An ex-FDNY firefighter-turned-OnlyFans mannequin was thrown behind bars Thursday for allegedly drunkenly mowing down a younger airport employee in Queens — a shock transfer that drew raucous cheers and applause from the sufferer’s household in court docket.
“Put the cuffs on him!” somebody shouted from the gallery of Queens Supreme Courtroom as Michael Pena had his bail revoked within the February wreck that killed Justin Cruz, 23.
Greater than 50 individuals from Cruz’s facet crowded the courtroom to observe as Pena — who moonlit as a hunky OnlyFans mannequin — was slapped with a 14-count indictment, together with manslaughter fees, for the Feb. 26 crash.
The beefy 28-year-old disgraced probationary smoke eater was dashing 83 mph in a 25 mph zone in his silver Mercedes S63 Coupe when he blew by way of a crimson mild and struck Cruz’s car, the Queens District Lawyer’s Workplace mentioned.
Prosecutors mentioned Pena, who was fired from the FDNY final month, had been bar-hopping for hours earlier than the lethal crash and had a lot booze, cocaine and marijuana in his system that his blood-alcohol degree was properly above the authorized restrict 5 hours after the wreck.
“I ran the light. I hit him,” Pena allegedly advised cops on the scene, Queens Assistant District Lawyer Vivian Gonzalez mentioned in court docket. “I’m a firefighter. I T-boned him. The car is registered to me. The reg expired in January… It’s a great car.”
Prosecutors mentioned the lethal crash was caught on a number of surveillance cameras and dashcam.
Pena — who was dressed to the nines in a charcoal grey swimsuit, crisp white shirt and gold tie — had been free on bail, which was set at $50,000 in money or a $100,000 bond after his arrest.
Prosecutors, nevertheless, argued on Thursday that Pena was a flight threat as a result of he confronted 15 years in jail, if convicted.
His legal professional, Marvin Kornberg, tried in useless to maintain his shopper out of the clink.
“He has ties to the community,” Kornberg advised Choose Michael Hartofilis. “There is absolutely no need to change the bail. He lost his job. That’s the only thing that changed.”
However Hartofolis sided with prosecutors — inflicting the courtroom gallery to burst into applause and cheers — as a shocked Pena seemed in disbelief.
“This was a heinous crime,” Diaz’s older brother, Franklin Diaz Jr., advised reporters exterior the courtroom. “The medicine, the alcohol, the velocity, at what level do the brand new bail legal guidelines consider such heinous disregard for human life? He has no regard.
“It was during his arraignment, he came out with a smirk on his face,” he added. “He tried to use his firefighter status to lessen what he did to my brother.”
Diaz was driving to work northbound on 107th Road shortly after 4 a.m. when Pena allegedly gunned the engine on his Mercedes S63 — which might run as a lot as $135,000 — blowing by way of a crimson mild and slamming into Diaz’s automobile, killing the LaGuardia Airport employee, prosecutors mentioned.
The sufferer had simply graduated from faculty with a level in aeronautics and was learning to be an airplane mechanic, his brother beforehand mentioned.
Pena already had “multiple arrests,” together with a Queens, Nassau County and New Jersey — for flashing a phony ID — and a string of site visitors violations, together with 25 for dashing between 2023 and this 12 months, in response to the DA’s workplace.
He ran an OnlyFans account beneath the deal with “I’m Mike LV” and steadily posted shirtless photographs of his chiseled abs and arms, charging extra for “private content.”
“Feelin real fresh got some new content for y’all; message me to unlock the goods,” Pena posted on July 31, 2023. A photograph posted on Nov. 19, 2022, will get precariously near displaying his privates as he flexes in a mirror whereas carrying a white towel on his decrease half.
Outdoors the courtroom Thursday, Diaz’s father slammed Pena’s “depravity.”
“My son Justin will no longer have a future,” grieving dad Franklin Diaz mentioned. “His future was simply beginning. His profession was simply beginning to excel. He had simply completed faculty. Justin was work, dwelling, faculty.
“Justin had a future and that was stolen,” the elder Diaz mentioned. “Snatched by Michael Pena.”
