QUEENS, NY — Queens District Attorney Melinda Katz announced the guilty pleas of Russell Carbone and Terrell Hill in a large-scale scheme involving the theft of residential properties through forged deeds. The court has voided deeds to seven homes in Queens and two in Nassau County, allowing their return to rightful owners.
Carbone, a disbarred attorney, and Hill, a landscaper, collaborated to target homes of deceased individuals whose heirs had not claimed them. Hill identified properties that appeared abandoned, most of which were in foreclosure, and notified Carbone.
DA Katz highlighted the success of the Housing and Worker Protection Bureau in combating real estate scams. This case marks the largest prosecution undertaken by her office, resulting in the restoration of 14 homes to legitimate owners.
Carbone, 69, from Far Rockaway, and Hill, 40, from West Hempstead, pleaded guilty to scheme to defraud in the first degree and six counts of offering a false instrument for filing in the first degree. Additionally, RC Couture Realty Inc., operated by Carbone and his wife, Galyna Couture, 61, pleaded guilty to criminal possession of stolen property in the first degree and the same six counts.
As part of the plea, Carbone will pay $56,960 in restitution, representing rent collected from illegally obtained properties. His notary license has also been revoked. RC Couture Realty is required to pay a $100,000 fine. Hill is expected to face up to three years in prison at his sentencing on January 30, 2024.
The Queens homes involved are located in Jamaica, Laurelton Gardens, and St. Albans. In Nassau County, the homes are in West Hempstead and Westbury. Some deeds were transferred multiple times among the defendants and related entities.
In addition to these cases, Carbone and Hill had previously agreed to relinquish deeds to legitimate owners in two other instances. In another case involving a home in Jamaica, the DA’s office plans to use a state statute to restore the deed to its rightful owner, avoiding further civil court proceedings.