Bronx Man Had Loaded Pistol, “Small Stockpile” Of Ammo

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Published on May 22, 2018, 11:47 am
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A 37-year-old Bronx man faces up to 15 years in prison for possessing a loaded pistol and ammunition following a jury trial in Rockland County Court.

A jury on Friday convicted Alfonso Cortez of three counts of possessing a weapon as violent felonies after a trial before Judge Kevin Russo at the County Courthouse in New City.

Cortez’s sentencing is scheduled for Sept. 5.

The jury convicted Cortez of one count of second-degree criminal weapons possession and two counts of third-degree criminal weapons possession after a trial prosecuted by Senior Assistant District Attorney Nabeela McLeod and defended by a Rockland public defender.

State police found a loaded Smith and Wesson 9mm semi-automatic pistol and ammunition during a trooper stop on Sept. 19, 2017, along the Palisades Interstate Parkway in Orangetown, according to the Rockland District Attorney’s Office.

“The loaded gun and a small stockpile of ammunition in the defendant’s vehicle posed a potential threat to public safety,” District Attorney Thomas Zugibe said. “It’s disturbing that so much deadly firepower was moving through our community. The defendant now faces a lengthy term of incarceration for his actions.”

A state trooper stopped Cortez’s truck heading north on the Palisades Interstate Parkway in Orangetown. The trooper searched the car and recovered a locked, metal gun safe containing the loaded pistol, Zugibe said.

The gun held 15 rounds in the clip and one round in the chamber, he said. 

The trooper also seized a gun cleaning kit and two loaded Smith and Wesson .9mm magazines. Zugibe said one magazine contained 15 9mm rounds and the second magazine contained 16 9mm rounds — both considered large-capacity ammunition feeding devices, Zugibe said.

 

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Jonas Bronck is the pseudonym under which we publish and manage the content and operations of The Bronx Daily.™ | Bronx.com - the largest daily news publication in the borough of "the" Bronx with over 1.5 million annual readers. Publishing under the alias Jonas Bronck is our humble way of paying tribute to the person, whose name lives on in the name of our beloved borough.