BAY SHORE MAN FOUND GUILTY OF POSSESSING ILLEGAL HANDGUN AFTER JURY TRIAL

(SUFFOLK COUNTY, N.Y.) – Suffolk County District Attorney Raymond A. Tierney today announced that Timothy Garcia, 32, of Bay Shore, was found guilty of Criminal Possession of a Weapon in the Second Degree and related charges after a jury trial after he was found with an unserialized gun following an altercation with a neighbor that police were called to in 2022. 

“If you carry illegal guns in Suffolk County and you are caught, we will seek a significant prison sentence,” said District Attorney Tierney. “Fortunately, the police officers responded to this call quickly and no one was significantly injured.”

The evidence at trial established that on May 27, 2022, Garcia had a dispute with a neighbor at his former residence in Bohemia. Suffolk Police responded to a 911 call reporting a man holding a firearm and a broken glass door. When police arrived and attempted to arrest Garcia, he refused to comply with their commands and a struggle ensued.  During that altercation, Police Officer Gina Lauricella noticed a handgun on the defendant’s waistband.  She alerted her fellow officers and removed the gun from his waistband, along with two additional illegal magazines.  The gun removed from Garcia’s waistband was unserialized, with 13 rounds of ammunition in the magazine and one round in the chamber. 

The two additional magazines were recovered and each had 13 rounds of ammunition.  After his arrest, police also recovered a switchblade from the front right pocket of Garcia’s pants.

On October 19, 2023, Garcia was convicted, after a jury trial heard before Supreme Court Justice, the Honorable Timothy P. Mazzei, of:

• Criminal Possession of a Weapon in the Second Degree, a Class C violent felony;
• Three counts of Criminal Possession of a Weapon in the Third Degree; a Class D violent felony;
• One count of Criminal Possession of a Weapon in the Fourth Degree, a Class A misdemeanor; and
• Resisting Arrest; a Class A misdemeanor.

Garcia is due back in court on December 13, 2023, for sentencing. He faces up to 15 years in prison followed by five years of post-release supervision. Garcia represented himself during the trial. Garcia’s legal advisor was Christopher Brocato, Esq.

This case is being prosecuted by Assistant District Attorneys Kieran R. Rogers and Veronica McMahon of the Major Crime Bureau, with investigative assistance from Suffolk County Police Department Detective Robert Suppa and Detective Investigator Reginald Sykes.

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Defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty. No one is above the law.

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