WHITE PLAINS, NY (June 22, 2026) — Samuel McVey, the former New Rochelle teacher indicted on 29 counts by a Westchester County grand jury, was found unfit to stand trial at his arraignment Monday and has been remanded to the Mid-Hudson Forensic Psychiatric Center, according to the Westchester County District Attorney’s Office.
Transcript of bail hearing is below.
McVey was arraigned June 22, 2026, in Westchester County Court on indictment No. GJ2026-0595 before Judge Maurice D. Williams in the Duty Part and was remanded without bail. McVey’s Defense Counsel is Jeffrey Scaggs. The People are represented by Westchester Assistant District Attorney Samantha Murphy. The case is next scheduled for a control date on July 24, 2026.
The court’s finding that he is not fit to proceed resolves the competency question that had been pending since a “730 status” hearing was first scheduled in his case earlier this month. Mid-Hudson Forensic Psychiatric Center, located in New Hampton, N.Y., is a secure state facility that treats criminal defendants found unfit to stand trial or not responsible by reason of mental disease or defect.
Talk of the Sound obtained a copy of the indictment from the Westchester County District Attorney’s Office. The top charge is Attempted Grand Larceny in the First Degree (PL 110/155.42), a Class C felony, alleging McVey attempted to steal property valued at more than $1 million through an email sent at 6:40 a.m. on April 24, 2026. The indictment does not identify the intended recipient or victim by name in the version provided to Talk of the Sound.
The 29 counts in the indictment include:
• One count of Attempted Grand Larceny in the First Degree (Class C felony)
• Five counts of Attempted Grand Larceny in the Second Degree, charged as extortion based on instilling fear of future physical injury (Class D felony)
• Three counts of Attempted Grand Larceny in the Third Degree (Class E felony)
• One count of Attempted Grand Larceny in the Fourth Degree (Class A misdemeanor)
• Two counts of Criminal Contempt in the First Degree (Class E felony)
• Ten counts of Criminal Contempt in the Second Degree (Class A misdemeanor)
• Five counts of Aggravated Harassment in the Second Degree (Class A misdemeanor)
• One count of Making a Threat of Mass Harm (Class B misdemeanor)
• One count of Bail Jumping in the Third Degree (Class A misdemeanor)
Nearly all of the counts are based on emails McVey is alleged to have sent between February and April 2026, according to the indictment, each cited by date and timestamp. The grand larceny and extortion counts are tied to a cluster of emails sent in the early morning hours of April 24, 2026. The Criminal Contempt in the Second Degree counts are tied to a series of emails sent between March 19 and April 23, 2026, which the indictment alleges violated a court order. The Making a Threat of Mass Harm charge is tied to an email sent at 2:52 p.m. on February 4, 2026 — the same date cited in a separate Aggravated Harassment count.
The indictment was signed by Westchester County District Attorney Susan Cacace.
Background
Samuel McVey, 47, of Briarcliff Manor, was a probationary Spanish teacher at Isaac E. Young Middle School until January 2026, when Superintendent Corey W. Reynolds notified him of his intent to recommend termination.
In early February, McVey allegedly sent emails to a school official threatening to come to the school “with guns” and stating “we have a bullet for Corey’s head,” prompting heightened security at the school and a police investigation. An arrest warrant and temporary order of protection were issued on February 9.
McVey told Talk of the Sound he had been in Colombia in February 2026, initially planning to coordinate a baseball event during the New Rochelle schools’ mid-winter recess. He said he was interviewing for teaching positions, researching property for a planned bilingual school, and rented a finca in Llanogrande in early March. While Talk of the Sound was unable to independently verify those specific claims, records and witness accounts confirm McVey was present in Medellín as early as March 6 and was at an airport on March 12, as detailed in a previous Talk of the Sound report. McVey returned to the United States between March 12 and March 16.
McVey was arrested at his parents’ home in Briarcliff Manor on March 17, arraigned before Judge Michelle Bernstein on the original charge, pled not guilty, and was released under non-monetary conditions that included surrendering his passport — an order he did not comply with. A second case was initiated on March 20 with an arraignment and arrest warrant. McVey subsequently failed to appear in court on March 24, prompting the warrant in the second case to be continued, and again on March 26 and April 1, triggering bench warrants in the original case on both dates.
McVey returned to Colombia. While there in April, he engaged in conduct that authorities described as “behavior contrary to public coexistence,” including, according to Colombian news reports and local officials posting on X, attempting to enter four separate schools and menacing students, parents, and staff. Colombian police took him into protective custody. Separately, and not previously publicly known, INDER Medellín, a sports agency of the Medellín Mayor’s Office, investigated McVey following a complaint of an on-field assault at a baseball facility. INDER confirmed that the District of Medellín, acting through the Mayor’s Office and in coordination with national immigration authorities, carried out “verification, control, and deportation” of McVey, stating his presence in Colombia did not comply with migration regulations or the behavioral norms required of foreign nationals.
Westchester County prosecutors upgraded the charges to include Criminal Contempt in the First Degree, a felony, and added a bail jumping charge, placing him in the nationwide extraditable warrant system. Baton Rouge Police arrested him on May 7. The New Rochelle Police Department and the Westchester County Police Warrant/Fugitive Unit transported him back to New York.
On May 8, warrants were executed across all pending cases. McVey was arraigned before Judge Bernstein, pled not guilty across all cases, and was unable to post bail. In the newest case, bail was set at $100,000 cash, $200,000 insured bond, or $300,000 partially secured surety bond.
As of now, he remains held at the Westchester County Department of Correction in Valhalla but will soon be transferred to Mid-Hudson Forensic Psychiatric Center, located in New Hampton, N.Y..
All four cases were designated for a “730 status” hearing on June 2, 2026, meaning the court ordered a mental competency examination to assess whether McVey is fit to understand the charges against him and participate in his own defense. The June 2 hearing was adjourned without resolution. The cases were subsequently transferred to Westchester County Court following appearances on June 17, 2026, and superseded by the grand jury indictment reported above.
McVey separately faced a charge in Yonkers City Court, Case No. CR-04838-26, where four charges — including Attempted Grand Larceny in the Second Degree, Stalking in the Fourth Degree, Aggravated Harassment in the Second Degree, and Falsely Reporting an Incident — were dismissed following his May 19, 2026 arrest, though a new Aggravated Harassment charge was subsequently added. That case was also designated for a “730 status” hearing.
Transcript (edited for clarity)
Westchester ADA Samantha Murphy: Your honor, the people are going to be requesting that the defendant be remanded. I can outline the reasons why.
Judge Maurice D. Williams: Was bail previously set?
Westchester ADA Samantha Murphy: Bail was previously set in local court at a hundred thousand dollars cash, two hundred thousand dollars bond and three hundred thousand dollars bond partially secured.
Judge Maurice D. Williams: OK. And you’re now asking for a change in that bail status?
Westchester ADA Samantha Murphy: Yes. The defendant now stands before the court indicted on multiple charges, specifically 29 counts. When the defendant was initially arraigned on the first case, he was released on his own recognizance with the condition that he surrender his passport. The defendant failed to surrender his passport and then fled the country to Columbia (McVey: “I had a job interview in Columbia.”) and did not return to the United States voluntarily. He was asked to leave the country of Columbia (McVey: “that’s not true”) and still did not return back to New York to face these charges (McVey: <unintelligible>). He was then in Louisiana and had to be extradited back to New York to face these charges (McVey: “I had an interview with Lane Kiffin at LSU”)
During the time period where he was out of the country, he was violating the orders of protection that were issued and sending threats to members of the New Rochelle City School District (McVey: What?). And now the defendant lacks capacity. Based on all those reasons, we do not believe the defendant can voluntarily return to court and believe that remand is appropriate.
Defense Counsel Jeffrey Scaggs: The worst allegations are that he made threats. He never injured anybody, he never intended to injure anybody, judge. He made allegedly a series of threats, and it’s our position that these were made in jest. As, the court and the people are aware, many of these comments were posted to YouTube and, I think it’s fairly obvious when watching those videos that these comments were made in jest. He never planned any action besides these comments, judge, he was not being serious when he said these things, he was allegedly just really using words judge. So it’s our position judge that nobody was injured, he was making comments. So you know it’s a very long indictment, obviously, but they’re all over things that were said not actually done in judge. So, I think remand is extreme overkill for the set of facts that we have here, Your Honor. Thank you.
EDITOR’S NOTE: McVey has separately made threats against this reporter on multiple occasions, including by referencing the IRA and threatening violence; those threats have been reported to the New Rochelle Police Department and the Westchester County District Attorney’s Office.
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This article was prepared with the assistance of AI tools under the direction and editing of Robert Cox.
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