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.