Defendant Sentenced to Thirteen Years in State Prison for Gun Possession

Orange County District Attorney David M. Hoovler announced that on Monday, April 3, 2017, Richard Burbridge, 46, of Port Jervis, was sentenced by Orange County Court Judge Craig Stephen Brown to thirteen years in state prison, and five years post release supervision, in connection with his April 1, 2016, possession of a loaded .380 caliber semiautomatic pistol. On January 3, 2017, Burbridge pleaded guilty to Criminal Possession of a Weapon in the Second Degree. At the time he pleaded guilty, Burbridge admitted that he possessed the loaded pistol inside his Coleman Street residence in Port Jervis, and that he had previously been convicted of a crime.

Burbridge, who had been released on bail, had been offered a sentence of four years in state prison for possessing the firearm in his residence. After Burbridge pleaded guilty to the weapons charge, he was arrested on March 3, 2017, by the City of Port Jervis Police Department, and charged with seven counts of Criminal Sale of a Controlled Substance in the Third Degree, seven counts of Criminal Possession of a Controlled substance in the Third Degree, and two counts of Criminal Sale of a Controlled Substance on or Near School Grounds. The City of Port Jervis Police Department’s investigation was triggered by community complaints about Burbridge’s alleged trafficking in narcotics. Burbridge is currently remanded with no bail. The District Attorney’s Office will present the drug sale cases to an Orange County grand jury. If convicted of all the narcotics sales, Burbridge faces an additional 84 years in state prison.

District Attorney Hoovler thanked the City of Port Jervis Police Department for their investigation and the arrests in the cases.

All the cases against Burbridge are being prosecuted by Senior Assistant District Attorney Matthew Healy.

“This defendant simply refused to stop trafficking narcotics, even after he had pleaded guilty to a felony,” said District Attorney Hoovler. “The community will be safer during the thirteen years he is in state prison. I commend the City of Port Jervis Police Department for all the resources that they placed into these investigation, and for the way they coordinated their investigation with the District Attorney’s Office. Numerous community complaints attest to the harm that this defendant was doing to the entire community. This case is an example of how community policing and community prosecution can address community concerns.”

A criminal charge is merely an allegation by the police that a defendant has committed a violation of the criminal law, and it is not evidence of guilt. All defendants are presumed innocent and entitled to a fair trial, during which it will be the State of New York’s burden to prove guilt beyond a reasonable doubt.