BRONX JURY CONVICTS MAN ON CHARGES OF ATTEMPTED COERCION IN A CONSTRUCTION COALITION CASE

Bronx District Attorney Robert T. Johnson announced today that a 39 year-old Manhattan man has been convicted for attempting to shut down operations at a construction site through coercion in April 2002.

A jury found Darryl Adams, of 114 West 130th Street, NY, guilty of Attempted Coercion in the 1st degree, a class "E" felony offense. Adams, a predicate felon, faces a maximum term of up to 4 years imprisonment when he appears before State Supreme Court Justice Joseph Fisch for sentencing on Tuesday, November 25, 2003 in Part T10.

The incident occurred on April 12, 2002, when Adams and a group of about 15 other men went to a Barr & Barr construction site located on Grace Avenue in the Bronx, stormed into a trailer and blocked the exits. The defendant demanded that one of the people in his group be hired, or he would shut down the construction site. A witness testified that Adams stated: "If you don’t shut the job down, my people will go through the building destroying things and hurting people". The witness further testified that a Barr & Barr construction employee asked the defendant "are you threatening me?" and Adams replied "yes". Barr & Barr construction employees discontinued work and shut down operations.

Assistant District Attorney James L. Goward of the Rackets Bureau is prosecuting this case.