WHITE PLAINS, NY — The Westchester County District Attorney’s Office has provided an update on the criminal case against Peter Parente of New Rochelle.
The case was was waived to the Grand Jury on July 25, 2018.
“The weapons charge is still pending,” said DA Spokesperson Helen Jonsen. “It will not go to Grand Jury.”
“As for the contempt charges,” she said. “They were handled in Integrated Domestic Violence Court at the County level. They have been disposed of but the file is now sealed.”
Parente was recently removed as a member of the New Rochelle Veterans Advisory Committee after the City Council Member who appointed him, Lou Trangucci, Parente’s brother-in-law, removed him from the committee
Parente, the Commander of VFW Post 439 in New Rochelle was arrested on November 22nd by New Rochelle Police and charged with one count of Criminal Possession of a Firearm in the Third Degree, a Class D Felony, a violent felony punishable from between two and seven years in prison and Criminal Possession of a Weapon 4th degree for possessing a firearm not permitted by his valid NYS Pistol Permit. Criminal Possession of a Weapon in the Fourth Degree, a Class A misdemeanor punishable by up to one year in jail.
There were separate allegations of Domestic Violence made against Parente.
A stay away order of protection was granted to Parente’s wife by both the criminal court in New Rochelle and the Westchester County family court on November 24, 2017.
Parente was notified by Judge Anthony Carbone that any license or permit for the sale or possession of firearms Parente held was suspended and ordered Parente to turn over any firearms in his possession.
Parente allegedly failed to comply with the court order. Additional guns were later turned over to police after his wife notified New Rochelle police of guns stored in the family garage. More guns were later confiscated by police in Pennsylvania where Parente owns a vacation home.
The weapon confiscated by police that formed the basis of the criminal charge is a sawed-off shot gun with the serial number filed off.
Parente was arrested a second time on May 3, 2018 and charged with Criminal Contempt 2nd related to a violation of a court order of protection when he made two separate visits to his wife’s house in violation of the order of protection.
Parente’s case was removed to the Westchester County Court’s Integrated Domestic Violence Court on May 14th.
Parente was arrested a third time on Tuesday June 5th. He was charged with another count of contempt after he contacted his wife by text message in violation of the stay away order.
The Integrated Domestic Violence Court is “a special court established as a forum to hear cases that are simultaneously pending in the courts if one of them is a domestic violence case in a criminal court and the other is a case pending in Supreme or Family Court that involves a party or witness in the domestic violence case and the other is a case in any of these other courts having a common party or in which a disposition may affect the interests of a party to the first case.”
Judge Susan M. Capeci found the case pending in Family Court involves a witness in the domestic violence part and ordered the removal of Parente’s case to her court in White Plains, NY.