Kirkland Salmon Pled Guilty to Drug, Gun and Conspiracy Charges

The People Will Recommend a 12 Year Prison Sentence

Orange County District Attorney David M. Hoovler announced that Kirkland Salmon, age 42, of Newburgh, pled guilty in Orange County Court to Criminal Possession of a Controlled Substance in the First Degree, Criminal Sale of a Firearm in the First Degree, and Conspiracy in the Second and Fourth Degrees.  Under the plea agreement announced on the record at the time that Salmon pled guilty, the People will recommend that he be sentenced to twelve (12) years in prison, to be followed by five (5) years of post-release supervision when he is scheduled for sentence on December 16, 2024.  As part of the disposition, Salmon also agreed to forfeit a vehicle and a food truck as proceeds or instrumentalities of his crimes.

The case was the result of the coordinated efforts of numerous law enforcement agencies who conducted an enforcement action after a long-term investigation into firearm and narcotics trafficking in Orange County.  The operation, code named “Hot Lunch”, resulted in the arrests of twenty-six (26) people charged with narcotics, firearm and conspiracy offenses.

A six (6) month long intensive investigation into illegal firearms and narcotics trafficking in Orange County was conducted by the Orange County Drug Task Force (OCDTF), the Orange County Sheriff’s Office, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, together with the Orange County District Attorney’s Office, the City of Middletown Police Department, New York State Police, the City of Poughkeepsie Police Department, and the Hudson Valley Crime Analysis Center.  As alleged in documents filed and statements made in court, the investigation revealed that Kirkland Salmon was at the center of four different conspiracies to traffic narcotics and firearms through Orange County. Salmon was supplied with quantities of cocaine by two different narcotics suppliers, Owen Beckford a/k/a Marvin Ottley and Joshua Arnold, to distribute from his food truck parked in the City of Newburgh. Salmon was also supplied with firearms to resell in Orange County by Andre Smith.  Over the course of the investigation, law enforcement learned of Beckford’s and Arnold’s narcotics distribution organizations, both of which distributed cocaine in the City of Newburgh and elsewhere in Orange County.  During the investigation, law enforcement recovered twenty-four (24) firearms and one (1) kilogram of cocaine.  On the day of the enforcement action on May 21, 2024, police additionally recovered over eleven (11) kilograms of cocaine, approximately ninety (90) grams of fentanyl, seven (7) guns, high-capacity magazines, numerous rounds of ammunition, approximately $45,000 of US currency, scales and packaging materials used in narcotics trafficking and ten (10) vehicles that were instrumentalities of the crimes charged.  Additionally, law enforcement seized one food truck.

District Attorney Hoovler thanked the agencies involved in the investigation, as well as the following agencies who assisted in the enforcement action on May 21, 2024: City of Newburgh Police Department; Town of Newburgh Police Department; Town of Woodbury Police Department; Town of Montgomery Police Department; Town of Wallkill Police Department; and the Village of Cornwall-on-Hudson Police Department.

“The spread of illegal narcotics and firearms poses a real and present danger to our community,” said District Attorney David M. Hoovler. “In order to disrupt the types of conspiracies seen in this case, it requires the kind of dedicated, long-term investigations that are possible only through coordinated operations between law enforcement and prosecutors.  My Office, time and again, has reaffirmed our commitment to keeping our streets safe from the scourge of drugs and the corresponding violence often found in the wake.  Together with our law enforcement partners, we will utilize every resource available to seek out drug and gun dealers and bring them to justice.”

“The significant plea entered by this defendant represents the culmination of the coordinated efforts of law enforcement.  The drugs and illegal guns at the center of this case wreak havoc and devastation in our communities.  The Orange County Sheriff’s Office is dedicated to investigating these crimes so that the offenders can be held to account for their actions,” said Orange County Sheriff Paul Arteta.

The cases are being prosecuted by Assistant District Attorneys Alexis Gregory and Amanda M. Bettinelli.

A criminal charge is merely an allegation by the police 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.