Nicholas Mina, Former NYPD Officer, Sentenced To 15.5 Years For Selling Stolen Guns For Drugs

A former NYPD officer was sentenced to 15 and a half years in prison for stealing firearms from his fellow officers to sell to a drug ring.

On Monday, 31-year-old Nicholas Mina admitted to stealing four 9mm guns from the Ninth Precinct in the East Village. He also sold his own private gun.

Mina was arrested in July after officials caught him sneaking into officers' lockers during night hours. He also made out with a bulletproof vest.

The Daily News reports Mina was desperate to pay a debt to his drug dealer, Ivan Chavez, when he decided to steal the guns.

After acquiring the guns, Chavez unknowingly sold them to undercover detectives of the Firearms Investigation Unit in Queens. The guns' serial numbers were then traced back to the guns that had gone missing in the Ninth Precinct.

Assistant district attorney Chris Prevost said at Mina's arraignment, "It shocks the conscience that the [NYPD] Firearms Investigation Unit under covers had to put their lives in danger in order to spot another officer from putting [police] guns out on the street."