Major, 29, has two prior felony convictions – a 2000 weapons charge and a 2006 drug possession charge – and was on trial for felony gun  charges after plainclothes police officers said they saw Major toss two guns into a trash can on Oliver Street the night of Sept. 10, 2008.

Other people hanging around the area said they saw Major ditch the guns in the garbage as well, but the jury chose to believe two other witnesses who testified that they were with Major that night and he had no part in any gun-tossing. The panel dismissed the entire five-count indictment.

In what will be entered as the Understatement of the Year, his attorney, the indefatigable Barry Warhit,  said his client was “relieved” by the verdict, adding that Major ”is anticipating getting on with his life.”

To qualify, the volunteers cannot hold any office in any political party. Bar associations and civic groups are encouraged to recommend “highly qualified individuals” for the posts.

One nominee would fill out a term ending on March 31 and will be chosen by Gov. David A. Patterson. The other nominee would be on the board a bit longer, to March 2013, and will be chosen by Assembly Minority Leader Brian M. Kolb.

Those interested can call Patterson’s office  at 518-474-8390 and Kolb’s office at 518-455-3751.

And once again, the feds’ have charged a Westchester man in connection with the alleged schemes.

Michael Kimelman, 38,  of Larchmont, who founded Incremental Capital, was accused of  securities fraud and conspiracy in one of  eight criminal complaints and felony information documents that were announced today. Kimelman was arrested by FBI agents at his home this morning.

The first shoe in the case dropped Oct. 16 when Bharara  announced the arrests of  six executives in connection with a $20 million insider trading case. Among those charged was Mark Kurland of Mount Kisco. The former president of a hedge fund company was charged along with one of the wealthiest men in the world, Raj Rajaratnam and now-former IBM executive Robert Moffat in the case.

This latest case was built on informants, wiretaps and intercepted phone calls — the staples of drug, organized crime, and anti-terrorism cases. It used to be that white collar cases were painstakingly built on reams of documents. That looks like it’s changing under Bharara as the feds appear willing to employ more aggressive tactics in rooting out white collar corruption.

Read the release from Bharara’s office here.

Just ask the 53 Bronx residents charged in six sweeping federal indictments aimed at the crack and heroin trade in two Bronx housing projects. Some 450 federal agents and New York City cops descended upon the Morrisania section of the Bronx this morning to corral more than three dozen of the accused. And the feds used all the weapons at their disposal in the investigation —wiretaps, informants, undercover officers — to build the case that resulted in the execution of 22 search warrants this morning and the seizure of $18,000, four guns, and 1000 bags of heroin.

U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara called a press conference to announce the arrests, the third such news event since he was sworn in last month. The first two were connected to white collar cases.  Read the release issued by Bharara’s office here.

Do you think the judge’s fine was to high? Or not high enough? Share your thoughts here.

UPDATED: David Friehling, the former New City accountant of Ponzi schemer Bernie Madoff, has pleaded guilty to federal charges and has apologized for his role in Madoff’s schemes.

Click here to read more about this story.

Photo: David Friehling

This may be just a recap of his previous endorsements from county police and other PBA groups. (See earlier Completely Legal posts for the list). But I’ll update you after the event with the details.

Meanwhile, here in the newsroom, we are getting our election game plan together for tomorrow night. My esteemed colleagues will be covering the DA race; I will be tracking the 9th Judicial District judges’ race, which is spread out over 5 counties (thank goodness all 5 county boards of election will be posting the results online).

Good luck to all!

At this Halloween party, there will be no tricks, no treats and no fun.

That’s because Westchester County officials once again are ordering registered and non-registered sex offenders to leave their homes and go to the Westchester County Courthouse in White Plains, where they will have to sit and listen to crime victims’ stories.

The county, which started this Halloween program in 2005, mailed notices to 160 sex offenders that they must be at the courthouse in White Plains from 7 to 10 p.m. Probation officers and police will visit those who fail to show.

Two speakers from the county jail’s Resolve to Stop Violence program will talk about how as children they were victims of crime and how such acts can impact the victim’s life.

The state, meanwhile, plans to keep tabs on sex offenders on parole by visiting them in their homes from 4 to 6 p.m. and reminding them that they forbidden from answering the door for trick-or-treaters, wearing a costume or even having Halloween candy.

Parole officers will visit about 1,800 sex offender statewide this year for its “Operation Halloween” program, which is in its 10th year.

Pumpkin photo from Google images

And then there are those hearings whose length is best measured in seconds. Such is the case with today’s 240-second  appearance by Pelham Middle School teacher Gregg Cavaluzzi, nabbed by Westchester County police on May 31 in an Internet sex sting after he allegedly showed up in Elmsford to meet what he thought was a 15-year-old girl he had been chatting to first on the Internet and then on the phone. She turned out to be an undercover detective. Cavaluzzi, who had tendered his resignation from the school district prior to his arrest, was fired after he was charged.

Cavaluzzi’s lawyer, Clinton Calhoun and Assistant U.S. Attorney Kathryn Martin are in plea discussions in the case and asked today for another 30 days to continue those talks. U.S. District Judge Kenneth Karas put the case down for a Nov. 30 hearing.

Then Cavaluzzi was led out by deputy U.S. marshals and back to the Westchester County Jail.

Later tonight, state Supreme Court Justice Francis A. Nicolai will be among those to receive the “Partners In Justice Award” during a reception starting at 5:30 p.m. Nicolai, the presiding judge of the Appellate Term for the Ninth and Tenth Judicial Districts, will be honored alongside attorneys Barbara Lerman, Julie Cvek, Robert Byrne, Dawn Arnold and the law firm of McCarthy Fingar LLP in the Omni Room of the Judicial Institute.

Sponsors include Pace Law School Center for Career Development, Legal Services of the Hudson Valley, The Westchester County Pro Bono Committee, Westchester County Bar Association, Westchester Women’s Bar Association, Westchester Black Bar Association, Brandeis Bar Association, Columbian Bar Association, and bar associations in White Plains, New Rochelle and Yonkers.