Getting prosecuted under New York’s gun laws is a nonsensical crapshoot, where gangsters get their cases expunged and thugs can turn in illegal weapons for $200 — but a weapon that’s legally registered elsewhere can brand a citizen as a criminal for life.
That’s the view of a retired Marine who is facing criminal charges after unwittingly trying to check his Indiana-registered handgun at the Empire State building, according to the latest court filings in the case.
Prosecutors have offered Ryan Jerome a no-jail misdemeanor plea deal in apparent recognition of the special circumstances of his case.
That’s opposed to the mandatory 3 1/2 years behind bars he could have gotten under a strict interpretation of New York’s gun-possession laws, which make it illegal to carry any gun that isn’t specifically registered in this state.
But in a letter filed with the Manhattan DA’s Office by his lawyer yesterday, the ex-Leatherneck asks that his charges should be dropped entirely.
Jerome, 28, carries a gun because his job as a jeweler often requires him to transport large quantities of gold to refineries, his lawyer, Mark Bederow, argues in the letter.
He checked gun laws before coming here, but a problem with his smart phone left him believing, wrongly, that an Indiana license was good in New York, rather than the other way around, the lawyer argues.
And Jerome took it upon himself to offer the gun to security as he and his girlfriend stood in line for the Empire State Building last September, the lawyer argues.
“Continued prosecution here would criminalize a mistake made by someone who, but for his honesty and sincere attempt to comply with New York law, would not have been arrested,” Bederow argues.
But the letter saves its most fervent arguments for what it describes as the “disproportionate outcomes” in gun possession cases.
DA Cyrus Vance Jr. has been an outspoken advocate of a successful, citywide gun buy-back amnesty program that gives anyone turning in an illegal gun $200 — no questions asked — and without threat of prosecution.
“District Attorney Vance has publicly written that people should be encouraged to deliver firearms to appropriate authorities without fear of prosecution,” Bederow says in the letter — precisely what his client tried to do.
“It is illogical and unjust to grant potential criminals with illegal firearms carte blanche immunity from prosecution and financially compensate them in the name of effective gun control, while at the same time asserting a ‘zero-tolerance’ policy that would result in a criminal record for Jerome handing in a legal firearm under far more conscientious circumstances,” he argues.
Prosecutors have declined to discuss plea negotiations in the Jerome case.
http://www.nypost.com/p/news/local/pistol_whipped_5gZg0aGt2MNYaCDEDbxrLM
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