Cabbie arraigned, faces up to 15 years in jail

Klever Sailema, the cabbie accused of attempting to rape and assault a 23-year-old female passenger, was arraigned on Saturday, March 7 on charges of attempted rape, assault, sexual abuse, forcible touching and unlawful imprisionment.
Though the district attorney had asked for bail to be set at $250,000, Judge Barry Kron set Sailema’s bail at $50,000.
He maintains his innocence, according to Kevin Faga, who had been representing him and who was his attorney in an unrelated case last year in which Sailema, at first hailed as a hero for rescuing an abandoned six-month-old girl, was later arrested for his participation in a plot to get rid of the child, whose father was his girlfriend’s brother and whose mother was 14.
The case was later dismissed.
Sailema’s alleged victim in this incident said that she fell asleep in the back of Sailema’s cab after he picked her up in Astoria on March 2, in the vicinity of 28th Avenue and 37th Street.
She said that when she awoke, her pants and underwear were down and Sailema was on top of her. The victim allegedly began screaming and punching Sailema, biting him on the arm, before grabbing his hack registration and a photo and fleeing the vehicle.
She hailed another cab and was later taken to a local hospital and treated for injuries sustained during the alleged assault.
Sailema, 46, went on the lam, and police alerted the media that he was wanted. Fernando Mateo, head of the New York State Federation of Taxi Drivers, made a plea for Sailema — who claimed that the victim was drunk and the encounter was consensual — to surrender.
Faga did as well.
“We had a conversation and I?explained to him that if the police are looking for you, the best thing is to turn yourself in to show them you’re not a flight risk,” he told The Courier.
On Friday, March 6, he turned himself in to authorities.
Faga believes Kron’s bail decision was due in part to Sailema’s voluntary surrender.
Sailema was ordered to return to court on March 23. If convicted, he faces up to 15 years in prison.
Faga describes Sailema as “concerned,” “nervous” and “scared.”
“[It is] an intimidating environment to be in,” he said.