By Naeisha Rose
Charles Gallman is the third defendant accused of witness tampering and bribing to plead guilty to interfering in an illegal gun possession case in Jamaica, according to Queens District Attorney Richard Brown.
“Witnesses of crimes must be protected from outside interference that might affect their testimony,” said Brown. “My office will not tolerate the intimidation of, or tampering with, witnesses and is committed to the vigorous prosecution of those who engage in such conduct.”
Gallman, 55, from the Bronx, admitted in court to bribing a witness July 10 and will be sentenced Sept. 20. He faces up to three years in prison, according to Queens Criminal Court Judge Joseph Zayas, who presided over his case since he was arrested on July 16, 2015 in Kew Gardens.
Gallman was accused of trying to pay off, intimidate and coerce victims who were to testify against Frederick Freeman, 30, who attempted to hold up by gunpoint Jamaica resident Rashown Williams, the brother of Freeman’s girlfriend, according to Brown’s office.
The DA’s office has no information as whether the defendant is an actual private investigator, and Gallman’s attorney has not responded to inquiries about his client’s profession.
On Jan. 30, 2013, Freeman and his girlfriend Raneisha Williams, then 23, were outside Williams’ apartment on Guy Brewer Boulevard, when Williams’ brother heard a knock on the door and spied Raneisha and Freeman through a peephole, according to the criminal complaint. He refused to open the door at first.
When Williams’ saw that Freeman only had his hand on his waistband, he decided to slightly open the door, the complaint said, but as soon as he did Freeman raised a silver firearm towards the victim and tried to order the man to let him, which Williams refused to do.
Instead, Williams closed the door on his sister and Freeman, locked it and called 911, according to the complaint.
The police immediately found the couple three floors below in an apartment bedroom and recovered Raneisha Williams’ handbag under a bed, which had a silver .380 caliber pistol loaded with one cartridge in the chamber and two magazines were found as well, according to authorities.
Both were charged with second and third-degree criminal possession of a weapon, and on May 14, 2014, Raneisha Williams pleaded guilty to second-degree criminal possession of a weapon and was sentenced to 3 1/2 years in prison.
Brown’s office has no information as to why Williams would take part in a crime against her brother, according to a spokesman for the district attorney.
Freeman’s case was still pending when Gallman tried to bribe, intimidate and tamper with Williams’ testimony, including that of members of his family, one of which was a 17-year-old nephew who was in his apartment, according to authorities.
An investigation by the DA’s Special Victims and Detective bureaus, which included court-authorized eavesdropping, controlled telephone calls, the subpoenaing of telephone records and listening to recorded conversations from Rikers Island, was utilized to bring a case against Freeman and Gallman implying they would cause physical injury to Williams and his relatives.
Freeman pleaded guilty to both the illegal gun charge and witness tampering in May 2016, receiving 9 1/2 years in prison, instead of a potential 25 had he been convicted, according to Brown’s office.
The district attorney’s office could confirm the relationship between Gallman and Freeman, according to a spokesman.
A fourth defendant, Freeman’s father, Frederick Hutcherson, was also indicted on conspiring to bribe witnesses and his next day in court is Aug. 25, according to the DA’s office.
Reach reporter Naeisha Rose by e-mail at nrose
