One Sentenced, Two Indicted

A 28-year-old Springs man who has spent much of his adult life behind bars is headed back to an upstate penitentiary after being sentenced to six years’ imprisonment on Tuesday. It was Kody Knudsen’s third felony conviction.

Mr. Knudsen was indicted on 14 felony counts related to dealing drugs within days of his May 13 arrest, and pleaded guilty on May 31, less than three weeks later, in the Riverside courtroom of Justice Martin Efman. The arrest was part of a sting operation run by the East End Drug Task Force.

His criminal record is extensive, and checkered with violence. He allegedly stabbed another youth when he was a teenager. He received youthful offender status in that case and the record was sealed. When he was 20, he was convicted of assault with intent to cause serious injury and sentenced to two years in state prison.

In December 2015, he was sentenced to a year in the county jail in Riverside after a felony conviction for driving under the influence of drugs. He was carrying a pair of brass knuckles at the time of the arrest, East Hampton Town police said.

On June 8, after his guilty plea in county court, Mr. Knudsen was taken from Riverside, handcuffed and in leg shackles, to East Hampton Justice Court, where certain local charges were dismissed, as necessary before Justice Efman could proceed to sentencing.

Another Springs man who has been behind bars since his July 16 arrest was indicted last Thursday. Mario A. Betancur, 31, has been remanded without the possibility of bail, at least until his scheduled arraignment on Monday. According to the indictment, he faces five misdemeanor charges and one felony, for allegedly destroying the iPhone 7 of a woman trying to call police for help during a domestic dispute.

Yet another man arrested in East Hampton, Nicholas J. Maggio, 28, of Seaford, was indicted by a grand jury last Thursday. Town police charged him with felony drunken driving on the morning of July 16, after finding he had been convicted of the crime in the past.

The Star incorrectly reported last week that Mr. Maggio had posted bail after being arraigned here. In fact, he did not, and was held in county jail until at least last Thursday, the day of his indictment. He has since posted bail, and is scheduled to be arraigned in the county courtroom of Justice Stephen Braslow on Aug. 7.