A notoriously lenient Manhattan criminal court judge discovered bullet holes in the bedroom of her Hell’s Kitchen apartment — but didn’t bother calling cops, The Post has learned.
Judge Valentina Morales, an appointee of former Mayor Bill de Blasio appointee who has sprung at least four violent criminals in the last three years, discovered holes in and above her bed, and a shattered ceiling fan light bulb on July 31, according to a criminal complaint.
The judge, who was not home when the shot was fired, also found “a hole in a plastic box underneath her bed” and a bullet fragment inside the box, authorities said in the complaint.
She notified the Office of Court Administration, which oversees judges, and the agency contacted soft on crime Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg on Aug. 1, law enforcement sources said.
Investigators from Bragg’s office went to her building and spoke to her upstairs neighbor, John Moore, who was convicted for drug dealing in 1987, records show.
Moore, 59, wasn’t home but investigators were let in by a roommate and found a hole in his bedroom floor, the document states. Moore later told them he accidentally fired a weapon and then threw it in the Hudson River, prosecutors said.
The NYPD was finally notified Aug. 2, when an arrest warrant was served on Moore’s apartment, the sources said.
Once inside, NYPD investigators found an arsenal of weapons, including a sawed-off shotgun and approximately 18 rounds of shotgun ammunition, one flintlock antique pistol, nearly 50 hollow point 9mm ammo rounds and 21 .38 caliber rounds, authorities said in the criminal complaint.
Other items included 22 switchblades, 12 electronic stun guns, eight collapsible batons, three sets of brass knuckles, and two wallets containing law enforcement badges, according to the complaint.
Police sources weren’t surprised the judge avoided calling New York’s Finest.
“She didn’t call the cops because we don’t like her for letting criminals go,” a longtime NYPD detective said. “She called the DA.”
Office of Court Administration spokesman Al Baker said he couldn’t discuss ongoing investigations or specific security protocols.
“The safety of our judges and court staff is an utmost priority for the UCS, and we take any threats, or actual instances of violence, against judges and staff extremely seriously,” Baker said.
Morales was working as a Bronx judge in 2022 when she set ex-con Frankie Centeno with electronic monitoring for gun possession charges after the Bronx DA asked for $100,000 cash bail or $300,000 bond. Centeno fled the country and had to be rearrested.
Morales previously sprung Venezuelan migrant Walter Almachi Leal without bail, after he slashed a 43-year-old victim with a busted beer bottle on West 39th Street on Oct. 2, 2023, records show.
She also released 18-year-old Kalifa Quattara, an Up the Hill gang member, on electronic monitoring earlier this year after he was busted with a loaded gun on April 19 and admitted to using the weapon in a shootout with gang rivals. His shots didn’t hit anyone.
Moore was charged with weapons possession and reckless endangerment, officials said. He has four prior arrests with the last one from 2011 for weapons possession, police sources said. He also has a burglary arrest from 2010, the sources said.
Moore was held on $100,000 cash or $300,000 partially secured bond, officials said.
He was being housed at Rikers Island as of Friday. His next court date is Sept. 15.
Bragg’s office didn’t comment.
Additional reporting by Georgia Worrell.
