MONTICELLO – A Monticello man was sentenced in Sullivan County Court on Tuesday to 4 ½ years in state prison and five years of post-release supervision for his possession of an illegal and loaded 9 mm handgun in the Village of Monticello.
At the time of his guilty plea, Shamell Moore, 25, admitted to possessing the gun, which was discovered during a vehicle and traffic stop on Broadway in Monticello on March 24. When the vehicle he was in was stopped, Monticello officers detected the strong odor of marijuana and discovered both Moore and another backseat passenger, Juan Pena, 25, of Monticello, to be in possession of the drug.
When Moore got out of the car, he took off his jacket that had the gun in it and when it was discovered by officers, he took off on foot. He had to be tased to be taken into custody.
Pena was sentenced to prison in March for his role in the shooting of another man in Monticello in 2017, which was still under investigation at the time of this car stop.
District Attorney James Farrell recommended Moore be sentenced to nine years in prison because of his character and position as reported by Monticello Police as a member of the Bloods street gang – “Guns, Money, Bitches.”
Moore was recently served a trespass affidavit ordering him to stay out of the Evergreen Housing Authority property after a shooting there in April of this year. No one was struck by gunfire. That is still under investigation.
Moore faced a possible prison sentence of 3 ½ to nine years in prison.
Farrell said he was “very disappointed” in the sentence he was given and believes he should have gotten more time behind bars.
