POUGHKEEPSIE – Three of the four men who were indicted on 25 criminal charges, with the top charge being robbery as a hate crime, pled guilty before trial. The fourth, Nicholas Gast, considered the ringleader, was convicted after a jury trial that began earlier this month. The original account of the home invasion can be found here.
Joshua Benson Sr., 40, a convicted felon, previously pled guilty to robbery in this case and is facing 12 years in prison. His son, Joshua Benson Jr., 23, has previous felony convictions and was released from prison in 2021. He was on parole when he participated in the home invasion that was orchestrated by Gast. Benson Jr. pled guilty to felony robbery in this case in May of 2022. The youngest defendant, 19-year-old Darius Robinson, pled guilty to robbery for this case in April. All three are awaiting sentencing.
Thirty-four-year-old Gast, represented by Cynthia Kasnia, refused to take a plea offered by the Dutchess County District Attorney’s Office and chose to go to trial. At the trial’s opening, Senior Assistant District Attorney David Kunca, assisted by ADA Scott Johnson, told the jury that Gast convinced the three accomplices to join him in attacking the two victims because they appeared to be Mexican. Kasnia in turn told the jury that the evidence was all circumstantial and that her client was not present at the time of the attack.
After deliberating for just more than a day, the jurors came into court on Thursday and announced they had found Gast guilty on all 25 counts of the indictment. At the time of the December robbery, Gast was on parole for two previous felony convictions. Dutchess County Court Judge Edward McLoughlin will be sentencing the four men in the coming months.
Kasnia responded to Thursday’s conviction by saying, “Myself and my client respect the justice process and the effort of this jury. This process like any, that is subject to human input is likewise subject to human error. We do intend to pursue all avenues of review available.”
Prosecutor Kunca was pleased with the verdict. “A gunpoint robbery is always a terrifying experience for the victims. The crime becomes even more heinous when the victims are selected simply because they are a member of a minority group.” He said that ” Thanks to the cooperation of the victims and the quality of the State Police investigation, all four men are going to serve prison sentences – and the Mexican and Central-American communities can be assured that violence targeting them will not be tolerated in Dutchess County.”
Because of his criminal history, Gast faces a sentence of 25 years to life in prison.
