lawsuit against county officials for alleged civil violations during the seizure of $7.5 million in assets five months ago. The Pawelskys face charges of money laundering, criminal possession of stolen property, and conspiracy. They pleaded not guilty before Judge Helene Gugerty in Nassau County Court, and are due back in court on June 1. If convicted of the top charge, they face up to 25 years in prison. Clarke, of Queens, was arraigned on charges of grand larceny, criminal possession of stolen property, criminal possession of stolen property for auto
stripping, criminal mischief and possession of burglar tools, and faces up to seven years in prison. He also pleaded not guilty. The Pawelskys and Clarke allegedly purchased stolen catalytic converters from as far away as California and opened them to extract platinum, palladium and rhodium that they sent to refineries where they were separated out, weighed and valued. Between June 2021 and December 2022, police officials say, the brothers paid middlemen cash for the converters, and received $170 million from a single refinery, after which the company allegedly withdrew more than $120 million in cash to purchase
more converters. The investigation was conducted by the Nassau County Police Department, the U.S. Postal Inspection Service, Homeland Security Investigations and the Nassau County district attorney. “Not only are catalytic converter thefts extremely costly to victims, but oftentimes, these types of crimes fund larger
criminal enterprises that put the community and country at a greater risk,” Ivan J. Arvelo, Homeland Security Investigations New York special agent in charge, said in a statement. The arrests of the Pawelskys and Clarke, Arvelo added, “demonstrates that HSI remains committed to leveraging our capabilContinued on page 9