Newburgh: Charity Head Arrested by FBI
The founder of a nonprofit who claimed last year that veterans had been evicted from a Town of Newburgh hotel to make room for migrants was arrested May 1 by the FBI.
Sharon Toney-Finch, 43, of Newburgh, led the Yerik Israel Toney (YIT) Foundation, which she said aided veterans. An investigation by Mid Hudson News debunked her allegation.
Federal prosecutors charged Toney-Finch with defrauding military charities and the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, and falsely claiming she had been injured during her service in Iraq and received a Purple Heart. Prosecutors allege she received unwarranted disability benefits and solicited donations from 2019 to September 2023 that she used for personal expenses.
State Sen. Rob Rolison, whose district includes the Highlands, nominated Toney-Finch for a state Women of Distinction award in May 2023 but the nomination was rescinded following reports she had hired homeless men to pose as veterans who had been evicted from the hotel.
Virginia: Doctor Found Not Guilty of Abuse
A judge found the former medical director of the Cumberland Hospital for Children and Adolescents in New Kent, Virginia not guilty on April 26 of charges he sexually abused two former female patients.
The hospital was the subject of a story published by The Current in November 2020 after a Philipstown teenager was sent there by the county for treatment and said she had endured abuse.
According to CBS 6 in Richmond, the judge said he had doubts about the varying accounts given by the witnesses against Dr. Daniel Davidow, who testified in his own defense about the initial admissions exams that were at the heart of the allegations. The judge also noted that two nurses who had been “chaperones” during the exams reported nothing inappropriate.
The witnesses are among 46 plaintiffs, including the Philipstown teenager and her mother, who are seeking $397 million from Davidow, the hospital and its owner in a civil trial scheduled for the fall.
New York City: MTA Offers Discounts
The Metropolitan Transportation Authority board on April 30 approved a pilot program that will provide a 10 percent discount on monthly tickets within New York City and on express bus trips from Brooklyn and Staten Island to Manhattan. It begins in July.
The plan was implemented to encourage residents in the outer boroughs not to drive into mid-Manhattan, where drivers will be charged $15 a day beginning in June. Metro-North has 14 stops in the Bronx and Harlem.
Metro-North and Long Island Rail Road riders outside New York City will not receive the discount, but monthly prices were lowered 10 percent in March 2022 to encourage people to return to the trains after the pandemic.
