Indict Photographer As Perv

Federal authorities have indicted a well-known photographer from the Queens Hispanic community in absentia on 74 counts of child pornography production, two drug charges and jumping bail - fleeing the country before a December 2006 court date for a felony drug charge.
Colombian officials detained Michaelangelo Pinzon, better known in the Queens community as Michael Star, last month after Pinzon fled the United States and failed to appear at a pre-trial court date on December 26, 2006 to face charges of importing heroin.
Law enforcement officers arrested Pinzon on December 22, and he faced up to five years if convicted of the charges, but he was released on $250,000 bail.
Currently, officials are hoping that Pinzon will voluntarily return to face the charges against him, but if they need to extradite him from Colombia, the process could take one year or more, according to sources.
Authorities seized 74 pictures from Pinzon’s computer showing sexually explicit pictures of minor children, including 46 pictures with Pinzon and minor children involved in sexually explicit positions and engaging in sexual acts, according to the indictment, filed in U.S. District Court on January 11, 2007.
Pinzon, who owned his own photography studio in Jackson Heights, frequently attended community events and volunteered to take photographs at the different events.
In addition, in July of 2006, City Councilmember Hiram Monserrate presented Pinzon with a citation for his contributions to the community at a ceremony at City Hall commemorating the anniversary of Colombian Independence.
“We gave a citation at an event at the request of various community members,” Monserrate said. “We will be a lot more stringent in the future [with giving out citations]. If he is guilty of what he is being charged with, he needs to face the full length of the law. There is no tolerance on my part for anyone who engaged in those actions.”
However, Luis Castro, a former political consultant who worked for Monserrate from 2001 until late in 2006 and was also in charge of helping select the group to receive citations, said he warned Monserrate twice before the ceremony about giving Pinzon a citation before checking out his background.
“I did advise him that he didn’t have a good reputation,” Castro said. “First, there were rumors within the community. One time he [Pinzon] did comment to me that he had problems with the criminal justice system or with the law.”
Nevertheless, after advising his boss twice against giving Pinzon the citation, Castro said he relented.
“When an elected official tells you to do something, you do it,” said Castro.
Monserrate disputed Castro’s claims saying those conversations never took place, and said he believes his recent firing of Castro could be impetus for him making what he called false claims.
Pinzon also has a criminal record in Queens County district court having pleaded guilty to three separate incidents in 1998, 2001 and 2005, respectively. In October of 2001, Pinzon pleaded guilty to third degree sexual abuse of a child.
One of Pinzon’s many affiliations included being a member of the Colombian Civic Center since 2001, where he most recently served as a director of public affairs for the organization last year.
“We were supposed to have an appointment [with Pinzon] in the second week of January when he was arrested,” said Pedro Navarro, President of the Colombian Civic Center.
In addition, Pinzon served as the director of the center’s beauty pageant in 2006, but Navarro said nobody from his organization suspected anything like this from Pinzon.
“It was a surprise to everyone in the community,” he said. “Everything that we know is what we have been reading in the newspaper.”
Navarro also said that no parents of children have come forward to his organization about involvement with Pinzon, but the organization is planning a meeting for Friday, March 9 for any community members to express their concern.
Authorities are also encouraging any child who may have been a victim of Pinzon to come forward to police.