DA Hoovler Announces Guilty Plea in Gun Case
Defendant Pleads Guilty During Trial to Criminal Possession of a Weapon in the Second Degree, Criminal Possession of a Weapon in the Third Degree
and Criminal Possession of a Firearm
District Attorney Recommending Fifteen Years in State Prison
Court Commits to Seven Years in Prison
Orange County District Attorney David M. Hoovler announced that on Monday, March 14, 2022, Jordan Myles, 28, of Newburgh, pleaded guilty during the middle of a trial in Orange County Court to Criminal Possession of a Weapon in the Second Degree, Criminal Possession of a Weapon in the Third Degree and Criminal Possession of a Firearm. Customarily in Orange County Court, a defendant normally pleads guilty to only one charge. For factors that included the defendant not pleading guilty until the middle of the trial, the District Attorney’s Office required that Myles had to plead guilty to all the crimes with which he was charged if he wished to plead guilty. Pursuant to the plea commitment placed on the record at the time Myles pleaded guilty, the judge will sentence Myles to seven years in state prison on May 12, 2022. The District Attorney’s Office will be recommending that he be sentenced to fifteen years in state prison.
On March 8, 2022, a trial commenced in County Court against Jordan Myles, and another person who had also been a passenger inside of a car with Myles, when it was stopped in the City of Newburgh on May 15, 2020, at about 7:50 PM, in the vicinity of Johnson Street and First Street. A loaded and operable .25 caliber Beretta handgun was found in the car. At the trial, prosecutors argued that the gun was recovered underneath the seat where Myles had been seated. Under New York State law a handgun found in a motor vehicle is presumed to be possessed by all the occupants of that vehicle. Following Myles’ pleas of guilty, the case against Myles co-defendant at the trial was adjourned in contemplation of dismissal. Prosecutors had previously entered into a plea agreement with the driver of the car, who will plead guilty to a violation for driving without a license.
District Attorney Hoovler thanked the City of Newburgh Police Department, the FBI’s Safe Streets Taskforce, and the New York State Police for their investigation which resulted in the charges.
District Attorney Hoovler highly commended Executive Assistant District Attorney Leah Canton and Assistant District Attorney Alexandra Pietropaolo for handling the prosecution of Myles.
“Addressing gun violence has to be the number one priority of law enforcement in the City of Newburgh,” said District Attorney Hoovler. “I am grateful for the cooperation that exists between the City of Newburgh Police Department, the FBI’s Safe Streets Taskforce, the New York State Police, the Orange County Sheriff’s Office, and my office, in working together to remove dangerous guns, and those who would use them, from the streets of Newburgh. The law presumes that a gun inside of a car is possessed by everyone in that car. This defendant’s guilty plea eventually allowed for the exoneration of two other individuals who had been in the car, but he did not plead guilty until faced with the overwhelming evidence of his guilt at trial, and in our opinion should be given no consideration for having belatedly admitted his guilt. My office will continue to seek meaningful incarceration for those who illegally possess weapons.”
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.