The Objectives of Ariel’s Law

1.     Create a new division with the District Attorney’s Office for handling the prosecution of perjury and false reporting. This would include offenses of PL §215:40 Tampering with Evidence, and PL §210:45 Making a Punishable False Written Statement.

       a.     Hire additional District Attorneys and investigators to work in this division.

       b.     Allow Defendants whose cases resulted in a dismissal 30:30, insufficient evidence, or a verdict of not guilty to make reports on                 a walk in basis. 

      c.     A person with a complaint will provide it to a front desk agent, who will deliver the complaints to the prosecutors.

      d.     The prosecutors will then review the case, set up an interview with the Defendant if the claim has merit, and prosecute the              case.

2.     End the policy that prevents detectives from withdrawing an ICARD for a subject’s arrest once credible evidence of innocence has  been established.

3.     Create an additional section within the NYPD database to classify when a complaint was unfounded after an arrest has been made.

      a.     This change shall apply to both sealed and unsealed arrests, and will prevent bias being attributed unto the Defendant in future police interactions. 

      b.     The statement in the Defendant’s file shall read similar to: “evidence and testimony presented did not meet the burden for criminal charges”.

4.     Change the classification of PL §210:45 from a class A misdemeanor to a Class E felony, if the case involves a false Felony arrest. 

      a.     This will extend the statute of limitations for victims to report, gather evidence, make an arrest, and prosecute from 2 years to 5 years. 

      b.     This will give the District Attorney’s Office the power to issue an indictment directly, without the report first being processed through NYPD.

      c.     This way, when perpetrators falsely accuse a victim of a felony, they will be subjected to a similar punishment that they intended to inflict upon their victim, and properly punish them for their actions.​

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The Premise of Ariel’s Law

False Arrest #1

I was in an abusive relationship with Jack Potenza. In May of 2023, found out that my ex-boyfriend was involved in sexually assaulting several other women. I told him that I would go to the police if he did not show remorse and seek psychiatric care. He went to family court and obtained an Order of Protection. He did not need to show any proof of his allegations against me, and all of them were false. He gave family court my incorrect email address, phone number, and home address so that I could not be served or know about the order. The sheriff texted and emailed the order to someone else. My ex continued to contact me daily and I simply responded. Every time I responded, he made a police report. On June 1st, 2023, I was arrested for violating the order, and charged with 3 felony and dozens of misdemeanor counts. I spent 3 nights in custody without food or soap and water even to wash my hands. The case was eventually dismissed because the order was unserved so the arrest was unlawful.

 False arrest #2

On June 19th, 2023 at 4:20 PM, someone called my ex from a disposable cellphone. On June 20th, 2023, my ex went to 2 precincts in New York and Kings County to report this call. He showed the officers the call record on his phone. He told both precincts that it was me, and I said that I would light him and his friends on fire. He told one precinct that he was home in Kings County when he got the call at 4:20 PM. He told the other precinct that he was on a street corner in New York County when he got the call at 4:20 PM. That day, him and his friends had been harassing me online and stalking me in person. I went to the precinct to report it and ask the officers to tell him to leave me alone, since I was unable to with the Order of Protection in effect. I was arrested at the precinct just hours after he made the report. The warrant for my arrest was written in one hour with no investigation or opportunity to prove I was innocent. Obtaining an Order of protection and lying about the person contacting you is common in domestic violence cases.

I found out I had a duplicate warrant in Kings county days after my release, and spent the next six months gathering evidence to prove I didn’t do it. In November of 2023, discovery for the case was finally released. My attorney and I discovered that the call I was accused of making never occurred. The call on the record was listed as cancelled with a duration of 0 seconds; meaning that I could not possibly have communicated a threat on the call. I gave this information and evidence to the detective assigned to my warrant in Kings County. He told me numerous times that he did not care if I was innocent, because warrants cannot be cancelled.

The prosecutor assigned to my case knew that the call did not occur, and that my ex had lied about being in two places at once; which meant that he had lied in order for me to be prosecuted twice. She withheld this exculpatory evidence for 5 months and continued to prosecute someone she knew to be innocent. My case was dismissed for insufficient evidence on December 13th, 2023.

 False Arrest #3

On the same day of my dismissal, I went to the precinct in Kings County to surrender. I told the officers that arresting me for a duplicate offense would now be illegal under double jeopardy. I presented irrefutable evidence that the call never occurred, and my ex had lied about being in two places at once. The domestic violence officer who had originally assisted on the case advocated for my release. She told her superiors that they should override the policy against cancelling warrants, because it was a violation of my rights. I was still arrested. The judge at arraignment was extremely close to setting a $50,000 bond on me. The prosecution used my prior arrests against me to advocate for cash bail, even though I was innocent and sealed cases cannot be used to show pattern of criminality. I was placed on supervised release which affected my employment and income.

Jack once again signed a criminal complaint to prosecute me, and swore under §210:45 (giving a false sworn statement) that he was telling the truth about me calling to threaten him while he was in Kings County. The case was eventually dismissed. Between the two false reports and criminal complaints, he committed 4 counts of perjury.

False Arrest #4

It took me six months to prove that I was innocent and had never called my ex. It was so difficult because the plot to frame me was complex. On the afternoon the call occurred, I had been lured to a pool where several of my ex’s friends worked. After I was arrested, my attorney issued a subpoena for security footage to confirm my alibi that I was swimming in the pool away from my cellphone at 4:20 PM. The club stated that they had cameras all around the pool. When my attorney arrived to pick up the tapes, the pool informed him that the tapes had all been deleted. My ex worked in nightclubs under two very powerful people: Jonas Borra and Samantha Laurito. They are personal friends with Eric Adams and Andrew Cuomo, and lead an organization of hundreds of club employees; including those working at the pool. I discovered that Jonas and Samantha were leading an organized criminal organization that was responsible for drugging and sexually assaulting hundreds of women in NYC nightclubs. I started reaching out to dozens of witnesses who were at the pool that day so that they could testify to my innocence. All of these witnesses refused to testify, and stated that Laurito and Borra had threatened them if they confirmed my innocence. In January of 2024, I texted Jonas Borra to leave me alone, and stop framing me for crimes I didn’t commit. I said that I was afraid of him, and that I would sue him for what he did. In March of 2024, I was informed by NYPD that I had a warrant for Aggravated Harassment. I told the officers that the charge is defined as communicated an electronic threat, and no threat was made. They told me that it was their digression, and if a person felt threatened: it was a threat. In June of 2024, I surrendered to NYPD and was arrested. My case was eventually dismissed and sealed. I begged the judge and prosecution to make a note in my file stating that the allegations did not amount to criminal charges. Jonas had stated that he would keep reporting me until I had cash bail set in an amount I couldn’t afford. I begged for protection from future reports: they did nothing.

 False Arrest #5

In November of 2024, I sent a message to the new owner of a nightclub where Jonas Borra works. I told him what Jonas did to me, that hundreds of women had been sexually assaulted and drugged by employees working under Jonas, and that Jonas helped cover it up by threatening witnesses and destroying evidence. Once again, the same detective issued a warrant for my arrest for Aggravated Harassment. I finally filed a lawsuit against the City, Potenza, Laurito, and Borra. I surrendered in September of 2025 and told the officers about the suit and how I was being targeted. At my arraignment, the prosecution tried to use my sealed cases against me, even though I was proven innocent. The prosecutors read the same statements that had already been proven false in previous cases: that Jonas does not know me and I am stalking him without cause. There is no communication within the District Attorney’s Office about false arrests and repeated frivolous complaints between the same parties. My case was eventually dismissed. I again begged the judge and prosecution to protect me from future false arrests by explaining all of the above information.

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How Ariel’s Law will prevent New Yorkers’ constitutional rights from being violated

As you can see, there was a systematic failure under municipal liability to protect my constitutional rights. Over the past three years, I have filed so many reports and complaints to every NYC agency imaginable in order to get justice and prevent this from re-occurring. I have learned that there is no possible way to enforce §210:45 in NYC. The district attorney’s office and NYPD will both say that the other is responsible for taking reports of false reporting/ perjury. When you inform them that the other sent you there, they will say that they can’t do anything. I spoke with the lieutenant at the precinct where I was falsely arrested in Kings County. He and the domestic violence officer who originally helped me, told me that they would do everything they could to prosecute my ex. They said that the district attorney’s office must willingly choose to take the case on top of their heavy caseload- an event that realistically never occurs. They would present irrefutable evidence to the DA’s office in order to prosecute, and nothing was done to rectify the situation. Potenza’s false statements subjected me to a week in custody, years of legal battles, three years of my life investigating and pursuing justice, and felony charges that could result in up to seven years of prison time. Perjury is only a misdemeanor in NYC, and has a maximum sentence of only one year in prison. This situation of manufacturing evidence, false reporting, signing false statements to prosecute, and continuing to do so without consequence are common in NYC, because there is no system in place to prevent this gross violation of rights.

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I am requesting an audience with the mayor and/or representatives of relevant departments to address much needed law reform within the criminal justice system. My objective is to inform the mayor of serious systematic failures within the city that have led to countless New Yorkers having their constitutional rights violated. Most people are unaware of the fact that perjury is not prosecuted in New York City, and the current procedures make it impossible for victims to report violations of the laws regarding it. Under the current protocol, NYPD and the District Attorney’s Office are unable to take complaints of perjury and related offenses. This leaves victims of false reports with no way to receive justice and protect themselves from repeated false arrests. The need for Ariel’s law is not just my own story of false arrest, but for so many New Yorkers; who are primarily female victims of domestic violence and people of color. My attorneys informed me that being framed for a crime you did commit is not uncommon, and 99% of perjury is not prosecuted. The only perjury that is prosecuted is for the few wealthy new Yorkers who have connections and a private attorney.

In NYC, we have a very low standard of probable cause needed for NYPD officers to make an arrest. The investigation occurs after an arrest, when it should occur before. NYPD officers could have subpoenaed the phone number that called my ex before issuing a warrant within the hour; which would have proved it was not me who called. Instead, they chose to waste tax payer dollars on a year of prosecution. Officers also have absolute power in deciding what is a violation of the law, despite not possessing college degrees or legal knowledge. Prosecutors who are assigned cases at arraignment do not receive the evidence with the case file; they only receive the accusation-which is written in the detective’s own words. The prosecutors were told that I threated Jonas’s life and safety in both cases, but they did not receive the messages that I sent; which did not contain threats of any kind. Since warrants cannot be rescinded once they are issued, I was subjected to a duplicate arrest; which was illegal under double jeopardy. There is no system in place which would prevent this serious violation of federal law. If the officers had been able to cancel the warrant for my arrest, I would have been spared this injustice. I should have been able to report perjury after it was proven the first time, but NYC had no legal obligation to investigate and enforce perjury. District Attorneys have a heavy caseload, and often do not want to admit fault in order to avoid civil repercussions. After a case is dismissed, the court does not properly document the reason why it was dismissed. Even though a case is sealed, the NYPD and court can still see that a Defendant was arrested and what they were charged with. When NYPD receives a new report about the Defendant, they check the Defendant’s records. When NYPD and the prosecution see dismissed arrests on the person’s record, they cannot tell if the arrest was valid. They automatically assume that the Defendant is a repeat offender who escaped justice, and hastily issue warrants and argue for higher release terms at arraignment. Even though a Defendant was proven to be innocent, there is no indication of such in their file; thus they are subjected to prejudice based on crimes they did not commit. A note on a prior arrest in a Defendant’s file is crucial for connecting a pattern of false or frivolous reporting. When I was falsely arrested a second time for “threatening” Jonas Borra, the prosecution assumed that I had done it the first time and used it against me. They had no way of knowing that I had never threatened him in the first place, and the detective issued the warrant knowing my actions did not meet the standards for the criminal charges she imposed on me.

PL §210:45 is a crime. The purpose of NYPD is to take reports of crimes that violate penal laws. Yet for some reason, they are barred from taking reports for violations of this law specifically. NYC has created a system that is un-evolved from the Salem witch trials, where anyone can accuse someone and have that person be prosecuted without consequence. The capabilities of cyber forensics have significantly increased since then, so there is no excuse for NYPD not to investigate and verify the reports they receive before arrest. With the prevalence of AI, false reporting with manufactured evidence is set to increase. It has become easier for people to make false videos, screenshots, voice recordings etc. to frame someone for crimes they have no knowledge of. It is the responsibility of the city to take action to counteract this rising threat.

Without the threat of jail time, people have no incentive to tell the truth. Domestic abusers have discovered this flaw within our justice system, and have exploited it to inflict undue suffering upon their victims.

The cost of setting up a department within the District Attorney’s Office to prosecute perjury will be offset by all of the false arrest cases that are prevented by this department. NYPD and the court system spend millions of dollars investigating and prosecuting false charges. The time spent on these frivolous and false cases takes time and resources away from actual criminal cases that often fall through the cracks. I have been to criminal court dozens of times over the past three years. I have seen hundreds of cases, and spoken to so many female victims of cases that are not worth the court’s time and energy. I could spend hours attesting to all of the cases I have seen that weren’t criminal in nature or stemmed from a false report.

This new department dedicated to prosecuting offenders of false reporting will significantly reduce the amount of false reports. Once the public is aware that perjury is being taken seriously in NYC, people will be less likely to file a false report. Most people who file a false report do not stop at just one. They continue to file false reports against their victims, and in doing so, waste court resources. Therefore, the set of changes to the justice system proposed by Ariel’s Law will help protect New Yorkers from violations to the constitutional rights without an undue burden in the City’s budget.

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