Former Trainer of Ex-DA Levy Sues Putnam for $45 Million
The former trainer of ex-Putnam County District Attorney Adam Levy has filed a $45 million lawsuit against the county, claiming his arrest and prosecution on a rape charge was only pursued because of Levy’s strained relationship with Sheriff Don Smith.
Alexandru Hossu claims in a 43-page complaint that his prosecution on a rape charge that he was ultimately found not-guilty of was the result of a “politically inspired acceptance of a baseless accusations made by a deeply troubled young woman who defendants knew, and had every reason to know, was lying.”
Hossu was arrested in March 2013 and sat in jail for a year before his trial ended with an acquittal in April 2014.
The complaint details how the sheriff’s department, at the behest of Smith, allegedly targeted Hossu because of his association to Levy. The complaints states Smith, and investigators in the sheriff’s office maliciously fabricated police reports and presented a slanted view of an incomplete investigation. The March 20 arrest warrant issued by a Patterson town judge had material misrepresentations, according to the complaints.
Representing Hossu is well-known attorney Michael Sussman, who is also representing Levy in his ongoing battle with Smith over his $5 million defamation lawsuit stemming from that case.
“This was beyond sloppy,” Sussman said of the investigation into Hossu. “This to me suggests an intentional frame up.”
For more on this story, read Tuesday’s print edition of The Putnam Examiner.
