GOSHEN – A City of Newburgh man was sentenced in Orange County Court on Tuesday to 17 years in state prison in connection with a series of crimes.
Anthony Mahabir, 39, was sentenced by Judge Robert Prisco for the March 26, 2020 stabbing of a woman Mahabir was arrested for having assaulted on March 24, 2020; for having intentionally burned the multiple family residence where they lived, and for assaulting another inmate in the Orange County Jail.
On October 21, 2020, Mahabir pled guilty to assault, arson, and criminal contempt. He had been released without any bail being set after being arraigned in Newburgh City Court on March 24, 2020, on charges of assault for having assaulted the woman.
Due to then-recently enacted bail reform laws, the judge had no choice but to release Mahabir without bail. The court did issue an order of protection, which commanded Mahabir to stay away from the victim.
At the time of his plea, Mahabir admitted that he went to the victim’s apartment building in violation of the order of protection, that he spread lighter fluid on staircase landing where he knew apartments were occupied, and that he went to the victim’s apartment where he stabbed her several times in the arm and abdomen.
Mahabir also pled guilty to an assault charge for having assaulted another inmate at the Orange County Jail on December 1, 2020.
“Protecting victims is one of the most important functions of the criminal justice system, and in this case the system failed to protect the victim,” said District Attorney David Hoovler. “Although some changes to our bail laws were likely warranted, judges should be given discretion to consider an offender’s dangerousness in setting bail. In addition to causing horrendous injuries to the victim, this defendant endangered many others by setting fire to an apartment building in a city. This defendant’s dangerousness is clearly demonstrated by the fact that he continued to exhibit assaultive behavior even while incarcerated. The community will be safer while he is in prison.”
