Explore The NRA Universe Of Websites

APPEARS IN News

Guilty Plea and Charges Announced in NYPD Handgun Licensing Corruption Case

Friday, June 24, 2016

Guilty Plea and Charges Announced in NYPD Handgun Licensing Corruption Case

Back in April, NRA-ILA alerted readers to a federal corruption probe involving the New York Police Department’s License Division and allegations that some of its officers were issuing handgun licenses in exchange for bribes. On Monday, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York announced the arrest of a former supervisor at the NYPD’s Licensing Division on charges relating to this matter. The U.S. Attorney’s Office also unsealed a guilty plea entered by Officer Richard Ochetal. Ochetal pled guilty to charges of bribery and conspiracy to commit bribery relating to his role in the gun licensing scheme. This episode highlights the problems inherent to highly-restrictive gun licensing regimes, and reveals what many New Yorkers have long-known - that those with sufficient wealth or the right connections can navigate the city’s severe gun restrictions, while average citizens are left defenseless.

On April 18, federal authorities filed a complaint with the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York describing an alleged license-purchasing scheme carried out by Alex “Shaya” Lichtenstein for several years with the help of members of the NYPD License Division. According to the complaint, Lichtenstein would charge individuals seeking a handgun license up to $18,000 for his assistance in shepherding their application through the NYPD bureaucracy. Allegedly, Lichtenstein would then provide the License Division supervisor and Ochetal with cash bribes for their assistance.

Eventually the Commanding Officer of the License Division put a stop to Lichtenstein’s arrangement, at which point Lichtenstein sought the assistance of an NYPD officer outside the License Division. This officer reported the attempt to NYPD’s Internal Affairs Bureau. Subsequently, the FBI and Internal Affairs outfitted this officer with a wire and captured Lichtenstein offering the officer $6,000 for every license he could help him obtain.

The indictment and a press release accompanying the arrest of the License Division supervisor shed more light on the alleged license-purchasing scheme. New York’s licensing structure involves a significant investigation of an applicant’s background. This process, as it states in the indictment, “takes several months” in the case of a premises license, or “even longer” in the case of a carry license. In the case of those Lichtenstein assisted in obtaining a license, the investigation would be truncated, sometimes bypassing the requirements for an in-person interview with the applicant or a complete review of the applicant’s criminal history.

The indictment alleges that in addition to expediting the permitting process, with the help of his co-conspirators in the License Division Lichtenstein obtained licenses “for clients who were otherwise unlikely to obtain gun licenses because of their past criminal history.” The document notes one instance where an individual who had previously been arrested for “bribing a public official and for assault” was granted a limited carry license.

In addition to cash bribes, the government alleges that Lichtenstein provided the License Division supervisor and Ochetal with “other benefits,” including, bottles of liquor, limousine rides, and “a limousine tour of wineries.” Further, the government alleges that the License Division supervisor “expedited, approved, and caused to be approved at least approximately 100 to 10 Applications submitted by [Lichtenstein] for his clients.”

New York City has one of the most onerous handgun licensing regimes in the nation. Applicants can be denied for numerous petty reasons, including “a poor driving history,” or having exhibited “a lack of candor towards lawful authorities.” An application fee of $340.00, coupled with an $89.75 fingerprinting fee, acts as an economic barrier. The process is so difficult that businesses have started offering services to assist gun license applicants in lawfully navigating the procedure. The License Division warns applicants, “such services are not required or endorsed by the New York City Police Department,” and that “any fees you pay to a consulting firm are in addition to those required by law and collected by the License Division.”

It should come as little surprise that a may-issue firearms licensing scheme imposing a nearly insurmountable hurdle to the lawful exercise of a constitutional right was abused in this fashion. Such an opaque and arbitrary process allows for official misconduct to thrive, and in this case created a two-tiered system of rights; one consisting of those with sufficient money or connections to acquire government permission to exercise their constitutional rights, and another tier made up of those without such resources, barred by circumstance from enjoying those same rights.

NRA will continue to work in state legislatures and the courts to limit official discretion in firearms licensing. It is vital to ensure that all law-abiding Americans may lawfully acquire the means of self-defense, regardless of means or social stature.

TRENDING NOW
Undercover Video: Sen. Fetterman (D-Pa.) staffer claims boss would be “okay with like overturning the Second Amendment”

News  

Tuesday, May 30, 2023

Undercover Video: Sen. Fetterman (D-Pa.) staffer claims boss would be “okay with like overturning the Second Amendment”

It seems as though Sen. John Fetterman (D-Pa.) may like to overturn more than just the U.S. Senate’s standards of professional attire. According to an undercover video of Fetterman senate staffer Luke Borwegen, obtained by O’Keefe Media Group, ...

Need a Good Lawyer? Don’t Use Anti-Gun Groups as a Resource

News  

Tuesday, May 30, 2023

Need a Good Lawyer? Don’t Use Anti-Gun Groups as a Resource

The anti-gun extremists at Giffords and March for Our Lives are running a joint operation to try to convince students in law school to sign a pledge to never represent anyone within “the gun industry or gun ...

Hypothesis or Hyperbole Gun Control Researchers Balk at Betting on Gun Control

News  

Tuesday, May 30, 2023

Hypothesis or Hyperbole Gun Control Researchers Balk at Betting on Gun Control

Dr. John Lott, Jr., a leading researcher and founder of the Crime Prevention Research Center (CPRC), recently embarked on an unusual personal experiment: how many pro-gun control academics would literally bet in favor of their own ...

Updates to ATF Final Rule on Stabilizing Braces

News  

Monday, January 30, 2023

Updates to ATF Final Rule on Stabilizing Braces

On Monday, January 30, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives’ (ATF) published the final Factoring Criteria for Firearms with Attached “Stabilizing Braces” rule for public inspection in the federal register.

Report: Biden Administration Weaponizes DHS “Anti-Terrorism” Program Against Political Opponents

News  

Tuesday, May 30, 2023

Report: Biden Administration Weaponizes DHS “Anti-Terrorism” Program Against Political Opponents

Those paying attention to official D.C. already know that Joe Biden’s political strategy involves portraying his political rivals, as not just wrong on policy or facts but as altogether illegitimate.

Connecticut:  Gun Control Bill Passes the House and Moves to the Senate

Saturday, May 27, 2023

Connecticut: Gun Control Bill Passes the House and Moves to the Senate

On Thursday, the House passed HB 6667 on a vote of 96-51.  This drastic gun control legislation has a bit of everything.  It contains a ban on open carry and strengthens prohibitions and registration of semi-auto "assault ...

The Disingenuous “Assault Weapons” Ban

News  

Monday, May 8, 2023

The Disingenuous “Assault Weapons” Ban

On April 25, 2023, Washington Gov. Jay Inslee (D) signed HB1240 into law. The legislation is a sweeping, and flagrantly unconstitutional ban on commonly-owned semi-automatic firearms. The law prohibits a host of rifles by name, including America’s ...

Pennsylvania:  House Democrat Majority Passes Gun Control by Slimmest of Margins

Tuesday, May 23, 2023

Pennsylvania: House Democrat Majority Passes Gun Control by Slimmest of Margins

The House Democrat Majority leadership carried through on one of their agenda items late Monday afternoon – attacking law-abiding gun owners.  There are only a couple of sticking points for the gun-grabbers leading the Pennsylvania House.  ...

U.S. House Judiciary Committee Advances Pistol Brace Resolution

News  

Monday, April 24, 2023

U.S. House Judiciary Committee Advances Pistol Brace Resolution

On April 19, the U.S. House of Representatives Judiciary Committee voted 23-15 to advance H.J.Res.44, which would reign in the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives’ attempt to regulate pistol stabilizing braces. The resolution employs ...

California: Six Anti-Gun Bills Pass Chamber of Origin, Others Still Eligible for Votes

Tuesday, May 30, 2023

California: Six Anti-Gun Bills Pass Chamber of Origin, Others Still Eligible for Votes

Last week, the Assembly and Senate both held floor votes and passed three anti-gun bills each. In addition, other anti-gun bills in the Assembly are still eligible for floor votes ahead of the June 2nd deadline ...

MORE TRENDING +
LESS TRENDING -

More Like This From Around The NRA

NRA ILA

Established in 1975, the Institute for Legislative Action (ILA) is the "lobbying" arm of the National Rifle Association of America. ILA is responsible for preserving the right of all law-abiding individuals in the legislative, political, and legal arenas, to purchase, possess and use firearms for legitimate purposes as guaranteed by the Second Amendment to the U.S. Constitution.