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Office of the District Attorney P. David Soares PONCI BENACIO VALDEZ PLEADS GUILTY TO GUN POSSESSION FACES UP TO 6 YEARS ALBANY , NY – District Attorney P. David Soares announced that PONCI BENACIO VALDEZ, 21, of 110 East Bryant Street , San Bernardino , CA pled guilty today to a Superior Court Information charging him with Criminal Possession of a Weapon in the 3 rd Degree before the Honorable Thomas A. Breslin. He faces a sentence of up to six years in State Prison. VALDEZ was arrested at approximately 4:50 AM on August 1, 2005 by members of the Albany Police Department at the Ramada Inn at 300 Broadway, Albany NY . APD was tipped by VALDEZ ’ manager for the magazine subscription service who reported that VALDEZ had shown him the weapon. VALDEZ confessed to having stolen the weapons the previous day from an apartment in Poughkeepsie where he was going door to door selling magazine subscriptions. As part of his work as a salesman, VALDEZ had entered an apartment building and had then entered an unlocked apartment belonging to a member of the Poughkeepsie Police Department. VALDEZ found the guns in an open drawer of a bureau in the bedroom. The guns in question was a fully loaded Smith and Wesson .38 Special and a Glock .40 caliber semiautomatic loaded with ten live rounds. DA Soares expressed his gratitude towards the citizen who called in the report to the APD. “Getting guns off the street requires responsible citizen action such as this,” he said. “It is also important to note the turn-around time between the arrest date and this plea. People who possess guns illegally can expect to face a swift and just response from this Office,” he added. Sentencing is scheduled for December 2, 2005. The prosecution of this case was handled by the Street Crimes Bureau. Back to Press Releases For further information contact: Richard Arthur
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