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Jury Convicts Cocaine Dealer who Fired on Suffolk DA Task Force Detectives

Written by Long Island News & PR  |  16. December 2013

Central Islip, NY - December 13, 2013 - A Farmingville man, indicted in 2011 for opening fire on members of the District Attorney’s Heroin Task Force at a gas station drug deal rendezvous was convicted of attempted murder and other charges this afternoon, Suffolk County District Attorney Thomas Spota said.   
 
In addition to the top count of attempted murder in the second degree, the jury convicted Nicholas Hansen of 16 other charges including multiple counts of criminal use of a firearm in the first degree, criminal possession of a weapon in the second degree, and criminal sale and criminal possession of a controlled substance.  
 
“As the detectives assigned to the task force surrounded his car and blocked him in after Hansen’s arrival at the gas station north of Exit 41 of the expressway, the defendant suddenly emerged from his car and began firing, emptying his .38 at them,” DA Spota said.  “One of our task force members, a New York State Police Investigator with 15 years on the job, crouched in the open, ten feet away, and returned fire.” 
 
Hansen, 23, was struck four times and recovered from his wounds. 
 
His trial, before State Supreme Court Justice Fernando Camacho in Central Islip began December 3.  Jurors deliberated for two days. 
 
“The members of this task force – DA detectives, Suffolk Sheriff's Deputy Investigators, State Police Investigators, Suffolk Police detectives – encounter situations with the potential of turning deadly in a matter of seconds,” District Attorney Spota said.  “In this case, it was a drug dealer with four ounces of cocaine and a loaded .38.  The investigation of drug dealers is the most treacherous police assignment and what happened here on a peaceful summer evening in Holbrook illustrates the peril our task force members put themselves in to eradicate the trafficking of cocaine, heroin, and painkillers.”  
 
Hansen faces up to 25 years in prison on the attempted murder charge, an additional 25 years for his conviction on the criminal use of a firearm first degree counts, a maximum 15 years on the gun possession charges and additional prison time for the possession and sale of a controlled substance.  
 
Justice Camacho scheduled sentencing for January 14. 
 
The Suffolk County District Attorney’s Heroin Task Force is a multijurisdictional drug enforcement unit comprised of detectives, investigators and other law enforcement personnel from District Attorney Spota’s office, DEA, New York State Police, Suffolk County Sheriff’s Office, the New York State Division of Parole and the Suffolk County Department of Probation.  Since its creation in March of 2009, the Task Force has disrupted the operations of heroin and other drug distribution networks in the New York metropolitan area, resulting in the seizure of millions of dollars’ worth of illegal drugs and hundreds of illegal weapons.  

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