Orange County District Attorney David M. Hoovler announced that in 2023 his Office will make the prosecution of illegal handguns and weapons possession a top priority. The Office’s gun prosecution initiative will focus on enhancing weapons possession cases using all available technology including fingerprints, DNA analysis, facial recognition technology and ensuring that each seized firearm is entered into the National Integrated Ballistic Information Network (NIBIN).

“Gun violence in Orange County, and throughout New York State, continues at unacceptable levels, particularly in our cities,” said Hoovler. “Weapons possession cases will be handled by senior members of my staff to ensure that we achieve maximum penalties for those who use or threaten the use of illegal weapons. It has been proven time and time again that there are only a small number of incorrigible offenders who account for the bulk of violent crimes. Lengthy incarceration of these crime drivers is crucial to the safety of our residents.”

In 2022, the District Attorney’s Office prosecuted 99 defendants charged with Criminal Possession of a Weapon in the Second Degree. Most of those defendants were sentenced to state prison. On July 27, 2022, one defendant, Corey Owens, 28, of Newburgh, was convicted following a jury trial in Orange County Court of Criminal Possession of a Weapon in the Second Degree for illegally possessing a loaded 9 mm semiautomatic pistol. Owens was sentenced to fifteen years in state prison