Manhattan cop sold NYPD guns to support drug habit, prosecutors say
Nicholas Mina, 31, was allegedly addicted to prescription pills
Comments (122)By Rocco Parascandola AND Janon Fisher / NEW YORK DAILY NEWS
Friday, July 13, 2012, 4:19 PM
Jefferson Siegel
Ninth Precinct Police Officer Nicholas Mina at his arraignment in Manhattan Supreme Court Friday.
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A city cop was so hooked on prescription pills and deep in debt to his drug dealer that he stole at least four loaded guns and a bulletproof vest from colleagues — and then sold them to feed his habit, prosecutors said.
Nicholas Mina, 31, stole the police-issued items from lockers at the 9th Precinct stationhouse in the East Village, officials said. He often worked the night shift unsupervised.
“He’s a f------ scumbag,” a detective said near the precinct. “He’s going away for a long time.”
On the force about four and a half years, Mina was busted Thursday night. He quickly confessed to putting his fellow cops’ lives on the line by selling guns to a known drug dealer, assistant district attorney Chris Prevost told a judge at the arraignment on Friday.
“Over two months in five separate thefts he stole four separate loaded 9-mm. semiautomatic weapons and a ballistic vest from fellow officers in the 9th Precinct,” Prevost said. “We have a confession (Thursday) night to the theft and the sale of the guns, laying it on his drug use and his debt to his drug dealer, Ivan Chavez.”
Three others were arrested as part of a two-month investigation by the NYPD and the Manhattan district attorney’s office.
“It shocks the conscience that the (firearms investigation unit) undercovers had to put their lives in danger to stop one of their fellow officers from putting guns on the street,” Prevost said.
All of the service weapons have been recovered, sources said.
The four weapons and the bulletproof vest went missing between February and April when sources say Mina was assigned to the front desk of the 9th Precinct stationhouse. The disgraced cop also sold a Glock that he owned but had not registered with the NYPD, prosecutors said.
Investigators have two months of incriminating phone conversations from wiretaps. They revealed that co-defendants Marcos Echevarria, 22; Meryl Lebowitz, 64; and Jennifer Sultan, 38, acted as runners between the accused cop and Chavez. Cops raided Chavez’s apartment Thursday and found a cache of weapons and drugs including a Tech 9 machine pistol, a sawed-off shotgun and “thousands of pills and several hundred decks of heroin,” Prevost said.
The suspects, including the cop, were ordered held without bail.
Nicholas Mina, 31, stole the police-issued items from lockers at the 9th Precinct stationhouse in the East Village, officials said. He often worked the night shift unsupervised.
“He’s a f------ scumbag,” a detective said near the precinct. “He’s going away for a long time.”
On the force about four and a half years, Mina was busted Thursday night. He quickly confessed to putting his fellow cops’ lives on the line by selling guns to a known drug dealer, assistant district attorney Chris Prevost told a judge at the arraignment on Friday.
“Over two months in five separate thefts he stole four separate loaded 9-mm. semiautomatic weapons and a ballistic vest from fellow officers in the 9th Precinct,” Prevost said. “We have a confession (Thursday) night to the theft and the sale of the guns, laying it on his drug use and his debt to his drug dealer, Ivan Chavez.”
New York Daily News
Chavez was charged with buying, defacing and selling the guns that Mina supplied him. He’s also expected to be charged in the coming months with being part of a major prescription drug ring, officials said.“It shocks the conscience that the (firearms investigation unit) undercovers had to put their lives in danger to stop one of their fellow officers from putting guns on the street,” Prevost said.
All of the service weapons have been recovered, sources said.
The four weapons and the bulletproof vest went missing between February and April when sources say Mina was assigned to the front desk of the 9th Precinct stationhouse. The disgraced cop also sold a Glock that he owned but had not registered with the NYPD, prosecutors said.
Investigators have two months of incriminating phone conversations from wiretaps. They revealed that co-defendants Marcos Echevarria, 22; Meryl Lebowitz, 64; and Jennifer Sultan, 38, acted as runners between the accused cop and Chavez. Cops raided Chavez’s apartment Thursday and found a cache of weapons and drugs including a Tech 9 machine pistol, a sawed-off shotgun and “thousands of pills and several hundred decks of heroin,” Prevost said.
The suspects, including the cop, were ordered held without bail.
Read more: http://www.nydailynews.com/new-york/manhattan-sold-nypd-guns-support-drug-habit-prosecutors-article-1.1114064#ixzz2kJC5KsXt
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