33 months for paralegal who ID’d informants

A former paralegal in the U.S. attorney’s office in New Jersey will spend 33 months in prison for exposing “snitches” who were cooperating against her Brooklyn gang member son.

Tawanna Hilliard, 48, was sentenced in Brooklyn Federal Court Tuesday on witness retaliation, conspiracy and other charges.

Hilliard’s son, Tyquan Hilliard, is a member of the 5-9 Brims, and in 2018, he was busted alongside two other suspects, identified in court documents as John and Jane Doe, for sticking up a cell phone store in Monticello, Sullivan County, prosecutors said.

His accomplices gave videotaped postarrest statements, which his mother found in pretrial discovery material, then posted John Doe’s statement on YouTube under the title, “NYC Brim Gang Member SNITCHING! Pt. 1.” on Aug. 5, 2018.

On a recorded jail call, Hilliard’s son asked her to post the second accomplice’s video as well, tagging the first one in it. That video showed up on YouTube with the title, “NYC Brim Gang Member Girlfriend SNITCHING.”

Both John and Jane Doe received several death threats as a result, and Jane Doe had to relocate for her safety, prosecutors said.

“The defendant, whose job it was to serve justice, instead threatened the integrity of our justice system and the safety of government witnesses,” U.S. Attorney Breon Peace said.

A jury found Hilliard (photo) guilty after a weeklong trial last year.

“The defendant’s conduct sent shock waves far and wide, achieving the gang’s goal of instilling fear and doubt in citizens who might now stay silent about crimes they have witnessed,” Assistant U.S. Attorney Lindsey Oken wrote in a letter to Judge Pamela Chen earlier this month.

Chen handed down the sentence Tuesday.

“The very nature of the defendant’s crimes serves to destabilize the foundation of the criminal justice system, necessitating a serious message that crimes against justice will not be tolerated,” Oken stated.

Hilliard’s son is serving a fiveyear federal sentence after pleading guilty to witness tampering conspiracy in November 2020.