Guilty pleas in foiled murder plot

Mary Miller, 80, and her daughter, Ann, 59, both of Inwood, pleaded guilty on March 1 for their involvement in a foiled murder plot that occurred on Jan. 3, 2012.

Daniel Miller, 45, owner of Botanica Inle-Osain, formerly on Mott Avenue in Inwood, was arrested on April 19, 2012 at his Inwood home and charged with first-degree criminal sexual act and other violations. According to the Nassau County District Attorney’s office, he drugged and sexually assaulted a 17-year-old male employee of his Santeria religious-supply store. Santeria is a religion that combines West African, Catholic and Native American traditions.

Miller allegedly gave the young man, who had just begun working at the store, a cup containing a liquid mixed with Lorazepam, a drug that slows brain activity and impairs equilibrium, and encouraged him to drink it. The teen, unaware that he was being drugged, woke up at 4 a.m. in Miller’s house, according to police. Miller then drove the young man home.

According to District Attorney Kathleen Rice, detectives were told in June 2012 by a confidential source about a murder-for-hire scheme involving Miller. The source said he was approached by a relative of Miller’s and asked to visit Miller in jail.

During the visit, Miller asked the man to arrange to have the teenage sexual abuse victim killed, and directed the man to go to Miller’s home for more information, the D.A.’s office said. There the man met with two of Miller’s family members, his sister Ann and his mother Mary, who gave him documents that included personal information about the intended victim.

The man was offered $15,000 by Miller to arrange the killing, according to the D.A.’s office, and make it look like a cell phone robbery. Miller also allegedly told the man that his mother, Mary, who was working as a secretary at Lawrence High School at the time, had stolen the teen’s personal records from the school.

Mary was charged with official misconduct and Ann was charged with conspiracy in the sixth degree for their roles in a murder-for-hire plot. Mary paid a $500 fine and Ann paid a $350 fine.

Daniel Miller is due in court on April 10.