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Cop pleads guilty to stealing NYPD weapons and reselling them
Photo credit: Ex-NYPD cop Nicholas Mina in Manhattan Supreme Court, July 13, 2012. (Pool Photo)
An ex-NYPD cop pleaded guilty Monday to stealing police-issued weapons then illegally selling them on the black market, the Manhattan District Attorney's office said.
Nicholas Mina, 32, of Queens, was convicted of criminal sale of a firearms, grand larceny, criminal sale of a controlled substance and conspiracy, the DA's office said. He will be sentenced Nov. 7. He faces up to 20 years behind bars.
"As a New York City police officer, Nicholas Mina had the duty to protect citizens, but instead, he put their lives, and the lives of his fellow officers, at risk," District Attorney Cy Vance said.
Mina was an officer for more than three years, and stole and re-sold the weapons for six months leading up to his arrest in July this year, according to the DA's office. Every sale was set up by undercover cops. All of the weapons were recovered.
Co-defendant Ivan Chavez, 25, who was reportedly a drug dealer Mina owed money and sold weapons to, pleaded guilty to criminal sale of a firearm, criminal sale of a controlled substance and conspiracy. He was sentenced to 20 years in prison. Fellow co-defendant Marcos Echevarria, 22, copped to criminal possession of a weapon, criminal sale of a firearm and conspiracy, and was sentenced to eight years in prison.
Cases against two other co-defendants, Meryl Leibowitz and Jennifer Sultan, are pending.
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