ILLEGALLY TOOK OVER HER $1 MILLION PROPERTY
She took her case to the Queens District Attorney, the office said in their release, where an investigation was launched. A warrant was issued for Rodriguez's arrest, and he pleaded not guilty to a
five-count indictment on Thursday.
Rodriguez, 35, faces charges of second-degree burglary,
fourth-degree grand larceny, fourth-degree criminal possession of stolen property, second-degree criminal trespass and fourth-degree criminal mischief, the office wrote.
His attorney Jerald Levine said his client's tires had been slashed and his mother had developed heart problems as a result of the press coverage surrounding the case, the
New York Post reported. He said that Rodriguez worked for a company that helped the indigent, but said he couldn't name the company in public.
"The press is responsible!" Levine shouted, according to the Post. "I respectfully asked that he’d be [released on his recognizance], which is what I was told it would be before, until the press came in and whoop-whooped up the whole big to do!"
On Friday, Levine told Fox News Digital that Rodriguez is innocent:
"Everything is on the record – all I can tell you is he's not guilty," Levine said via phone. "I'm not getting involved with the papers."
Assistant District Attorney William Jorgenson asked Judge Toni Cimino to jail Rodriguez on $100,000 bail until his next court date on May 13, and for a restraining order to keep him away from Andaloro. Cimino granted the order of protection but released Rodriguez – a repeat offender with burglary and narcotics convictions, the Post reported – on supervised home confinement.
Katz told the Post that Rodriguez's case was about proving that the rule of law "exists on both sides."
The Range Rover-driving squatter who
allegedly took over a woman’s $1 million house in Queens and rented out rooms was cut loose without bail Thursday after pleading not guilty to a litany of charges — as his attorney angrily blamed the press for his client’s ordeal.
Brian Rodriguez, 35, of 161st Street in Flushing, stared at the floor for most of his morning arraignment on the burglary, grand larceny and criminal trespassing charges that threaten to imprison him for up to 15 years.
But his attorney, Gerald Levine, provided a more animated defense.