Previously Published in The Messenger
By Matt Meduri
Since Democrats established a trifecta in Albany in 2019, New York’s criminal justice reform was passed. The so-called “bail reform” attempted to even the playing field between poorer and more affluent defendants, but instead has been lambasted as handcuffing local law enforcement and judges by amending the list of bailable offenses.
One of Senator Dean Murray’s (R-East Patchogue) specialities is advocating for crime victims. He’s one of the foremost voices in Albany to get the pendulum on bail and criminal justice reform to a more palatable center.
The next legislative session kicks off in January, and Murray is going to the capital prepared to renew the fight. He unveiled legislation in Mastic Beach on Wednesday morning.
S.10769, sponsored by Murray and co-sponsored by Senators Mario Mattera (R-St. James) and Anthony Palumbo (R-New Suffolk), is in response to a crime that sent a dozen middle schoolers in the William Floyd School District to the emergency room in March 2025. He calls children the “most vulnerable crime victims” of repeat offenders.
That incident saw a dozen students aged 12-14 start vomiting, feeling dizzy, and experiencing racing heart rates. Investigators later found that the students ingested marijuana edible gummies. Those gummies were procured through an Instagram account run by 23-year-old Wilmer Castillo Garcia. He pleaded guilty to the charges of Endangering the Welfare of a Child and Selling a Controlled Substance.
Garcia, of Mastic, was released without bail on his own recognizance since those charges were considered non-bail eligible under State law. He later attempted to flee the country but was apprehended by agents at the Canadian border. Garcia is a Guatemalan national who is in the U.S. illegally. After his arrest near Niagara Falls, he was placed into federal custody. D.A. Tierney’s office requested a temporary return to face local prosecution.
Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) has an active detainer against him.
He pleaded guilty in July and is expected to serve a two-year prison sentence, after which he will formally be deported to Guatemala.
His bill would provide more authority to the courts by making any crime in which the defendant is alleged to have caused “physical, psychological, or emotional harm” to a minor a qualifying offense for the purposes of New York’s bail laws.
“This bill is about protecting our kids and that shouldn’t be a partisan issue. Judges need to have the ability to keep repeat offenders or those who pose a danger to society off the streets, especially in cases where children are the victims,” said Murray in a statement. “There’s no reason to automatically put suspects back on the streets where children and others can be victimized over and over again.”
Murray was joined by State colleagues Assemblyman Joe DeStefano (R-Medford) and Assemblywoman Jodi Giglio (R-Baiting Hollow).
DeStefano said the legislation “restores common sense discretion to the courts by making these serious crimes bail-eligible while still allowing judges to consider the facts of each individual case.”
Suffolk County District Attorney Ray Tierney (R), joined by Suffolk County Executive Ed Romaine (R-Center Moriches) and Suffolk County Police Commissioner Kevin Catalina, finds the current circumstances “unconscionable.”
“The fact that under New York’s bail laws my prosecutors cannot ask for bail on a defendant targeting kids with drugs and sending a dozen middle schoolers to the hospital is unconscionable,” said Tierney. “Prosecutors must have the ability to hold such defendants in custody before they harm another child. Our children deserve nothing less than a justice system that prevents repeat offenders from getting multiple chances to harm them.”
The Suffolk County Police Benevolent Association (PBA), represented in Mastic Beach by PBA First Vice President John Hnat, endorses the legislation.
“This bill is a first step, not a solution. For years, Albany’s approach to bail reform has left law enforcement, victims, and communities to absorb the consequences of a system that too frequently prioritizes the offender over the victim,” said Hnat. “Senator Murray’s bill corrects one of those injustices. What New York still needs is a comprehensive, honest re-examination of these laws, one that restores judicial discretion and public safety as guiding principles.”