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Wallkill resident Damarion Gulley pleaded guilty in Orange County Court on Thursday, Feb. 20, to second-degree assault and second-degree bail jumping, Orange County District Attorney David M. Hoovler announced on Monday, Feb. 24.
The assault happened on Sept. 7, 2023, at the Port Jervis train station, when an MTA train conductor saw Gulley and three others running across the train tracks in front of an oncoming train.
When the conductor refused to let them board, Gulley and the others followed him off the platform and attacked him, police said.
During the assault, the conductor suffered a broken jaw.
An investigation led to the arrests of Gulley and co-defendant Kamrin Deleon, 21, who has also pleaded guilty and is awaiting sentencing. The two other attackers were juveniles, and their cases were handled in Orange County Family Court.
While awaiting trial, Gulley failed to appear in court and fled the state, forcing law enforcement to track him down and return him to Orange County nearly a year later.
Under the terms of his plea deal, prosecutors will recommend a three-year prison sentence, followed by three years of post-release supervision on the assault charge. He also faces an additional one to three years for bail jumping, with both sentences to run consecutively when he is sentenced on Thursday, May 8.
District Attorney Hoovler condemned the attack and Gulley’s attempt to avoid justice:
"That a train conductor would be violently assaulted simply for doing his job is unacceptable,” Hoovler said, adding, "And while this defendant attempted to shirk responsibility for his crimes by fleeing the jurisdiction, law enforcement would not rest until he was returned to face justice. The plea and anticipated sentence should stand as a stern warning, we will not permit violence against train conductors.”
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