Sleepy Hollow Detective Faces New Federal Charge for Witness Tampering

PREET BHARARA, the United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, and JOSEPH M. DEMAREST JR., the Assistant Director in Charge of the New York Field Division of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, announced today that JOSE QUINOY, a Detective with the Sleepy Hollow, New York, Police Department, was charged last night in a Superseding Indictment with one count of witness tampering, in addition to the two counts of civil rights violations on which he was previously indicted.

The new count charges that on or about April 4, 2008, QUINOY attempted to corruptly persuade a witness to testify falsely regarding one of the incidents alleged in the original Indictment, which charged QUINOY with assaulting and causing bodily injury to two persons, one on October 17 and one on December 17, 2006, after they had been handcuffed and restrained by a police officer.

If found guilty, QUINOY faces a maximum penalty on this new count of 20 years in prison and a fine. On the original counts of the Indictment, QUINOY faces a maximum penalty on each count of 10 years in prison and a fine of $250,000, or twice the gain or loss resulting from the crime.

QUINOY, 37, is a resident of Tarrytown, New York.

Assistant United States Attorneys CYNTHIA K. DUNNE and DAVID J. KENNEDY are in charge of the prosecution.

The charges contained in the Indictment are merely accusations, and the defendant is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty.