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Orange County resident Kirkland Salmon, age 42, of Newburgh, pleaded guilty in Orange County Court to criminal possession of a controlled substance, sale of a firearm, and conspiracy on Tuesday, Oct. 1.
Under the plea agreement, the Orange County District Attorney's Office will recommend that he be sentenced to 12 years in prison, followed by five years of post-release supervision when he is sentenced in December.
Salmon also agreed to forfeit a vehicle and a food truck as proceeds.
The six-month-long operation, code-named “Hot Lunch,” resulted in the arrests of 26 people charged with narcotics, firearm, and conspiracy offenses, said District Attorney David Hoovler.
As alleged in documents filed and statements made in court, the investigation revealed that 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, aka Marvin Ottley, and Joshua Arnold, to distribute from his food truck parked in the City of Newburgh, the DA's Office said.
They added that Andre Smith also supplied Salmon with firearms to resell in Orange County.
During the investigation, law enforcement recovered 24 firearms and one kilogram of cocaine.
On the day of the enforcement action on Tuesday, May 21, police additionally recovered over eleven 11 kilograms of cocaine, 90 grams of fentanyl, seven guns, high-capacity magazines, numerous rounds of ammunition, $45,000 in cash, scales and packaging materials used in narcotics trafficking and 10 vehicles. Additionally, one food truck was seized.
The Orange County Drug Task Force conducted the investigation along with:
- Orange County Sheriff’s Office
- Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives,
- Orange County District Attorney’s Office
- City of Middletown Police Department
- New York State Police
- City of Poughkeepsie Police Department
- Hudson Valley Crime Analysis Center.
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