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Crime

New York Army Vet Facing 7 Years in Prison Over Empty Ammo Magazines

Feb. 23, 2013 3:21pm Madeleine Morgenstern

New York Army Veteran Facing 7 Years in Prison Over Empty Ammo Magazines

Army veteran Nate Haddad is facing seven years in prison for possessing several empty ammunition magazines. (Image source: WGRZ-TV)

An Army veteran in New York is facing up to seven years in prison for possessing five empty 30-round ammunition magazines.

Nate Haddad told WGRZ-TV he was parked on a road last month waiting to meet someone interested in buying them off him when police approached. According to the station, the magazines were for an AR-15 rifle, the same type of weapon Haddad once carried in combat. Magazines over 10 rounds have been illegal in New York since 1994, unless they were manufactured before the law went into effect. Haddad says he thought his were legal, until he found out otherwise.

“I certainly did not think I was committing a felony crime by having these,” Haddad told WGRZ. “My understanding of what I had in my possession was that it was manufactured before 1994, but the arresting officers told me otherwise after I showed them the magazines that I had in my possession.”

Haddad — who retired from 12 years of active duty in 2010 after sustaining a shoulder injury — now faces five counts of criminal weapons possession, punishable by up to seven years in prison. An online fund for his defense started by his brother has raised more than $40,000.

He was offered a deal this week to plead guilty to five misdemeanor counts and avoid jail time, but declined — citing, for one, how it would impact his job at Fort Drum, where he still works as a civilian employee.

There’s another reason too: “Even if I took that deal I would still be branded as a criminal, and I don’t think I should be,” Haddad said.

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Comments (459)

wilbstal
Posted on February 23, 2013 at 6:44pm
soon all this crooked NY cop and politician thing will get straightemed out. I dreamed the NY Malitia attackted the guilty and all was okay

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balrog25
Posted on February 23, 2013 at 6:43pm
Errors in the story aside, I smell test case. A necessary step, and an indicator for the future. I pray it will be peaceful. All prayers are answered, sometimes the answer is no. Whatever befalls, it will be part of the Master’s plan.

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Mudd
Posted on February 23, 2013 at 6:41pm
A ridiculous law but that’s the plan. You can’t control innocent people so you make harmless things and benign actions illegal.

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wilbstal
Posted on February 23, 2013 at 6:40pm
NY Cops and troopers have a History of making their own evidence as I remember back. They probably switched the magazines or stamped them. Ny troopers are always getting caught messing with evidene and tampering.

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Xiccarph
Posted on February 23, 2013 at 6:34pm
I’ve seen lots of these types of magazines…have yet to see one with a date of manufacture on them. They may have the post-1994 stamping “for law enforcement use only”…but somehow I doubt it. Cops “know” they were made after 1994? How is that? I’d say they just want an easy bust for their resumes, and its easy busting people for money-raising laws…much much easier than catching a real criminal!

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Rayseafus
Posted on February 23, 2013 at 6:33pm
If I were to serve on his jury he would walk out a free man.

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South Philly Boy
Posted on February 23, 2013 at 6:25pm
It’s Time to BEAT this Law DOWN

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KraziDave
Posted on February 23, 2013 at 6:20pm
Do you want me to fix this?

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Kalshion
Posted on February 23, 2013 at 6:16pm
Curious how these officers ‘knew’ the mags were made ‘after’ 1994.. something tells me they just made an assumption because the man was former military, after all, wasn’t it Napolito or whatever the heck her name is that said that our soldiers were a ‘threat’ to our country? (Which is amusing, I find politicians to be a bigger threat)

But yea, this is par for teh course in NY. This is what happens when you allow a tyrant to take charge, they begin to violate your constitutionally given rights.

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Elena2010
Posted on February 23, 2013 at 6:15pm
” According to the station, the magazines were for an AR-15 rifle, the same type of weapon Haddad once carried in combat.”

Nobody carries an AR-15 into combat! They carry the M-16 or better. The AR-15 is a “scary-looking” semi-automatic that fires either the .223 (a .22 on steroids) or has a barrel and chamber for .22 LRs. It’s really no scarier than my grandpappy’s varmint gun!

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Jasonn
Posted on February 23, 2013 at 6:14pm
“Nate Haddad told WGRZ-TV he was parked on a road last month waiting to meet someone interested in buying them off him when police approached.”

Pretty obvious to me he was set up in come kind of a sting caper. Take a lesson, eh?

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MIldman
Posted on February 23, 2013 at 6:07pm
This is the problem with these kind of gun laws, they make innocent, moral, upstanding, honorable citizens into criminals just because they’re in possession of an inanimate object they have no intention of hurting anyone with.

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mbck1491
Posted on February 23, 2013 at 5:59pm
Pennsylvania is surrounded with some of the most liberal anti gun states (NY, MD, NJ) in the nation, and yet they are able to maintain a gun friendly shall issue, open carry state. Right now the PA law makers are in the process of passing a law that any gun law passed by the federal gov. after 12/31/12 does not apply to PA residents. In fact if a federal agent comes onto PA soil to try to get PA to uphold those federal laws that person(s) will immediately be arrested. I really hope this passes the PA state legislation if it hasn’t already. I love being able to exercise my second amendment right. I walk into a gun shop find what I want go through the background check plunk down my money and I’m out of there in 20 minutes with my new gun in hand. I really enjoy going up to the Adirondack Mts.in upstate NY every summer, but their laws are just too chocking. I hate having to disarm my self whenever I head up there. I’ve looked into getting a non residential out of state CCW for New York State via non res Virginia,Florida, etc.CCW, but that’s not going to happen.

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- The_Fifth_Column
  Posted on February 23, 2013 at 6:04pm
  Why bother. Stay out of New York. Spend your money in other free States. Alaska is great.
  
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The_Fifth_Column
Posted on February 23, 2013 at 5:51pm
If the New York State Legislature created a new law tomorrow that forbids you from making comments on the Blaze, or any other web site, would you obey it? Of coarse not! It is unconstitutional, right! Why is the Second Amendment to the Bill of Rights, the only Right that is infringed upon? Governmental Power over the People. When you loose your right to bare arms, all the rest of your right will follow suit.

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rickroland
Posted on February 23, 2013 at 5:50pm
This case has jury nullification written all over it!

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BlasberryStrat
Posted on February 23, 2013 at 5:45pm
First offence that will put this guy away in the State of Liberal Utopia is that he is retired military. The Libs hate and WILL drop the hammer on any “murdering” military person. Second offence is the magazines – not that they are simple ‘magazines’ – because they are the evil, death machine, devil made, White racist used, AR-15 mags. (Has any Lib ACTUALLY seen how tiny a .223 bullet is?) But they have gotten “smart” and now going after the 9mm round. Silly Libs….Kicks are for Trids…

NY is going to make an example of this guy and plaster him in every form of media for as long as possible. And the Libs will “hope hope hope hope” he get’s raped (by a faaggg puppet) or better yet murdered in prison, so they can “really show the world what happens to gun owners”.

The Libs have EVERY Christian, Conservative, Right Wing, Republican up against the ropes, and ARE doing everything possible to push us out of existance. They HAVE won because WE are SCARED TO DEATH to write or say anything “that might upset them”. They WILL have their lovely man on man utopia all to themselves by years end. Michelle will have her big ol’ eight inch out and ready for YOU to comply – “or else”.

What? Was that too tolerant?? Hey, I have respect for Beck. But this “be soft spoken and tolerant” stuff is getting us nothing but buried. It’s time to speak up and USE that big stick. Watch the Libs pee their pants.

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- rickroland
  Posted on February 23, 2013 at 5:52pm
  I dunno, I think he’ll get a good old fashioned jury nullification out of this, which would be the correct thing to have happen.
  
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dc21
Posted on February 23, 2013 at 5:40pm
You do not always get justice in our justice sytem. He takes a risk by going to trial and having his peers ( other liberal new yorkers perhaps) judge him. The deal may be the lesser of the two evils and be to his advantage. Sounds like he was set up to me by the buyer who turned him in.

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- chips1
  Posted on February 23, 2013 at 10:00pm
  He isn’t taking a risk when he feels he isn’t guilty. The government only wants to threaten him if he doesn’t plead guilty to even so much as a bald tire. They threaten citizens in the same manner that Obama and the boys are trained to do.
  
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- Xiccarph
  Posted on February 24, 2013 at 3:48pm
  The justice system is no longer concerned about justice, but solely about the “letter of the law”, which has grown exponentially to where it regulates the tiniest aspects of daily life. Welcome to Rule By Law, which in blue states and essentially all metropolitan areas, has replaced Rule Of Law.
  
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streetrodder
Posted on February 23, 2013 at 5:40pm
New York sucks.

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Beachmastermax
Posted on February 23, 2013 at 5:39pm
Anarchy is on it’s way. All persons involved in persecuting this soldier, the individual policemen, the district attornies, the Judge and his jailers should be held to account come the correction.

The coming wrath will not be kind to people who’s names are associated with this unconstitutional activity. Things must change quickly or these things will happen.

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pahrumper
Posted on February 23, 2013 at 5:38pm
He should have the same punshiment that the ABC/NBC news jerko got for the same crime,,,,,Obummer you ******* help the vet out!!!!!

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Tom21773
Posted on February 23, 2013 at 5:36pm
It’s almost impossible to not be violating some law at any given moment. Civil war with a complete collapse of the current system is our only chance. (Not that I’m advocating that of course; I’m just simply stating that we have no chance.)

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environmentalandawake
Posted on February 23, 2013 at 5:30pm
Someone needs to get this to push through to the SCOTUS…..What part of Shall not be infringed are they not understnading? Furthermore the 9th Amendment guaranties rights are reserved to individuals, “NOT THE STATES!” The 10th allows for states to decide on things they couldn’t invision during the Constitutions Conception. Typically I’m a peace lover, but it may be time to take a stand for this guy and the guy in NM who as far as we know hasn’t been charged yet…..Time to Lock and Load!

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aproudinfidel
Posted on February 23, 2013 at 5:29pm
So, an American hero goes to jail for possession of magazines, David Gregory flaunts the same magazines on TV and gets commended for it and a sitting American president stands by and watches four Americans get murdered…what is wrong with this whole picture. America is doomed on its present course.

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FaithfulFriend
Posted on February 23, 2013 at 5:29pm
So that’s 1.4 years in prison per mag.

I love the idea that I’m a free man, living in a free state, who has never harmed anyone but move me to New York and I’d be facing over a hundred years in prison just for the 30 round magazines I own.

Add my rifles and beta mags to that and I’m sure they’d want to cut my head off with a guillotine.

So what worries me? The cancerous ideological tumor that is now New York spreading… which it is.

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mtsnj
Posted on February 23, 2013 at 5:20pm
Why can’t these pathetic politicians go after criminals instead of converting law abiding citizens into them. I think we have had enough of this kind.

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