By Tom Momberg
A Queens woman who was charged last year with assisting her ex-con boyfriend in allegedly throwing a Molotov cocktail inside his friend’s Little Neck home is walking free after striking a plea deal on a lesser charge with prosecutors Tuesday, the Queens district attorney said.
Alexandra Flaherty, now 24, was charged with arson in August 2014 when it was alleged she had driven Ezra Barashy, 26, to the house on 60th Avenue in which he tossed the explosive to set it on fire, the DA said.
Flaherty was given a chance to enter a residential treatment facility for her narcotics addiction after pleading guilty to fourth-degree criminal facilitation in February, according to the district attorney’s office.
Flaherty was sentenced Tuesday to an adjournment in contemplation of dismissal, or ACD, by pleading guilty to a misdemeanor at Queens Criminal Court, following her successful completion of the residency program, according to the DA’s office.
If Flaherty had failed to complete the program, the DA said she would have had to serve one year in prison.
The damage from the 2014 fire was not severe, but the three people inside the house were hospitalized after inhaling smoke, police said at the time. The target of the attack was put the fire out with a pot of water, which helped prevent the blaze from becoming fatal, Queens DA Richard Brown said in February.
Surveillance footage showed Barashy approaching his friend’s residence with a gas can and seconds later showed him running to a waiting car, the DA said.
Barashy is currently serving between five and 10 years in prison for third-degree felony arson after being sentenced in February, the DA said.
Barashy was previously convicted in the drive-by shooting of a Queens Supreme Court judge’s home in 2008 and was charged with attempted murder, arson and six counts of reckless endangerment, according to court records.
