MINEOLA, N.Y. – Judah Karkowsky, a former Commissioner of the Woodmere Fire District, has been sentenced to one year in jail for using falsified court documents to file multi-million-dollar claims and regain favor within his synagogue. Karkowsky, 44, of Hackensack, NJ, was convicted on April 18, 2024, of Criminal Possession of a Forged Instrument in the Second Degree, multiple counts of Offering a False Instrument for Filing, Making an Apparently Sworn False Statement, and Criminal Contempt.
The charges stem from Karkowsky’s actions following a dismissed misdemeanor sex abuse case in 2022. He was initially arrested on September 23, 2021, for two misdemeanor offenses, including a sex abuse charge. The case was dismissed on procedural grounds due to a violation of CPL 30.30.
Following the dismissal, Karkowsky ordered the court transcript and altered it to include a fabricated statement suggesting the charges lacked merit. He used the falsified document to persuade his synagogue’s leadership of his innocence and subsequently filed Notices of Claim seeking $15 million each from the Woodmere Fire District and Nassau County. Both claims cited the fraudulent statement as evidence of wrongful prosecution.
Karkowsky was arrested on November 9, 2022, for these offenses. At his trial, it was confirmed through testimony and audio recordings that the statement in question was never made by the judge. Nassau County District Attorney Anne T. Donnelly emphasized that Karkowsky’s actions were a severe affront to the integrity of the justice system.
Judge Scott Rolle sentenced Karkowsky to one year in jail for each felony charge, to be served concurrently, despite the prosecution’s recommendation of a two to six-year prison term. This sentence underscores the seriousness of falsifying court documents and the consequences of undermining the judicial process.