"Former NY governor to Manhattan DA: drop ‘unusually cruel’ gun charges against Marine"

Here is an update on one of the stories where a permit holder accidentally carried a concealed handgun in NYC. From the Daily Caller:

. . . Jerome visited New York City in September with thousands of dollars worth of jewelry that he intended to sell. He brought a gun for protection, mistakenly believing that his Indiana concealed carry permit would be honored in New York.

After voluntarily asking security personnel at the Empire State Building if he could check the gun, he was arrested — for the first time in his life — and spent two days in jail.

The original charges against Jerome would have resulted in a three and a half year mandatory minimum sentence, despite the fact that he had no criminal history.

During an appearance on WOR Radio, Paterson encouraged Vance to drop the charges.

“There is a section of the criminal procedure law,” said Paterson, “where a prosecutor just feels that it’s not in the best interest of justice to prosecute. I would recommend and suggest that they read that section over.”

“I think it’s just unusually cruel for somebody who has no criminal record and served his country as a Marine,” said the former governor. “And I think that makes the case closed.” . . .

Attorney Mark Bederow, who is representing Jerome, released correspondence with the district attorney’s office this week, revealing that the government has offered Jerome a reduced charge: a Class A misdemeanor with a $1,000 fine and 10 days of community service. But Bederow and Jerome would prefer that the case be dropped altogether.