Judge criticizes gun dealer’s claim for needing a shank for protection at Brooklyn MDC as ridiculous.
In a notable ruling, a federal judge in Brooklyn has issued a 12-year and three-month sentence for Raymond Minaya, a 29-year-old gun dealer implicated in a series of firearms sales to undercover agents. The sentence, handed down by Judge William Kuntz, reflects the serious nature of the offenses, which included selling more than 50 firearms within New York City, as well as possession of contraband within the Metropolitan Detention Center (MDC) in Brooklyn. While prosecutors had sought a more severe sentence of over 15 years due to the discovery of prohibited items in Minaya’s jail cell, the judge ultimately opted for a lighter sentence, citing the defendant’s acceptance of responsibility for his crimes.
Prosecutors argued that Minaya’s actions within the jail, including the possession of a sharpened metal rod and cell phones, demonstrated a concerning disregard for both the law and the safety of others. Minaya’s attorney, Jeff Dahlberg, characterized the metal rod as a means of protection amidst a climate of violence within the MDC, which has garnered attention for multiple incidents of inmate assaults and even murder. Dahlberg contended that, given the jail’s notorious reputation for violence, carrying a makeshift weapon was a reasonable precaution.
However, Judge Kuntz sharply criticized this rationale, likening the argument to attempting to extinguish a fire with gasoline, emphasizing that introducing further weaponry into an already hazardous environment would not solve the violence endemic to the facility. He described the notion of inmates arming themselves for self-defense as fundamentally flawed, arguing that it was illogical and “patently absurd” to assume that weapons could provide safety in such a setting.
Minaya was part of a group arrested in 2023 that included three other individuals charged with trafficking firearms. The gravity of his criminal conduct was underscored by the fact that one of the weapons he sold was linked to a shooting incident during a family day celebration in Bedford-Stuyvesant in 2021, which left eight individuals injured. All four defendants in this case accepted plea agreements last year.
The decision by Judge Kuntz and the circumstances surrounding Minaya’s actions spotlight the complex issues of gun violence and prison safety in the United States, revealing the multifaceted challenges faced by the justice system in addressing these significant concerns. Media News Source.
