GOSHEN – Two Newburgh residents pled guilty in Orange County Court on Thursday to criminal possession of a weapon.
Under the plea agreement, Deon Patterson, 23, will serve 11 years in state prison and five years of post-release supervision and Deandre Peacock, 22, will serve nine years in prison and five years of post-release supervision.
On July 5, Newburgh City Police received a Shot Spotter notification of shots fired in the area of Farrington Street.
During the investigation, police received a call from a nearby resident who found a backpack with a handgun inside. Officers recovered a loaded .45 caliber gun from inside the backpack.
Detectives were reviewed surveillance video from the area that showed both people entering the building without a backpack and later, Patterson leaving wearing the backpack, which he placed under a box and left.
Other video showed Peacock hand a different gun to Patterson, who put it into a nearby garbage can. Police recovered the loaded .38 caliber revolver seen in the video from the can where Patterson had put it.
Peacock later made admissions to police that he possessed the gun.
During the plea proceedings, both men admitted they unlawfully possessed a loaded gun.
The district attorney’s office is recommending a longer sentence for Patterson in light of his possession of both guns, as well as in consideration of his prior criminal history.
“The scourge of dangerous and illegally possessed guns drives violent crime,” said DA David Hoovler. “My office will vigorously pursue the perpetrators of gun crimes and seek significant prison sentences where appropriate. Each illegal gun taken off the street is one taken out of the hands of potentially violent criminals.”
