Up to Ten Years for Port Jervis Man, 21, in Ghost Gun Case
Ghost guns made with a 3-D printer were found at Noah McCagg's Prospect St. residence after a foot chase by police.
After apprehension in a foot chase on Front St. on March 25, Noah James McCagg, 21, of Port Jervis, pled guilty in Orange County Court to Criminal Possession of a Weapon in the Second Degree on August 21, 2023, Orange County District Attorney David M. Hoovler announced. Under the plea agreement, the People, represented by Assistant District Attorney Alexis Gregory, will recommend that McCagg be sentenced to ten years in state prison and five years of post-release supervision when he is sentenced on October 30, 2023.
After conducting a joint narcotics investigation with the Orange County Drug Task Force, members of the City of Port Jervis Police engaged in a foot pursuit with McCagg on March 25, 2023 on Front Street in Port Jervis. There, they recovered a loaded 9mm pistol and arrested McCagg.
Investigation revealed that McCagg had created the pistol inside his Prospect Street, Port Jervis, residence using a 3-D printer. In addition to the loaded pistol which McCagg possessed, Port Jervis Police also recovered a 3-D printer that McCagg was apparently using to create operable firearms similar to the one he had on Front Street.
These home-made guns, which bear no serial numbers, are commonly referred to as ghost guns and are increasingly found during the course of narcotics investigations, according to Hoovler. The lower part of the pistols can be created out of nylon and plastics using the 3-D printer. Those creating the illegal ghost guns add other gun components, including barrels and trigger assemblies which are purchased separately. When combined these create fully functional pistols.
The printer and gun components were recovered during the execution of a search warrant at McCagg’s residence by Port Jervis police, who were aided by the Orange County Sheriff’s Office Special Operations Group, and Town of Deerpark Police Department.
“Time and again where we find the sale of narcotics, we find dangerous and illegally possessed guns,” said Hoovler.
With a 3-D printer, the lower part of a gun has been created and combined with purchased upper parts to create various kinds of guns, Port Jervis Police Chief William Worden said.
“Drug dealers arm themselves this way. Police detectives work with other agencies to prevent it,” Worden said.
For this case, Hoovler noted the collaborative work of the City of Port Jervis Police Department, the Orange County Drug Task Force, the Town of Deerpark Police Department, and the Orange County Sheriff’s Office.
The case is being prosecuted by Assistant District Attorney Alexis Gregory.
Criminal charges are merely allegations that a defendant has committed violations of the criminal law, and as such they are not evidence of guilt. All defendants have a presumption of innocence and are entitled to a fair trial, during which it will be the burden of the State of New York to prove guilt beyond a reasonable doubt.
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