Meet the Board of Parole

Commissioner Joseph Crangle joined the Board in 2008. He previously served as an assistant court analyst with the New York State Office of Court Administration, assigned to the Domestic Violence Part of the Buffalo City Court where he monitored defendant’s compliance with court orders and as a probation officer with the Genesee County Probation Department, where he oversaw the Pretrial Release Under Supervision program. He has a bachelor’s degree from Canisius College and his Juris Doctor from City University of New York.

CONFIRMED BY THE NYS SENATE ON: June 20, 2014

Commissioner Marc A. Coppola joined the Board in 2012. He is a former New York State Senator and Majority Leader of the City of Buffalo Common Council. Prior to his appointment to the Board he worked for five years for the then Division of Parole and the Parole Board as Legislative Liaison. He also worked on the Board’s original application for accreditation. He began his career in public service in 1995 as a stationary engineer with the City of Buffalo Sewer Authority and has held both competitive and non-competitive civil service titles. In 1999 he was chosen from a civil service list of candidates to join the Erie County Sheriff’s Office as a Deputy Sherriff but resigned while in the academy to run for political office. He has a Bachelor of Science Degree with a concentration in Political Science and an Associate of Arts Degree with a concentration in Public Administration, both from Empire State College. He also holds two professional licenses and certificates. 

CONFIRMED BY THE NYS SENATE ON: June 20, 2015

Commissioner Tana Agostini joined the Board in 2017. She was a Senior Analyst for the Standing Committee on Correction, Program and Counsel Staff with the New York State Assembly with jurisdiction over legislation affecting all aspects of the operations of state and local correctional facilities, public safety budget, and matters related to incarceration, release, supervision and post-conviction barriers to reentry. In this capacity, she worked as a policy maker, as the Assembly’s expert in state corrections and parole, and as their liaison to the state’s criminal justice agencies. Prior to the Assembly she worked with her county’s criminal justice council and state reentry task force. Since her appointment to the Board she has been the recipient of the Exodus Transitional Community award for outstanding work in public service. Tana is a Puerto Rican from New York City and has lived upstate for over twenty years.

CONFIRMED BY THE NYS SENATE ON: June 19, 2017

Commissioner Erik Berliner joined the Board in 2017. He was previously Deputy Commissioner for Strategic Planning and Programs at the NYC Department of Correction where he was responsible for health and mental healthcare, re-entry programming, education services, mandatory programming, the Nutritional Services division, agency-wide strategic planning and special projects, population research and planning, data reporting and agency-wide internal process improvement and performance management. He has also been a consultant for organizations helping to improve processes and services for the formerly incarcerated in need of behavioral health services and had a career in private industry prior to entering public service. He graduated cum laude from the University at Albany with a double major in English and History and earned an MS in Urban Policy and Management from Milano – the New School.

CONFIRMED BY THE NYS SENATE ON: June 19, 2017

Commissioner Tyece Drake joined the Board in 2017. She is a human service and mental health professional with over 20 years of experience. She has earned a BA and MS in Psychology; a MS in Organizational Leadership and she is working toward a Mental Health Counseling Advanced Certificate that will prepare her for licensure as a Mental Health Counselor. The populations she has served are from marginalized communities. She has provided mental health, advocacy and community-based services to children and adults with special needs, law involved juveniles, the elderly, ACS involved children and families, individuals suffering with addiction and incarcerated/formerly incarcerated adults. Prior to the Board of Parole, her criminal justice career began with youthful offenders but expanded to reentry services as a Federal Case Manager under contract by the Bureau of Prisons. Subsequently, she became the Clinical Supervisor / Unit Manager for several local counties and parole violators in a New Jersey State re-entry half-way house/ATI facility. She provided clinical and administrative supervision of Program Counselors and Case Managers across New Jersey State, federal and county, male and female offender populations.

CONFIRMED BY THE NYS SENATE ON: June 19, 2017

Commissioner Charles Davis joined the Board in 2017. He has over 20 years of experience working in the field of human services. This is reflected in his involvement in various facets of child welfare, juvenile justice, and criminal justice systems. His professional career has been primarily providing counseling and therapy to juvenile and adult forensic populations throughout New York State and the District of Columbia (Washington, DC). When human beings experience trauma or severe life stressors, it is not uncommon for their lives to unravel. He has a great passion to bring healing to individuals adversely impacted by behavioral health challenges who are justice-involved. He is a licensed mental health counselor and addiction specialist who provided trauma informed care.

CONFIRMED BY THE NYS SENATE ON: June 21, 2017

Commissioner Michael S. Corley joined the Board in 2019. Prior to serving on the Board, he worked in the Criminal/Juvenile Justice field for more than 15 years in various capacities. He is a trained National Institute of Corrections Facilitator and Restorative Justice Practitioner. In addition, he is an experienced Counselor and Youth Development Specialist. He has helped countless justice involved youth and adults to change their course in life and become productive citizens. His work as an Ordained Baptist Minister for more than 20 years has impacted many as well. He earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Political Science from Lincoln University in Pennsylvania and a Juris Doctor degree from the Massachusetts School of Law.

CONFIRMED BY THE NYS SENATE ON: June 20, 2019

Commissioner Chanwoo Lee joined the Board in 2019. Prior to her appointment to the Board of Parole, she was in private practice in Queens County for over 25 years and she was previously with the Legal Aid Society, Criminal Defense Division. She has a Bachelor of Arts degree in political science from SUNY- Binghamton and Juris Doctor from Brooklyn Law School.

CONFIRMED BY THE NYS SENATE ON: June 20, 2019

Commissioner Sheila Samuels, Esq. joined the Board in June 2019. With almost 20 years of legal experience, she has previously served as an Assistant District Attorney with the Orange County District Attorney’s Office, where she handled cases involving narcotics and alcohol, sexual abuse, and assaults. While at the District Attorney’s Office, she also assisted with the development and launch of drug treatment court. She also previously served as counsel to several public-school districts in New York State and handled legal matters pertaining to the educational rights of students with disabilities as well as employment law related matters for not-for-profit organizations and universities, while at Kehl, Katzive & Simon, LLP. Prior to joining the Board of Parole, she was in private practice and an adjunct professor in the Department of Law, Police Science and Criminal Justice Administration at John Jay College.

CONFIRMED BY THE NYS SENATE ON: June 20, 2019

Commissioner Carlton Mitchell joined the Board in 2019. He has been a leader in the non-profit sector, building capacity for community-based organizations in achieving their potential to bring about social transformation. He has served as Deputy Commissioner for community development with the City of New York. Prior to public service he held various management positions in banking and finance. He earned a bachelor’s degree in economics from Howard University and a Master’s degree in Business Administration from Columbia University.

CONFIRMED BY THE NYS SENATE ON: June 20, 2019

Commissioner Elsie Segarra joined the Board in June 2019. Her career in public service began in 1994, working for the Albany County Probation Department as a Probation Officer. She continued her career in law enforcement by joining the Division of Parole in 1997 working as a Field Parole Officer and supervising individuals released to specialized caseloads. As a Parole Officer she worked with outside agencies and law enforcement partners such as the DEA, FBI Cyber Sex Unit, ATF and the New York State Police. She is a trained polygraph examiner who conducted exams on individuals under Community Supervision.

CONFIRMED BY THE NYS SENATE ON: June 20, 2019

Commissioner Ana M. Enright joined the Board in 2023. She was previously the Deputy Commissioner for Community Supervision, where she provided executive leadership over state-wide parole and reentry operations. A graduate of John Jay College of Criminal Justice, she has spent her entire career in the human services field, beginning with the NYC Criminal Justice Agency as a pre-trial associate, followed by the NYC Department of Probation where she served as a Probation Officer.  She later joined the NYS Division of Parole where she served in the titles of Parole Officer, Senior Parole Officer, Reentry Manager, Contract Manager, Regional Director, Assistant Commissioner and Deputy Commissioner.  During her career in human services, she has collaborated and partnered with other state agencies /local stakeholders to develop and expand services to the formerly incarcerated individuals.  She has been the recipient of numerous awards and distinctions for her leadership and dedication to reentry.  A native of Ponce Puerto Rico, and raised in the Bronx, she was recognized by the NYC Spanish newspaper El Diario, as one of the top 50 outstanding Latinas in 2013. She is certified as a Domestic Violence Prevention Instructor and has served on the Criminal Justice Advisory Board at St. Thomas Aquinas College.

 

CONFIRMED BY THE NYS SENATE ON: June 9, 2023

Commissioner Erin McCabe joined the Board in 2023. She previously served as a Probation Supervisor with the Erie County Probation Department, assigned to the oversee officers who worked with youth pending disposition in Erie County Family Court and removals from Erie County Youth Part in accordance with Raise the Age legislation. Prior to her promotion, she previously worked as a Probation Officer for 15 years with experience in both adult and juvenile supervision as well as completed Court-ordered pre-sentence investigations. In her most recent position as an officer, she was responsible for coordinating all in house and new staff training. She holds a bachelor’s degree in psychology from Saint Bonaventure University and a master’s degree in Forensic Psychology from the Chicago School of Professional Psychology. 

CONFIRMED BY THE NYS SENATE ON: June 9, 2023

Commissioner Donna Henken graduated from Boston University School of Law and worked as an Assistant District Attorney in the New York County District Attorney’s Office. There she worked in the trial division and then worked prosecuting child abuse cases.  She worked as a court attorney for the Honorable Judge Wittner in New York Supreme Court and then joined the Legal Aid Society’s Juvenile Rights Practice representing children in abuse and neglect cases. After that she joined the Criminal Defense Practice of the Legal Aid Society working for the adolescent intervention and diversion team. In that capacity she represented 14-18 year old individuals criminally charged as adults in New York Supreme Court.

CONFIRMED BY THE NYS SENATE ON: June 9, 2023

Commissioner El-Bahtity is a first generation Egyptian-American, who joined the Board in 2024. Prior to joining, she dedicated her legal career to indigent criminal defense. Most recently, she worked as a Managing Attorney with the Criminal Defense Unit of the Legal Aid Bureau of Buffalo. For the last 21 years, she represented marginalized community members charged with criminal offenses, in the city of Buffalo. As a public defender, she witnessed first hand the disparities and challenges her clients faced in the criminal justice system and in re-entering the community, having been justice-involved.

Commissioner El-Bahtity also sat on the Board of Peaceprints of WNY, a nationally recognized re-entry organization in Erie County. She is committed to constructive post-release environments, which is critical for both, successful re-entry into the community and for public safety.

CONFIRMED BY THE NYS SENATE ON: June 6, 2024