New York’s Staten Island. Two Staten Island men who had already been convicted have entered guilty pleas to charges related to an investigation that took place in 2023 and ended with a traffic stop on the South Shore of the borough.
According to documents, Kofi Danku, 27, of Prospect Street in Stapleton, pleaded guilty on Monday to second-degree attempted criminal possession of a weapon in relation to the May 17 incident in state Supreme Court, St. George.
Eric Moore, 29, of Bowen Street in Clifton, his co-defendant in the case, earlier entered a guilty plea to third-degree attempted criminal possession of a controlled substance.
Danku is set to get a sentence of five years in jail and five years of post-release supervision on January 23. His extensive criminal history makes him a predicate felon in New York. Mario Gallucci, his lawyer, was unavailable for comment on Friday.
Moore had already received a one-year prison sentence in the case.
Drug deal eyed by detectives
According to a criminal complaint, narcotics detectives observed a drug exchange between Moore and a woman take place within steps of a Rossville residence at approximately 4:25 p.m. near Hampton Place and Bower Court.
According to the lawsuit and local law authorities, Moore, who was accompanying Danku, gave the woman two tiny red objects that were subsequently determined to be crack cocaine.
After pursuing the defendants out of the area, detectives stopped them and searched their car. The complaint went on to say that they confiscated purple glassines containing heroin, zip-top bags holding cocaine, and pills of oxycodone and clonazepam.
Additionally, they discovered a loaded 9 mm Sig Sauer with six rounds in the magazine and one round in the chamber.
The woman was also taken into custody, but according to court filings this week, it was unclear how her case was progressing.
According to law enforcement sources, Danku was the focus of an ongoing drug investigation at the time of the arrests.
According to court filings, on the afternoon of May 17, 2023, in Rossville, near Hampton Place and Bower Court, one of the defendants was observed giving crack cocaine to a woman. (Maps on Google)Maps on Google
Past run-ins with police
Both defendants have had past legal issues.
After he crashed and flipped a car in his neighborhood in 2019, Danku—who has a history of drug convictions—was charged with drunk driving.
According to court documents, Moore entered a guilty plea to attempted possession of a prohibited substance in 2022.
Ongoing investigation
Regarding Danku’s plea on Monday, District Attorney Michael E. McMahon released the following statement.
According to the borough’s chief prosecutor, Kofi Danku, who is the focus of an ongoing investigation, was stopped by NYPD officers in Rossville last year when it was discovered that his car was loaded with illegal drugs. Illegal drugs and firearms are a lethal mix that should never be allowed on our borough’s borders.
Additionally, he praised the efforts of Assistant District Attorney Volha Salavei and NYPD officers in obtaining a conviction in the case.
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