An Inwood man is facing accusations that he tried to hire a hitman to kill a teenager he allegedly sexually abused in order to prevent the victim from testifying.
A Nassau County grand jury indicted Daniel Miller on charges of conspiracy and criminal solicitation.
The 45-year-old owner of a Santeria religious supply store in Inwood has been held at Nassau County jail since his arrest in April on criminal sexual act and other charges for allegedly drugging and sexually abusing a 17-year-old boy he hired.
Prosecutors said an informant told Nassau police in June that he had been asked by a relative of Miller’s to visit the suspect in jail, which he did. During the meeting, Miller allegedly asked the informant to arrange to have the alleged victim killed.
Miller told the informant to get instructions from the suspect’s home, where the informant met with two of Miller’s family members, prosecutors said. The family members allegedly provided the informant with documents containing the intended victim’s personal information.
The informant then called police and again met with Miller at the jail, where the suspect offered to pay $15,000 to arrange the killing by making it look like a cell phone robbery, prosecutors said.
Miller told the informant that the suspect’s mother stole the personal records of the intended victim from Lawrence High School, where she is a secretary, prosecutors said.
The district attorney’s office is continuing the investigation and charges could be filed against Miller’s family members as well, authorities said.
Miller was arraigned on the new charges Thursday morning, when a judge set his bail at $5 million bond or $2.5 million cash. He is due back in court August 1.