JUDGE IMPOSES SENTENCE OF UP TO LIFE IMPRISONMENT FOR BRONX
MAN CONVICTED OF POSSESSING A LOADED SEMI-AUTOMATIC GUN

Bronx District Attorney Robert T. Johnson announced today that a 47-year-old career criminal, Kwame Hoden, has been sentenced to a term of up to life imprisonment for the illegal possession of a loaded semi-automatic gun.

Hoden, of 2378 Webster Avenue, the Bronx, was found guilty of Criminal Possession of a Weapon in the 3rd degree following a trial that ended on June 21, 2007 when the jury delivered its verdict.

State Supreme Court Justice Albert Lorenzo sentenced Hoden, a mandatory persistent violent felony offender, to a term of 17 years to life imprisonment. Hoden was arrested on the gun charge while on parole in connection with a 1994 attempted robbery conviction. He was released in December 2004 after serving ten years of a sentence of 6 years to life imprisonment. On August 26, 2005, nine months after being paroled for the attempted robbery in 1994, Hoden was arrested with two other men on charges including robbery and illegal gun possession. Hoden’s co-defendants, one of whom testified against him at trial, pled guilty to the robbery. After five days of deliberations, the jury convicted Hoden on the gun charge, but could not reach a verdict on the robbery charges.

The robbery occurred on East 139th Street and Third Avenue where three men were making repairs on a car. Witnesses testified that a group of men from another car accosted the victims at gunpoint and took their cash, cellular telephones and wallets. Before fleeing, Hoden fired one shot into the tire of the victims’ parked car. The victims called 911 to report the robbery and gave police a description and license plate number of the getaway car. Hoden and the other two men were arrested a short time later about a mile away where police recovered the stolen property as well as the weapon that was used.

Assistant District Attorney Daniel Kraft prosecuted the case.