It's back to prison for violent Staten Island ex-con with federal conviction in robbery spree
An ex-con from Staten Island was found guilty of committing a string of terrifying heists — including one where he posed as an FBI agent, and another where an accomplice blasted a hole in the coat of the victim's 10-year-old son.
Tony Clanton, 51, has a record of violent crime dating back to 1997, when he ripped off an undercover Special Deputy U.S. Marshal during a staged gun buy, then tried to shoot that marshal, but the gun wouldn't fire.
On Monday, a Brooklyn Federal Court jury delivered a verdict that could end his criminal career for good — guilty on five federal robbery and related charges, which carry a mandatory minimum of 25 years and a maximum of life behind bars.
Clanton served about three years for the 1997 caper, as well as an 11-year sentence for a string of home invasion robberies in 2007 and 2008 where he flashed a fake DEA badge and phony warrants.
He returned to the criminal life with a fresh wave of stickups in 2023, teaming up with another ex-con, Lawrence Dotson, who spent more than 26 years behind bars for murder. Dotson, who's cooperating with the feds, took the stand against Clanton at his trial.
'Over a six-month period, Clanton directed a cruel and violent spree in New York City and New Jersey that left terrorized robbery victims in his wake, including two children who watched as their parents were shot at or menaced with guns,' U.S. Attorney John Durham said.
The spree started on Jan. 20, 2023, when Clanton targeted a fellow worker in the construction business, Vernon Fields.
Fields and Clanton had similar jobs, finding and recruiting day laborers to work on big construction sites, and about a year before the robbery, the two men's companies had a dispute over a competing bid, Fields testified.
That day, Fields was coming home with his 10-year-old son on Clinton Ave. on Staten Island when Dotson, disguised as a painter in a white Tyvek suit pulled out a loaded silver revolver and told him, 'Don't make it a homicide.'
Dotson pistol-whipped Fields and fired a shot near his head, and Clanton rushed in to grab the vicitm's keys and get into the apartment — but the two men fled in a U-Haul van after they realized Fields was on the phone with his girlfriend, firing again as they ran.
'I just kept saying, you know, just don't shoot my son. I just kept repeating that,' Fields told the jury.
Clanton also orchestrated a $4,000 stick-up of a smoke shop in Staten Island's Annadale neighborhood on June 3, 2023. The owner testified that the robbers bound him with zip-ties, taking both the cash and a stash of pot.
On June 24, 2023, Clanton and Dotson pretended to sell a Mercedes Benz for $60,000 to a man Dotson met in a strip club, according to prosecutors, then drove to the prospective buyer's Staten Island house and tried to rob the man in front of his teenage son.
Three days later, he and his accomplices donned fake 'FBI' clothes, including a novelty jacket he ordered through Amazon, and tried to rob the husband-and-wife owners of an Edison, N.J., jewelry store.
And on July 12, 2023,, he took part in armed robbery of a Brooklyn ice cream shop owner, who was robbed at gunpoint after walking out of a bank with $6,000 cash.
Clanton's lawyer, Susan Kellman, tried to paint Dotson as an opportunistic liar, and questioned in her closing arguments why he the government let him keep the Mercedes he used in the crimes.
She declined comment Monday.
Clanton is slated to be sentenced on July 31.
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
CNBC
21 minutes ago
- CNBC
Man charged after allegedly supplying chemicals in Palm Springs fertility clinic bombing
A Washington man is facing charges after allegedly providing large amounts of chemicals used in a car bomb outside a Palm Springs fertility clinic last month, federal authorities said Wednesday. Daniel Park, a 32-year-old from Seattle, was arrested at John F. Kennedy International Airport in New York City overnight in connection with the May 17 car bombing outside the American Reproductive Centers clinic in Palm Springs, two people familiar with the matter told NBC News. Park was charged in a federal complaint with providing and attempting to provide material support to a terrorist, the U.S. attorney for the Central District of California, Bill Essayli, told reporters Wednesday. Prosecutors allege that he supplied 270 pounds of ammonium nitrate, an explosive precursor commonly used to construct homemade bombs, to Guy Edward Bartkus, the primary suspect in the bombing. The May bomb ultimately killed 25-year-old Bartkus and injured four others. The attack damaged the clinic building and left a 250-yard debris field. No one who worked at the center was hurt, and the clinic said the center's lab, which houses eggs, embryos, and reproductive materials, was not damaged. Bartkus lived in Twentynine Palms and appeared to be motivated by anti-natalist ideology, two senior law enforcement officials previously told NBC News. Park allegedly shared Bartkus' extremist beliefs and had posted about the similar ideology on Internet forums dating back to 2016, Akil Davis, the assistant director of the FBI's Los Angeles field office, said Wednesday. Park allegedly shipped 180 pounds of ammonium nitrate to Bartkus, Essayli said. "Park paid for an additional 90 pounds of ammonium nitrate that was shipped to Bartkus in the days leading up to the Palm Springs attack," Essayli said. Davis said that six packages of ammonium nitrate were shipped from Park in Seattle to Bartkus in Twentynine Palms. A search warrant in Seattle also found that Park had "an explosive recipe that was similar to the Oklahoma City bombing," Davis said. "We believe that Park had knowledge of how to create an ammonium nitrate-fueled bomb," Davis said. "Social media posts indicate that he was attempting to recruit others of like-minded ideology and discuss these things on internet forums." Investigators also learned that Park spent two weeks visiting Bartkus in Twentynine Palms in late January and early February, "running experiments in Bartkus' garage, where the FBI recovered large quantities of chemical precursors and laboratory equipment after the bombing," the prosecutor said. Days after the bombing, prosecutors say Park fled the United States for Europe. Park flew to Warsaw, Poland, via Denmark on May 21, where he was detained on May 30 by Polish authorities. He was deported back to the U.S. and arrested by the FBI and Port Authority police at JFK Airport. Authorities said the investigation into the bombing is ongoing, noting Bartkus was not on their radar prior. There's no indication that there were other potential targets for bombing, Davis said. Park is expected to make his initial court appearance Wednesday afternoon in Brooklyn federal court. Essayli said the government will seek to detain him without bail, and the Marshal Service will transport him to the Central California District. Davis called the attack in May "an intentional act of terrorism."
Yahoo
21 minutes ago
- Yahoo
What is Fusarium graminearum, the fungus US authorities say was smuggled in from China?
NEW YORK (AP) — Federal prosecutors charged two Chinese researchers on Tuesday with smuggling a crop-killing fungus into the U.S. last summer — charges that come amid heightened political tensions between the two countries and as the Trump administration moves to revoke visas from visiting Chinese students. Yunqing Jian and Zunyong Liu are charged with conspiracy, smuggling, making false statements and visa fraud for allegedly bringing the fungus Fusarium graminearum into the U.S. Jian, 33, was booked in a Detroit federal court. Liu, 34, is thought to be in China. According to the FBI, Liu had small baggies of the fungus stashed in his backpack when he flew to the U.S. last year and, after claiming ignorance about the plant material inside them, said he was planning to use it for research at a University of Michigan lab where Jian worked and where Liu previously worked. What is Fusarium head blight? Fusarium graminearum causes a disease called Fusarium head blight that can wipe out cereal crops such as wheat, barley and maize and rice — it inflicts $1 billion in losses annually on U.S. wheat and barley crops, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture. It isn't the only fungus to cause Fusarium head blight, but it's the most common culprit in the U.S. The fungus infects plants early in the growing season, shriveling wheat grains and blanching crop heads a whitish-tan color. It also causes a toxin to accumulate in wheat kernels that can make them unsafe for people and livestock to eat. Nicknamed 'vomitoxin' because it's most known for causing livestock to throw up, it can also cause diarrhea, abdominal pain, headache and fever in animals and people. Wheat and other grain crops are screened for various toxins, including Fusarium graminearum, before they can be used to feed animals and humans. Farmers have to throw out any infected grains, which can cause devastating losses. 'It's one of the many problems that farmers have to deal with that risks their livelihood,' said David Geiser, a Fusarium expert at Penn State. What are the accusations? Although Jian and Liu are accused of smuggling Fusarium graminearum into the country, the fungus is already prevalent in the U.S. — particularly in the east and Upper Midwest — and scientists have been studying it for decades. Researchers often bring foreign plants, animals and even strains of fungi to the U.S. to study them, but they must file certain permits before moving anything across state or national borders. Studying the genes of a foreign fungus strain, for example, can help scientists learn how it tolerates heat, resists pesticides or mutates. 'We look at variations among individuals just like we do humans,' said Nicole Gauthier, a plant pathologist at the University of Kentucky who studies Fusarium. That said, it's unclear why the Chinese researchers might have wanted to bring that strain of Fusarium graminearum into the U.S. and why they didn't fill out the proper paperwork to do so. ___ The Associated Press Health and Science Department receives support from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute's Science and Educational Media Group and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. The AP is solely responsible for all content.
Yahoo
21 minutes ago
- Yahoo
Boulder survivor recounts desperation trying to help woman on fire
Ed Victor had just finished the Run for Their Lives walk and was with group members gathering outside the Boulder, Colorado, courthouse on Sunday afternoon when he said he heard a crash, felt heat -- and then saw a woman on fire. 'My focus got extremely narrow at that time. I didn't notice anything else," Victor said at a news conference Wednesday with political and faith leaders outside the courthouse. "I was worried about that woman," he said, "and I'll tell you, when someone is on fire, it takes too long to put them out." MORE: Boulder attack latest: Number of victims climbs to 15 Victor said he and the other walk participants frantically looked around for what they had to help extinguish the flames: flags and a banner. Fifteen people ranging in age from 25 to 88 years old were hurt in the Molotov cocktail attack, prosecutors said. Some victims were "very seriously burned," Rabbi Mark Soloway said at the news conference. The suspect, 45-year-old Mohamed Soliman, allegedly yelled "Free Palestine" during the attack, the FBI said. He was arrested at the scene and has been charged with a federal hate crime and state charges, including 16 counts of attempted first-degree murder, officials said. Soliman allegedly said he intentionally targeted Run for Their Lives, a peaceful group comprised of Jews and non-Jews who participate in weekly walks to raise awareness about the hostages in Gaza, according to court documents. Soliman told police "he wanted to kill all Zionist people," court documents said. He "said this had nothing to do with the Jewish community and was specific in the Zionist group supporting the killings of people on his land (Palestine)," documents said. Political and faith leaders strongly condemned the attack at Wednesday's news conference. "Antisemitism, violence and hate have no home in Colorado," Colorado Gov. Jared Polis said. "We will not be silenced or scared. We will not let the demons of hate define us." "The whole Jewish community is reeling, shocked that this hideous hate crime could happen right here in downtown, beautiful Boulder, Colorado," Soloway said. "And yet, we have seen this coming ... Jews here and all over America and all over the world have not been feeling safe." The Boulder attack comes at a time of heightened violence against the Jewish community. In April, a suspected arsonist firebombed Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro's official residence because of "what [the governor] wants to do to the Palestinian people," according to a search warrant signed by Pennsylvania State Police. The suspect was arrested. On May 21, two Israeli Embassy staff members were killed as they left an event at the Capital Jewish Museum in Washington, D.C. When the suspect was arrested, he began to chant, "free, free Palestine," according to police. Two days after the D.C. attack, the Department of Homeland Security warned in a bulletin that the Israel-Hamas conflict "continues to inspire violence and could spur radicalization or mobilization to violence against targets perceived as supporting Israel." MORE: Colorado attack comes amid record incidents of antisemitic and Islamophic hate crimes The Anti-Defamation League has documented a dramatic rise in acts of hate targeting Jewish people in the U.S. since the Oct. 7, 2023, terror attack in Israel. In 2024, the ADL said it recorded a record high of 9,354 antisemitic incidents in the U.S., marking a 344% increase over the past five years and a 893% increase over the past 10 years. "I am angry," Jonathan Greenblatt, CEO of the ADL, said at Wednesday's news conference. 'It's way past time for our political leaders, community groups, media outlets, tech platforms, faith leaders to take action before more Jewish blood is spilled. And it's way past time to stop excusing antisemitic rhetoric," he said. Greenblatt urged the public to speak out against hate, sharing small, specific actions people can take. "Flag a hateful post, sign a petition, attend a service, make a comment in city council," he said. Soliman appeared in court virtually on Monday. He has yet to enter a plea. He'll return to court Thursday on the state charges.
