DA: Officer pleads guilty to stealing guns
Nicholas Mina, 31, an NYPD cop from Long Island, was charged with stealing guns from his precinct house. Prosecutors told a judge he confessed that he was using them to pay off a debt to his drug dealer for oxycodone painkillers. (July 13, 2012) Credit: Jefferson Siegel
An NYPD officer with Long Island roots faces a likely 15-1/2 year prison term at his sentencing on Nov. 7 after pleading guilty to stealing guns from his station house and selling them to support an oxycodone habit.
Nicholas Mina, 32, of Queens, who is listed with a voter registration address at his parents house in West Babylon, pleaded on Tuesday to conspiracy and gun and drug sale charges in Manhattan Supreme Court.
A 4-1/2 year NYPD veteran, he lifted the guns from the lockers of fellow officers at the 9th Precinct in Manhattan's East Village over a six-month period before his arrest in July. He faces 15-1/2 years as part of his plea bargain.
"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," said Manhattan District Attorney Cy Vance.
'It's depressing, it's frustrating' A Newsday investigation revealed that Grumman Aerospace knew toxic chemicals were leaking into the ground in Bethpage. Newsday Associate Editor Paul LaRocco and Deputy Editor David Schwartz explain.
'It's depressing, it's frustrating' A Newsday investigation revealed that Grumman Aerospace knew toxic chemicals were leaking into the ground in Bethpage. Newsday Associate Editor Paul LaRocco and Deputy Editor David Schwartz explain.
