This year brought some measure of closure to a case that captured the attention of Bronxites and people nationwide.
Grei Mendez, who operated a daycare out of her Kingsbridge home where four children suffered fentanyl poisoning in Sept. 2023, pleaded guilty in federal court to three drug-related charges. Each count carries a minimum of 20 years, with a potential life sentence.
One-year-old Nicholas Feliz Dominici died from exposure to fentanyl hidden throughout the apartment, and three other children were injured in the incident that stunned the community and raised alarms about daycare safety nationwide.
Felix Herrera Garcia, Mendez’s husband, also pleaded guilty to charges of conspiracy to distribute narcotics resulting in death and serious injury and was sentenced to 45 years in prison.
The Feliz Dominici family attended a street co-naming ceremony for their son in September, and the intersection of Kingsbridge Road and Kingsbridge Terrace now bears Nicholas’ name.
In another case, Kofi Amankwaa, a former Bronx immigration attorney, pleaded guilty to fraud and was sentenced to a maximum 10 years in prison. In a scheme involving several employees, Amankwaa was accused of filing years’ worth of fraudulent papers on behalf of clients he claimed were being abused by a family member, which would qualify them for expedited citizenship and protections under the Violence Against Women Act. However, the clients were not being abused and were not aware that Amankwaa was filing false claims on their behalf.
Most of Amankwaa’s clients never received the immigration services they paid him for, and some were even deported as a result of false information in the paperwork. In addition to his sentence, Amankwaa was ordered to pay $16.5 million in restitution to victims.
