Syracuse, NY - A Syracuse man was sentenced today to four years in state prison for getting caught twice this year with illegal handguns in his possession. Sharif Shehadeh, 19, of Putnam Street, had pleaded guilty to two felony counts of second-degree criminal possession of a weapon. Assistant District Attorney Michael Kasmarek said Shehadeh was found with one handgun during...
Syracuse, NY - A Syracuse man was sentenced today to four years in state prison for getting caught twice this year with illegal handguns in his possession.
Sharif Shehadeh, 19, of Putnam Street, had pleaded guilty to two felony counts of second-degree criminal possession of a weapon.
Assistant District Attorney Michael Kasmarek said Shehadeh was found with one handgun during a traffic stop Feb. 24. Shehadeh was free on bail in that case when he was caught with another gun May 3 when police responded to a report of a man with a gun at a neighborhood store, the prosecutor said.
Shehadeh could have faced up to 15 years in state prison for each incident. But Kasmarek said he agreed to a five-year prison deal to cover both cases because the weapons were not fired during either incident, there was no indication they’d been used in any other crime and the defendant had no prior criminal record.
The District Attorney’s office agreed to have Onondaga County Judge Anthony Aloi cut one year off the promised penalty to reward Shehadeh for cooperating with the prosecution in another case. Kasmarek said Shehadeh testified for the prosecution against Anthony Griffin, a Mattydale man convicted recently of being the mastermind behind a violent home-invasion robbery in Minoa last summer.
Defense lawyer Robert Wells told Aloi Shehadeh dropped out of school to help get work to help his family after his father was sent to prison when the defendant was 16 and that he’d had the guns for protection.
Aloi noted it was unfortunate the violence on the city’s streets has people believing they need guns for their own protection. But he also pointed out that gun possession is illegal.