Blanco
MONTICELLO – A Liberty man was sentenced in Sullivan County Court on Friday to 12 years in state prison and five years of parole for the possession of a loaded stolen handgun and possession of heroin with the intent to sell it.
Gerardo Blanco, 25, had previously pled guilty to felony criminal possession of a weapon, admitting he possessed a loaded semi-automatic .380 caliber handgun on October 6, 2013 in the Village of Liberty. He was arrested by Liberty Village Police who were investigating with State Police the theft of the gun from a residence in the Town of Liberty. Police found the weapon in a car in which Blanco was a passenger. Investigation revealed Blanco bought the stolen gun from another person.
Police also seized $800 in cash.
Blanco was arrested for possession of the loaded gun, posted $35,000 bail and was released.
On February 23, 2014, Blanco was arrested by Liberty Police for possession of a significant amount of heroin and other drug related offenses after a warrant search of his hotel room revealed 32 grams of heroin, a replica revolver, $925 in cash, marijuana, two digital scales, 900 empty glassine envelopes, 50 rounds of .22 caliber ammunition and other paraphernalia.
He was sentenced to 12 years in prison and five years of parole for possessing the loaded gun and nine years in prison and three years of parole for possess of the heroin. The sentences are to run concurrently. A forfeiture was ordered for all the cash seized from both cases.
“This is a classic drugs and gun case, and while the defendant was free on bail after his first arrest, he was undeterred, and continued to engage in criminal conduct and was engaging in the trafficking of heroin,” said Sullivan County District Attorney James Farrell, who called Blanco “a substantial supplier in the Liberty area.”
