Weapons and Drug Charges Against a Group of People on a Rescue Mission

This got national attention last week and seeing as I know one of the individuals personally, thought I'd post it here to see what everyone thought.

Backstory - 3 individuals from PA were on a mission to save a girl in NYC from drugs when they were stopped by Port Authority police with a truck full of guns.
http://nypost.com/2016/06/21/3-arres...olland-tunnel/

Subsequently, all 3 have been charged with weapons violations and possession of drugs violations. My friend is currently sitting in jail with a $75,000 cash-only bail option. His lawyer (a high profile criminal defendant) has failed once with bail reduction and has stated he will wait 30-60 days until media exposure dies down to request a reduction a second time.

As a licensed firearm owner, these 3 screwed up royally. But as I said, I know one of the individuals personally and know he was only along for the ride to create a documentary.

What are everyone's thoughts?

They are criminals as they have committed multiple crimes. While their hearts may have been in the right place, they should have known going into NYC with guns was illegal and likely to get them in deep trouble if/when they are caught.

Your friend needs to be more careful when choosing documentary subjects.

With regard to the subject line of your post, criminals or heroes, I don't know for certain if they are guilty of any crime as I’ve not seen the evidence. But if what the police allege is true then they are indeed criminals. Are they heroes? Again, I cannot say as I don't know what they’ve really done with respect to rescuing kids.

But I can say this: they didn’t need drugs and a huge cache of arms to carry out their mission, and their possession of those things certainly does not paint them in a good light. One wonders why they needed so much weaponry. That's a lot more than what is needed for simple self-defense or hunting. I can only think they might have had violence in mind. What other logical reason is there?

Cramsey's defense lawyer argues that the group was profiled and stopped randomly due to the high visibility nature of their vehicle. He states that the weapons and drugs found in the subsequent search are inadmissible. Cramsey states that the firearms were left in the vehicle from the prior day in which a photo shoot occurred to promote his business - a firearm store in PA. Others claim the police were tipped off due to the groups' numerous social media postings prior to and leading up to their arrest while en route. Finally a few believe it was all a publicity stunt to draw attention to the heroin-fighting social media movement Cramsey co-founded.

His defense lawyer can argue that but it won't fly. If the weapons were in there for a photo shoot, and were not intended for the "rescue mission", they should have been removed. Just having them in the car in NYC is trouble. If the police were tipped off, well that's called good police work. As for the publicity stunt angle, that would be a really expensive stunt with legal fees and possibly winding up in PRISON.

What are anyone's thoughts on getting the weapons charges dismissed for my friend? While he was the driver, all weapons in the vehicle are owned and registered to the other guy who was in the vehicle. All 3 face the same charges. Can all 3 be charged for possessing the same individual weapon by virtue of just being in the truck? I understand the whole concept of possession and that if no one "fesses up" the driver can take the wrap for everything, but can they charge 3 different individuals with possessing the same firearm? How can 3 people possess one item simultaneously? How about with the other guy, who owns the firearm store in PA? Does he lose his FFL if convicted on weapons charges? Local news is reporting the defense attorneys are again today requesting a 10% bail option.

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Quoting KBoy420

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What are anyone's thoughts on getting the weapons charges dismissed for my friend? While he was the driver, all weapons in the vehicle are owned and registered to the other guy who was in the vehicle. All 3 face the same charges. Can all 3 be charged for possessing the same individual weapon by virtue of just being in the truck? I understand the whole concept of possession and that if no one "fesses up" the driver can take the wrap for everything, but can they charge 3 different individuals with possessing the same firearm? How can 3 people possess one item simultaneously?

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I will let an attorney speak to these. I wouldn't want to be your friend right now though.

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How about with the other guy, who owns the firearm store in PA? Does he lose his FFL if convicted on weapons charges?

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While Cramsey may have owned the business he was not the licensee. The FFL for that address is Sentinel Firearms on the ATF's public list of FFL's and it's in someone else's name.

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Quoting KBoy420

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What are anyone's thoughts on getting the weapons charges dismissed for my friend? While he was the driver, all weapons in the vehicle are owned and registered to the other guy who was in the vehicle. All 3 face the same charges. Can all 3 be charged for possessing the same individual weapon by virtue of just being in the truck?

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Yes, all three can be considered to be in possession of the guns and all three may be convicted of the offense. Possession is not the same as ownership. If the person knew the guns were there and had the ability to access them then that person is in constructive possession of the gun. He does not have to be holding it in his hand to possess it. He does not have to own it to possess it. Thus, even if one of them comes forward and says he owns the guns that may not help the others because it still doesn’t resolve the issue of possession for them.

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Quoting free9man

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They are criminals as they have committed multiple crimes. While their hearts may have been in the right place, they should have known going into NYC with guns was illegal and likely to get them in deep trouble if/when they are caught.

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In fact, they were probably also breaking NJ law on the guns. They were lucky they managed to not get interdicted at the Delaware.

There's no even imaginable excuse for the drugs.

Whether or not they're criminals, I can't say.

But I can speak to the "heroes" part. Trying to "save" a heroine abuser by forcibly removing them from the substance is ignorant. The addict can only get clean if they choose to get clean. The fact that this party loaded a van full of weapons, labeled it a 'rescue mission' and had someone there to document it is far from ignorant. It's disgusting and exploitative. They would have done that addict a much greater and effective service by attending Alanon meetings.