Under His Bed
Disbarment as a consequence of a criminal conviction has been imposed by the New York Appellate Division for the Second Judicial Department
On October 11, 2024, the respondent pleaded guilty in the Supreme Court, Queens County, to the crime of possessing a sexual performance by a child, a class E felony, in violation of New York Penal Law § 263.16.
The Grievance Committee for the Second, Eleventh, and Thirteenth Judicial Districts moves to strike the respondent’s name from the roll of attorneys and counselors-at-law, pursuant to Judiciary Law § 90(4)(b), based upon his felony conviction.
Pursuant to Judiciary Law § 90(4)(a), the respondent was automatically disbarred and ceased to be an attorney upon his conviction of a felony.
Accordingly, the motion to strike the respondent’s name from the roll of attorneys and counselors-at-law, pursuant to Judiciary Law § 90(4)(b), is granted to reflect the respondent’s automatic disbarment as of October 11, 2024.
The Queens District Attorney issued a press release on the charges
Queens District Attorney Melinda Katz announced that attorney and former FBI agent John Magri was arraigned on charges of promoting a sexual performance by a child for allegedly sending child sexual abuse materials from a computer in his Forest Hills home.
District Attorney Katz said: “The horrific allegations against the defendant are all the more disturbing given that he was someone who had sworn to uphold the law. The exploitation of children simply will not be tolerated. Thank you to our law enforcement partners for their work on this investigation.”
Magri, 57, of Dartmouth Street, in Forest Hills, was arraigned last night on an 18-count complaint charging him with six counts of promoting a sexual performance by a child as a sexually motivated felony; six counts of possessing a sexual performance by a child; and six counts of obscenity in the third degree. Queens Criminal Court Judge Quynda Santacroce set the defendant’s return date for August 14. If convicted, Magri could be sentenced to up to seven years in prison.
According to the charges:
– Magri’s activities were discovered during an investigation into the sharing of child sexual abuse materials online.
– The investigation turned up more than 700 files from an IP address tied to Magri. The files included videos with children approximately six years old and younger. One showed an infant.
– The NYPD secured a search warrant for Magri’s residence. The warrant was executed Wednesday by the NYPD and Magri was arrested.
– Two laptops – including one under Magri’s bed – a hard drive and a cell phone were recovered from the primary bedroom. Investigators also recovered a desktop computer, modem and five flash drives from a home office, a desktop computer from a living room and a laptop from under a bed in a secondary bedroom.
– A forensic review of the laptop found under Magri’s bed revealed numerous videos and images depicting child sexual abuse materials, including several involving infants.
(Mike Frisch)