District Attorney Hoovler Announces Pleas in Newburgh Guns and Drugs Cases

Steven Bostic Pled Guilty to Criminal Possession of a Weapon in the Second Degree and Criminal Possession of a Controlled Substance in the Third Degree and Faces 10 Years in Prison

Natore Dennis Pled Guilty to Criminal Possession of a Weapon in the Second Degree and Faces 5 Years in Prison

Orange County District Attorney David M. Hoovler announced that on Thursday, March 7, 2024, Steven Bostic, 41, of Middletown, pled guilty in Orange County Court to Criminal Possession of a Weapon in the Second Degree and Criminal Possession of a Controlled Substance in the Third Degree.  Under the plea agreement announced on the record at the time that Bostic pled guilty, it is expected that he will be sentenced to an aggregate term of ten (10) years in prison and five (5) years of post-release supervision when he is sentenced on April 22, 2024.

District Attorney Hoovler further announced that Natore Dennis, age 27, of Newburgh, pled guilty in Orange County Court to Criminal Possession of a Weapon in the Second Degree.  Under the plea agreement announced on the record at the time that Dennis pled guilty, he faces up to five (5) years in prison and five (5) years of post-release supervision when he is sentenced on May 13, 2024. 

As alleged in documents filed and statements made in court, in the evening of April 30, 2023, City of Newburgh Police Officers responded to a domestic incident at a residence in the City.  Upon arriving, the police officers heard yelling within the residence.  A man they later learned was Bostic initially refused to allow the police to enter but then relented.  The officers observed a female with visible injuries and three young children, one of whom led the police to the defendant’s bed where the officers recovered a loaded revolver under a blanket.  DNA analysis later linked Bostic to the gun.  While the charges on that case were pending, on June 21, 2023 members of the City of Newburgh Police Department observed Bostic engaging in a hand-to-hand narcotics transaction on City Terrace.  Police later recovered quantities of cocaine and fentanyl packaged for sale from the defendant’s fanny pack.  At the plea proceeding, Bostic admitted to possessing both the loaded firearm as well as cocaine with the intent to sell it.

As alleged in documents filed and statements made in court, in the late evening of October 16, 2023, City of Newburgh Police Officers were dispatched to a residence in the City for a report of a man with a gun.  After the police were allowed inside the residence, they found Dennis in the vicinity of three sleeping children.  After Dennis was placed in custody for an outstanding arrest warrant, police recovered a loaded and illegally possessed revolver in a bag next to a mattress where the children had previously been.  At the plea proceedings, Dennis admitted to illegally possessing the loaded firearm.

District Attorney Hoovler thanked the City of Newburgh Police Department for their investigations which led to the arrests of Bostic and Dennis. 

“The proliferation of illegally possessed firearms poses a clear and present danger to the law-abiding citizens of our County,” said District Attorney David M. Hoovler. “It is particularly egregious that in both of these cases the guns were kept in close proximity to innocent children.  The City of Newburgh Police Department should be commended for their diligent work in taking two illegally possessed firearms, as well as those who wield them, off of the street.  My Office continues to focus on the prosecution of illegal guns and the frequent resulting violence we see occurring too often.”

The Bostic cases are being prosecuted by Assistant District Attorneys Michael Purcell and Alexis Gregory.  The Dennis case is being prosecuted by Assistant District Attorney Richard Giordano.

This criminal charge is merely an allegation that a defendant has committed a violation of the criminal law, and it is not evidence of guilt. All defendants are presumed innocent and entitled to a fair trial, during which it will be the State of New York’s burden to prove guilt beyond a reasonable doubt.