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New York City Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani said Tuesday he appointed a convicted armed robber to advise him on the criminal justice system because he wants to take experience and analysis from all New Yorkers into account to “build a city for each and every person.”
Mysonne Linen, 49, served seven years behind bars in state prison for robbery cases dating back to the 1990s. His appointment to Mamdani’s City Hall transition team was announced in a Nov. 26 Instagram post from Until Freedom, a New York City–based social justice organization, where Linen is a leader.
“We put together a team of more than 400 New Yorkers who are on 17 different committees, and these are New Yorkers who bring with them both a fluency of the policies and politics of the city, the places that they’ve succeeded, the places that they’ve failed, and we will take all of their experiences and their analysis into account as we build a city for each and every person,” Mamdani said Tuesday when asked by Fox News correspondent Alexis McAdams about the appointment.
According to past reports, Linen, a Bronx native who was once signed to Def Jam, was convicted of two felony robberies.
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In 1999, a Bronx jury found him guilty in two armed robberies of taxi drivers, according to the New York Daily News.
Prosecutors said Linen was part of a group that robbed cab driver Joseph Exiri June 8, 1997, striking him with a beer bottle, and he held up cab driver Francisco Monsanto at gunpoint on March 31, 1998, stealing cash and a ring before fleeing.
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Both cabbies testified and identified Linen as one of the robbers.
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The New York Daily News reported that Linen’s defense argued he had no reason to commit the crimes because he was earning money writing songs for artists such as Lil’ Kim and Mase, and his music was slated to appear on an all-star album featuring LL Cool J, Busta Rhymes and Q-Tip.
He faced up to 25 years in prison and ultimately served seven years. Linen maintained at the time that he had been falsely accused, according to reports.
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