NY Cops Exchanged Gun Permits for Hookers and Pizza

The set up for this sounds like a joke just waiting for a punch line. Three NYPD cops exchange gun permits for prostitutes, pizza and cash…Oh wait, there is no punch line!

The Daily Beast reported on the guns exchange deal. Oh, and there were trips involved too. And a former district attorney was charged with bribing cops.

As we all know. New York has strict gun laws and getting a permit there can take a long time. The NYPD has to approve the gun permit. So, why not give them a cut to “Expedite” the process?

Three men were charged with taking those cuts to push through applications from the inside. All of the men who were charged were implicated by others who pleaded guilty to the scheme. Former cops Paul Dean, Robert Espinel, and Gaetano Valastro are charged with two counts conspiracy to commit bribery, among other crimes. John Chambers, the ex-District Attorney who went on to become a gun rights lawyer, faces charges of bribery and conspiracy to commit bribery.

These charges came about because of the trial of Alex Lichtenstein, a Brooklyn, New York, businessman and volunteer safety patrol member who bribed cops to get concealed permits faster for his “clients.” It was reported that Lichtenstein charged $10,000 to $16,000 per application and used some of that money to pay police officers up to $1,000 for faster service. He also gave officers money and gifts. Now we know what some of those gifts were!

The reports say that other applicants gave officers Dean and Espinel free bagels, strippers, pizza, and booze.

The cops knowingly gave licenses to people with questionable criminal histories, including violence. These are people who would normally be denied their gun permit. One example given was a man who was arrested for two assaults, including one in which he pulled his gun. On the direction of officer Dean, that man’s license was not suspended and Officer Espinel gave him his gun back. The two men then got free beer from the man’s beverage distributorship. Now. boy are they paying for it.

Image from thedailybeast.com by Spencer Platt