An ex-convict from the City of Newburgh is returning to the slammer after he was convicted of possessing a loaded gun near Newburgh Free Academy.
Nicholas Palm, age 29, was sentenced to 12.5 years in the big house by Judge Craig Stephen Brown in Orange County Court yesterday. Palm was convicted of Criminal Possession of a Weapon in the 2nd degree in March 2023 following a jury trial. Prosecutors had recommended the maximum sentence of 15 years in the penitentiary.
The incident stems from an incident on Fullerton Avenue in the City of Newburgh on July 29, 2022. The City of Newburgh Police Department and the New York State Police responded to a report of a man with a gun. Upon arriving, police located Palm, who matched the description of the man with the gun.
When the police approached Palm, his hands were allegedly at his waistband and a loaded 9mm Taurus firearm was recovered from his pants pocket. The firearm was later test fired and determined to be in operable condition.
Orange County District Attorney David Hoovler thanked the City of Newburgh Police Department and New York State Police for their investigation and arrest of the defendant.
“Prosecuting illegal gun possession has been and will remain a top priority of my Office,” said Hoovler. “We will seek to not only hold these violent offenders accountable, but to argue for the harshest sentences possible. The possession and use of dangerous firearms in the hands of dangerous criminals is a recipe for disaster. My Office will not rest until illegally possessed guns are taken away from the offenders who seek to use them against others. I applaud the steadfast work of the law enforcement officers involved in this case, and others like it. It is through the coordinated efforts of police and prosecutors that we can help keep our streets safe.”
According to public records, Palm went to the slammer in February of 2018 on another charge of Criminal Possession of a Weapon in the 2nd degree. He was sentenced to three and a half years in the penitentiary. The jailbird won a parole, but apparently violated it and went back to the slammer before winning a second parole in August of 2021.
