Diana Florence is a Senior Investigative Counsel assigned in the Manhattan District Attorney’s Office assigned to the Labor Racketeering Unit/Construction Industry Strike Force. Over her 15 years in the Office, Diana has tried over 35 felony cases to verdict. Most recently, she obtained an Enterprise Corruption conviction after a 3 ½ month trial against the CEO, the Vice President, and Corporation of the most prominent construction materials testing laboratory in the Metropolitan Area, Testwell Laboratories. The case involved over 119 public and private construction projects and half dozen Inspectors General offices working together over two years. As a result of this conviction and the continuing investigation into the Concrete industry, the NYC Building Code has been changed, enforcement by public agencies has been heightened and reforms have become center stage.
Previously, while in the Special Prosecutions Bureau, she focused on white-collar felony cases. In 2003, she tried People v. Cyril Kendall, a World Trade Center fraud case where the defendant claimed a (fictious) son had died on 9/11 and collected over $250,000 in charitable monies meant for victims’ families. Despite three of his children testifying on the defendant’s behalf that their brother existed and died that day, the defendant was convicted and is currently serving 11 to 33 years incarceration, the longest sentence of any 9/11 fraud defendant.
During her first five years in the trial division she conducted numerous trials, including ones involving domestic violence. While there she obtained the Office’s first conviction under the felony Criminal Contempt statute and also tried one of the first Domestic Violence cases without a victim. Diana graduated with honors from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill with a BA in Art History and Spanish where she also received her JD.
