Weeks after two mass shootings in Texas and Ohio, and days following Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s proposal of a Domestic Terrorism Act, a Bayside man was sentenced to five years in prison for pleading guilty to hiding weapons on two separate occasions, according to the Queens District Attorney’s Office.
In September 2017, Ronald Drabman, 61, was first caught with a concealed loaded weapon after he survived a car crash, according to the DA’s Office. He first asked an EMT to hold on to his gun, but when the emergency technician refused, he stumbled away from the incident and tried to hide it in his vehicle before police from the 103 Precinct arrived.
The second incident stems from a 2018 court-ordered warrant to his residence where several weapons were found in his basement, according to the DA’s office.
“This defendant was caught twice attempting to hide weapons and live rounds of ammunition. On one occasion, the defendant tried to hand a firearm over to another individual in an attempt to conceal the weapon from police following a car crash,” said Acting District Attorney John Ryan. “The defendant also stockpiled a cache of dangerous weapons and ammunition in his residence. His actions posed a grave threat to the public.”
On Sept. 29, 2017, Drabman crashed his 2016 Dodge truck on Hillside Avenue, he later removed a black firearm from his waistband and later hid it in the vehicle, according to court reports. Once police arrived on the scene they discovered a .357 revolver, two-speed loaders and several rounds of ammunition.
On April 19, 2018, a search warrant that was issued allowed for the search of his residence on 208th Avenue in Bayside. Police recovered $15,805 in cash, 45 rifles, 23 handguns, a zipgun, two .177 caliber pellet guns, and more than 55,000 rounds of ammunition at Drabman’s home, according to court reports.
In January 2019, Drabman pled guilty to first and second-degree criminal possession of a weapon before Acting Queens Supreme Court Judge Karen Gopee.
On Aug. 15, Supreme Court Judge Eugene Guarino sentenced Drabman to five years in prison for the first-degree weapons charge and 3 1/2 years in prison on the second-degree weapons charge, according to DA Ryan. The sentences will run concurrently.
Once released, Drabman will have to spend another five years under post-release supervision.
“The sentence imposed by the court is more than warranted and this should serve as a reminder that illegal guns and ammo will not be tolerated in Queens County,” said Ryan.
