LI CRIME BRIEFS

NEW YORK CITY/Jailed pirate accused of ordering killing

The Somali pirate charged with the 2009 attack on a U.S. vessel has been held in solitary confinement for allegedly ordering the killing of the captain of another ship over a jail telephone, court papers filed yesterday disclosed.

Abduwali Abdukhadir Muse's lawyers, in a memorandum seeking leniency at their client's sentencing on Feb. 16, said he was put into solitary in January 2010 on orders of Attorney General Eric Holder.

The accusation was based on a conversation that a captain of another hijacked ship had with a pirate, who told him that Muse had ordered the killing of a Taiwanese captain whose ship was held by pirates, and on phone conversations Muse had from the Metropolitan Correctional Center in Manhattan.

But Muse's lawyers, who apparently anticipate that the issue will come up when he is sentenced by U.S. District Judge Loretta Preska, said the allegations were untrue, and the phone conversations had been misinterpreted.

Muse pleaded guilty last year in the hijacking of the U.S.-flagged Maersk Alabama off the coast of Somalia. He faces 27 to 33 years in prison under federal sentencing guidelines, but his lawyers are seeking a lower sentence based on his difficult upbringing and young age.

His family says he is 17 or 18. The government says he is 21.

- JOHN RILEY

TUCKAHOE/Mastic man charged in home invasion

A Mastic man has been arrested on felony burglary, assault and weapons charges in an armed invasion of a Tuckahoe residence last month, Southampton Town police said yesterday.

The detective division and the U.S. Marshals Service Fugitive Task Force arrested Marcus Simmons, 25, on Monday in Mastic as a result of an ongoing investigation, according to a news release.

Police said Simmons is a suspect in the Jan. 17 burglary of a home on North Magee Street. A news release did not provide information on the merchandise that was allegedly stolen.

Simmons was arrested without incident and was taken to the town's detention facility, police said.

He was charged with felony assault, felony burglary and felony possession of a weapon, police said.

Police said the investigation of the incident was continuing and they expect additional charges against Simmons.

- GARY DYMSKI