A Queens man has been charged with two felonies in connection with a shooting outside the Americana Manhasset shopping center last month.
Yuri Oluh, 21, of Jamaica was arrested on July 25 after a verbal argument with “an unknown male black suspect” in front of 1980 Northern Blvd., recognized as the luxury mall’s address, led to the unknown suspect pulling out a weapon and discharging several rounds at Oluh, who was not struck.
Shortly after the incident, Oluh, who had been found by police with a loaded silver handgun, was charged by the Nassau County district attorney’s office with criminal possession of a loaded weapon and criminal possession of a defaced firearm, but federal prosecutors have now taken on the case.
At the federal courthouse in Central Islip on Aug. 7, Oluh pleaded not guilty to being a felon in possession of a firearm and being in possession of a firearm with an obliterated serial number, according to court records. Court papers said that U.S. Magistrate Steven Locke ordered Oluh detaine. He will return to court on Sept. 9.
The prosecution is led by James P. McDonald for the U.S. attorney’s office for the Eastern District in New York, and he is assisted by Michael Maffei of the office’s Criminal Division. Oluh is being defended by public defender Tracey E. Gaffney of the Federal Defenders of New York, based in Central Islip.
The suspect who discharged the shots remains unknown and has not yet been caught.
