{"id":262899,"date":"2021-05-31T01:13:47","date_gmt":"2021-05-30T22:13:47","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/en.buradabiliyorum.com\/meet-the-ex-con-running-to-be-a-judge-in-the-bronx\/"},"modified":"2021-05-31T01:13:47","modified_gmt":"2021-05-30T22:13:47","slug":"meet-the-ex-con-running-to-be-a-judge-in-the-bronx","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/meet-the-ex-con-running-to-be-a-judge-in-the-bronx\/","title":{"rendered":"#Meet the ex-con running to be a judge in The Bronx"},"content":{"rendered":"

“#Meet the ex-con running to be a judge in The Bronx<\/strong>”<\/p>\n

\n

He wants to go from a prison jumpsuit to judicial robes.<\/p>\n

An ex-con who peddled heroin and spent more than 10 years in prison for attempted murder and armed robbery says he has turned his life around to become a lawyer \u2014 and is now running to be a Civil Court judge in The Bronx.<\/p>\n

\u201cOnly in America is this possible. I\u2019ve gone from public enemy to public champion,\u201d Angel Cruz, 56, told The Post.<\/p>\n

Cruz is using his sordid past as part of his campaign for judgeship, admitting he did wrong while growing up in Kingsbridge during the turbulent \u201cThe Bronx is Burning Days\u201d of the 1970s and early 1980s. He even mentions his criminal past in a campaign video<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Cruz says he was a juvenile delinquent as a young teen, getting arrested for burglary as a 13-year-old, and again in 1981 for chain snatching.<\/p>\n

He was busted and convicted for attempted murder during a robbery in 1982 \u2014 at the age of 17.<\/p>\n

\"Angel
Angel Cruz, an ex-con, is now running to be a judge in The Bronx.<\/figcaption>
Provided by Angel Cruz<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\u201cI had a gun. Shots were fired,\u201d he said, though insists it was an accomplice who fired shots and no one was hurt.<\/p>\n

But upon his release in 1988 after serving time, Cruz returned to a life of crime \u2014 and was busted again at 22 and convicted for armed robbery in a dispute over a heroin sale in Brooklyn. <\/p>\n

Cruz was sentenced to eight to 16 years after a jury trial. But while incarcerated, Cruz hit the prison library, believing the prosecution railroaded him. He became his own legal advocate.<\/p>\n

\"Angel
The gun-toting ex-con who peddled heroin and spent years in prison following separate convictions for attempted murder and armed robbery is running for Civil Court.<\/figcaption>
Photo Courtesy of Angel Cruz<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\u201cThe prison library became my church,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Cruz, with assistance of a public defender, represented himself when he app<\/a>ealed his conviction. The Appellate Division tossed out the case and kicked it back to the trial judge for resentencing.<\/p>\n

\n
\"Angel
Angel Cruz in Fishkill in 1984.<\/figcaption>
Photo Courtesy of Angel Cruz<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n

He credits then-Brooklyn Judge Cesar Quinones for cutting his sentence to five years or time served at his hearing. Quinones died in 2018.<\/p>\n

\u201cI asked Judge Quinones if he had enough courage to give me an opportunity. You\u2019re talking about a twice-convicted felon who\u2019s been in the criminal justice system since the age of 12,\u201d Cruz said.<\/p>\n

\u201cIn the end Judge Quinones exercised grace. The judge paid my debt to the devil. After that, I belonged to God. From that moment, I changed my life,\u201d Cruz said.<\/p>\n

After graduating from John Jay College and CUNY Law School, Cruz clerked for judges, did legal work for the Bronx borough president\u2019s office and now has his own law practice.<\/p>\n

But initially, his criminal past was still a hindrance. After passing the bar exam, Cruz applied for his law license with the Appellate Division, which rules on whether a citizen has the \u201ccharacter\u201d to practice law. The court first rejected Cruz\u2019s his first bid, but gave him the green light when he reapplied.<\/p>\n

He recently represented fellow ex-con and former Councilman Hiram Monserrate, unsuccessfully challenging a law approved by the City Council that bars people like Monserrate convicted of public corruption crimes from running for public office.<\/p>\n

Cruz, who now resides in Throggs Neck, also got married and now has three children.<\/p>\n

\"Angel
Angel Cruz at Queens College in 1999.<\/figcaption>
Photo Courtesy of Angel Cruz<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

His wife, Lumarie Maldonado Cruz, was elected to a Queens judgeship in 2019, defeating the Queens Democratic Party\u2019s hand-picked candidate.<\/p>\n

Last year, Cruz lost when he ran for a state Assembly seat in Queens.<\/p>\n

Cruz has been endorsed by Assemblyman Jose Rivera, the former Bronx Democratic Party chairman and Councilman Fernando Cabrera, a candidate for Bronx borough president.<\/p>\n

\"Angel
Angel Cruz in his campaign video for civil court judge in The Bronx.<\/figcaption>
YouTube<\/a><\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\u201cAngel has done his time. He he has redeemed himself. He has nothing to be ashamed of and a lot to be proud of. I\u2019m proud of his candidacy,\u201d said Rivera, who noted that Cruz provided legal assistance when he headed the Bronx Democratic Party.<\/p>\n

\u201cAngel will be a fair judge. He won\u2019t be controlled by anyone,\u201d Rivera said. <\/p>\n

Cruz noted that he could wind up being moved onto criminal cases if elected, but insisted he will be a fair-minded judge and not a softie, let-em-loose jurist despite his past.<\/p>\n

\"Angel
Angel Cruz mentions his criminal past in a campaign video.<\/figcaption>
YouTube<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\u201cI suspect I will hear criminal cases. The first obligation is to public safety. Punishment is necessary. But we must measure that with grace,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

The state Board of Elections said it had no record of Cruz filing paperwork for his candidacy. His campaign said it is filing paperwork.<\/p>\n

Other candidates for Civil Court Judge in the Bronx\u2019s 2nd Municipal District include lawyers Jessica Flores, who is backed by the Bronx Democratic Party; John Rodriguez, Veronica Powell, has works in the mayor\u2019s office of criminal justice and Yadhira Gonzalez-Taylor.\n <\/p><\/div>\n

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Source<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

“#Meet the ex-con running to be a judge in The Bronx” He wants to go from a prison jumpsuit to judicial robes. An ex-con who peddled heroin and spent more than 10 years in prison for attempted murder and armed robbery says he has turned his life around to become a lawyer \u2014 and is…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":262900,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2021\/05\/cruz1.jpg?quality=90&strip=all&w=1200","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[70897],"tags":[107811,70288,107854,82426,70674,70806],"class_list":["post-262899","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","tag-5-30-21","tag-elections","tag-hiram-monserrate","tag-jose-rivera","tag-judges","tag-the-bronx"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/262899","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=262899"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/262899\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/262900"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=262899"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=262899"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=262899"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}