By Howard Koplowitz
Marconian Sockwell, 22, of 107-16 160th St. in Jamaica and Joseph Ogueri, 27, of 92-20 216th St. in Queens Village, pleaded guilty to grand larceny before Queens Supreme Court Justice Pauline Mullings. The judge said she would give Sockwell a three- to nine-year prison sentence and Ogueri 1 1/2 to 4 1/2 years behind bars on Feb. 19, Brown said.”Although the defendants were initially accused of using the 9/11 attacks as justification for their criminal behavior, at the heart of the scheme was simple greed,” the DA said in a statement.Sockwell and Ogueri called up people with southwest Asian-sounding names and pretended to be from the credit reporting bureau Equifax, Brown said.The victims would then give the men their personal information after thinking they were representatives from the company, Brown said.Using that information, Sockwell and Ogueri ordered between $3,000 and $9,000 in diamonds at a time with credit cards under the victims' addresses and intercepted FedEx deliveries from their homes, Brown said.The DA said the total deliveries amounted to about $400,000 worth of diamonds.When Sockwell and Ogueri were arrested in late October, Sockwell told detectives that the victims “are the ones who brought down the Trade Center.”The hijackers were predominantly from Saudi Arabia. There were no Bangladeshis involved in the attacks.Reach reporter Howard Koplowitz by e-mail at hkoplowitz@timesledger.com or by phone at 718-229-0300, Ext. 173.
