Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus R. Vance, Jr., today announced the guilty plea of RUBEN WILLS, 40, for stealing and damaging property from a Lower Manhattan office in 1996. WILLS pled guilty to Criminal Mischief in the Fourth Degree, a class A misdemeanor, before Manhattan Criminal Court Judge Felicia Mennin. The defendant, who in 1997 agreed to an adjournment in contemplation of dismissal before failing to reappear in court, was today sentenced to a conditional discharge, three days community service, and ordered to pay $2,500 in restitution.

According to the complaint and the facts admitted in court, on August 14, 1996, WILLS entered Inner Circle Communications on West Broadway and intentionally removed and damaged property inside the office. WILLS failed to appear in court on subsequent court dates and a bench warrant was issued. WILLS returned to court in March 2011, more than 14 years after his arrest.

Following the defendant’s guilty plea, District Attorney Vance announced plans to call on lawmakers in Albany to amend the current statute of limitations for the crime of Bail Jumping, Criminal Procedure Law Section 30.10 (4), in order to help prosecutors bring to justice those defendants who deliberately fail to appear in court. Currently, the statute of limitations for prosecuting Bail Jumping in the First and Second degrees is five years, and the statute of limitations for prosecuting Bail Jumping in the Third Degree is two years. Under the proposed amendment, that time limitation would stop running for any period following the commission of the offense during which the defendant has intentionally failed to return to court and a bench warrant has been ordered. The amendment would not only help prosecutors to charge bail jumping by stopping the clock on the statute of limitations, it would also ensure that defendants are not rewarded for intentionally absconding for a period longer than the statute of limitations.

Assistant District Attorney Shira Arnow prosecuted the WILLS case.

Defendant Information:

RUBEN WILLS, D.O.B. 08/09/1971

Queens, NY

Convicted:

• Criminal Mischief in the Fourth Degree, a class A misdemeanor, one count