HV Man Pleads Guilty To Having Loaded 'Ghost Gun'

PORT JERVIS, NY — An Orange County man admitted that he had a homemade, loaded ghost gun when he was arrested during a narcotics investigation.

Orange County District Attorney David Hoovler said Monday that Noah James McCagg, 21, of Port Jervis, pleaded guilty in Orange County Court to second-degree criminal possession of a weapon.

Under the agreement announced on the record at the time that McCagg entered his plea, the district attorney’s office will recommend he be sentenced to 10 years in state prison and five years of post-release supervision when he is sentenced Oct. 30.

Prosecutors said, during a joint narcotics investigation with the Orange County Drug Task Force, members of the City of Port Jervis Police Department engaged in a foot pursuit with McCagg on March 25 on Front Street in Port Jervis.

There, they recovered a loaded 9mm pistol and arrested McCagg.

An investigation found that he had created the pistol inside his home using a 3-D printer.

Besides the loaded pistol McCagg was found with, police also recovered, during the execution of a search warrant, a 3-D printer he was using to create operable firearms similar to the one for which he was charged.

Authorities said the homemade guns, which have no serial numbers, are commonly referred to as ghost guns and are increasingly found during the course of narcotics investigations, according to the DA's office.

The lower parts of the pistols can be created out of nylon and plastics using the 3-D printer.

Those creating the illegal ghost guns add other gun components including barrels and trigger assemblies which are purchased separately. When combined, these create fully functional pistols.

Hoovler said that time and again where the sale of narcotics is found dangerous and illegally possessed guns are also found.

“Make no mistake about it, the untraceable guns recovered in this case are the tools of drug dealers and violent actors,” he said. “We will continue to investigate and prosecute those who illegally create and sell ghost guns in order to keep our communities safe.”