Mayor’s husband pleads not guilty to drug, weapons counts

Featured Legal News

The husband of Rochester Mayor Lovely Warren pleaded not guilty to criminal drug and weapons charges Thursday, a day after a police search of the house he shares with the mayor.

Timothy Granison appeared via video in Rochester City Court from the Monroe County jail, where he spent the night following his arrest on Wednesday.

State police troopers spent several hours searching the home of Granison and Warren on Wednesday, saying it was part of a criminal investigation but disclosing no details at the time.

Troopers closed off the block around Warren’s home with police tape and could be seen taking items from the residence, according to video recordings by journalists at the scene.

Attorney John DeMarco, in entering not guilty pleas for Granison, asked that the charges be dismissed, saying they were not sufficiently presented, local media reported from the courtroom.

Judge Jacqueline Sisson, who came from nearby Canandaigua City Court to preside over the hearing, denied the request but said it could be resubmitted in writing.

Granison was released without bail pending his next court appearance June 21.

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Nimon Naphaeng, 36, a native and citizen of Thailand, who resided in Wakefield, R.I., was sentenced Monday to 27 months in federal prison for running an immigration fraud scheme that defrauded more than 320 individuals, most of them immigrants, of at least $400,000, and perhaps more than $518,000. The scheme included the unauthorized filing of false asylum applications on behalf of individuals who did not request, nor authorize, the applications.

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At sentencing, U.S. District Court Chief Judge William E. Smith ordered a provisional amount of restitution of $400,000. The final amount of restitution will be determined subject to additional victims being identified and additional court filings over the next 90 days. According to court documents already filed by the government, restitution in this matter may exceed $518,300. During the investigation, the government seized $285,789.31 from Naphaeng. The forfeited funds will be applied toward restitution for victims of Naphaeng’s crimes.