Posted on: May 23, 2025 09:20 AM

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Hempstead man pleads guilty on eve of trial to weapon possession

Nassau County District Attorney Anne T. Donnelly announced that a Hempstead man pleaded guilty yesterday on the eve of trial to a weapon possession charge stemming from a May 2024 search that turned up a semiautomatic pistol hidden inside of a pink pillowcase in the defendant’s bedroom.

Shaquan Lewis, 42, pleaded guilty Tuesday before Judge Helene Gugerty to Criminal Possession of a Weapon in the Second Degree (a C violent felony).

The defendant is expected to be sentenced to nine years in prison on June 18, 2025.

“This defendant is a prior violent felony offender going back years and has previously served time behind bars for weapons charges,” said DA Donnelly. “On the eve of trial, he accepted responsibility for his crimes, pleaded guilty, and faces nearly a decade in prison once he is sentenced. I am committed to aggressively prosecuting cases of dangerous illegal weapons and will always hold defendants accountable who put community safety at risk.”

DA Donnelly said that, on May 8, 2024, members of the Nassau County Police Department’s Bureau of Special Operations and Narcotics and Vice Squad executed a search warrant at an address on Koeppel Place in Hempstead connected to a separate police investigation.

Detectives entered the defendant’s bedroom and recovered a loaded Taurus Model G2C 9mm semiautomatic pistol inside of a sock stuffed into a pink pillowcase on the ground beneath the defendant’s bed. A high-capacity magazine was also recovered from the room.

The defendant was arrested by NCPD detectives on May 8, 2024.

Lewis’ trial was set to begin on May 20, 2025, with preliminary hearings.

From DA