DA Hoovler Announces State Prison Sentence in Port Jervis Robbery/Kidnapping and Sex Offense Cases

March 7, 2020

Port Jervis Man Who Robbed and Locked a Man in the Trunk of His Car, and Who Admitted Raping Underaged Girl, Sentenced to Sixteen Years in Prison

Orange County District Attorney David M. Hoovler announced that on Thursday, March 5, 2020, Justin White, age 30, of Port Jervis, was sentenced by Orange County Court Judge Craig Stephen Brown, to a total of sixteen years in prison, for the gunpoint robbery of a 67-year-old Port Jervis man, who was then locked in the trunk of his car; and for having sex with an underaged girl. On January 23, 2020, White pled guilty to Robbery in the First Degree. On September 17, 2019, White had pled guilty to Rape in the Second Degree for having sex with the underaged girl.

On August 3, 2018, in the vicinity of Jersey Avenue in Port Jervis, White and Tranelle Drake, age 31, of Port Jervis, confronted the 67-year-old man and displayed what appeared to be a pistol. They struck the victim in the face with the weapon; stole the man’s wallet, car keys and cellphone; and locked the man in the trunk of his car. The victim was able to escape from the trunk before White and Drake drove away in his car. Several police agencies, including the Port Jervis Police Department, the New York State Police, the Orange County Sheriff’s Office, and the Walden Police Department attempted to locate the car. Sheriff’s deputies stopped the car in Walden, and White and Drake were arrested. An Orange County grand jury indicted White and Drake for crimes including Robbery in the First Degree and Kidnapping in the Second Degree.

On October 24, 2019, Drake pled guilty to the top charge of Robbery in the First Degree and admitted robbing the victim with what appeared to be a firearm. On February 6, 2020, Drake was sentenced to thirteen years in prison, and five years of post-release supervision.

During the investigation of the robbery and kidnapping, police learned that White had engaged in sexual intercourse with a girl who was less than fifteen years old. White was indicted by an Orange County grand jury and on September 17, 2019, pled guilty to Rape in the Second Degree. At the time he pled guilty, White admitted that he had engaged in sexual intercourse with the child between July 1, 2018, and August 3, 2018, in Port Jervis.

White was sentenced to ten years in prison and five years post-release supervision on the robbery charge, and six years in prison and ten years post-release supervision on the rape charge. The judge ordered that both sentences run consecutively, for a total sentence of sixteen years.

District Attorney Hoovler thanked the Port Jervis Police Department, the New York State Police, the Orange County Sheriff’s Office, and the Walden Police Department for their work on the case and their aid in the prosecution.

District Attorney Hoovler commended Executive Assistant District Attorney Leah Canton and Assistant District Attorney Colleen Decker, who prosecuted the cases.

“This defendant is obviously a danger to society, irrespective of his victims’ ages,” said District Attorney Hoovler. “I admire the bravery and tenacity of the victim of this horrific robbery and hope that the survivor of the sex crime receives the help and support that she is entitled to. Our community will be safer during the sixteen years that this defendant is incarcerated.”

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