Judge orders jail time for Holland Tunnel gun cache defendant

JERSEY CITY -- A judge on Friday denied a request for probation rather than prison by John Cramsey, the Lehigh County anti-drug crusader stopped outside the Holland Tunnel last year with a cache of weapons in his truck, despite Cramsey's assertion that incarceration would hinder his HIV treatment.

The ruling means Cramsey faces up to five years in prison, and at least one year without parole, if an appeal fails.

"Defendant was armed and dangerous and demonstrated he was willing to act violently to accomplish his goals," Superior Court Judge Sheila Venable said in court in Jersey City. "In this case, the interest of justice shows a requirement for a custodial sentence."

Cramsey's lawyers had filed the motion for a non-custodial sentence after he pleaded guilty on July 28 to one count each of possessing a weapon for an unlawful purpose and unlawful possession of a weapon. The charges carry a sentence of five years in prison with one year of parole ineligibility, meaning Cramsey could be put behind bars for nine months upon his formal sentencing, a term that would incorporate three months he served in the Hudson County jail following his arrest.

Cramsey's lawyer Max Novel told the judge that he and co-counsel James Lisa would appeal her denial of the motion. Novel then asked Venable to grant of stay of Cramsey's sentencing pending the outcome of the appeal. Teh sentencing had been scheduled for Friday immediately following the motion hearing.

Venable agreed th the stay, and gave the lawyers 20 days to file a notice of the appeal. Cramsey's lawyers also say they will seek a pardon from Gov. Chris Christie.

Cramsey, 52, of East Greenville, Pa., and two other people were stopped in his distinctively marked pickup truck just after going through a tunnel toll booth in Jersey City on June 21, 2016. Port Authority Police found a 12-gauge shotgun, an assault rifle with high-capacity magazines, five handguns, including some that were loaded, which Cramsey legally owned but did not have a permit to carry in New Jersey.

The trio were en route to Brooklyn to rescue a Pennsylvania teen from a location where her friend had just died of an overdose. The teen, Jenea Patterson, would die of an overdose in January.

The two others, drug counselor Kimberly Arendt and videographer Dean Smith, were later approved for a pre-trial intervention program for first-time offenders, or PTI, that if completed would spare them criminal records. Cramsey's application was denied, and that denial is now under appeal.

Smith was in court to watch the motion hearing, and in a brief interview said he was unaware there were guns in Cramsey's vehicle until they were stopped. Asked if he thought Cramsey should go to prison, Smith replied, "absolutely."

Before Venable ruled on the motion, Cramsey argued that Cramsey had lost his livelihood running a gun range and his health had deteriorated, only because he had tried to help another young woman with a drug problem four months after the deth of his own daughter from an overdose four months earlier, in February 2016.

Now, Lisa said, Cramsey hoped to earn his license as a drug counselor.

"He's been punished far more than te state of New JErsey can punish him, he's lsot everything," Cramsey said. "All he wants to do is do the right thing,"

Assistant Hudson County Prosecutor Thomas Zuppa had a far different view of Cramsey, who he said had acknowledged on social media that he was ready and willing to use the small arsenal in his truck on anyone who tried to stop him from rescuing Patterson.

"He stands before your honor today as an armed vigilante," Zuppa told the judge. "He was bringing the danger"

Referring to Cramsey's HIV status, Zuppa added, "Nothing has been submitted to indicate that Mr. Cramsey can't be treated while in prison."

The Judge agreed, with that and other points, ruling the the aggravating factor in the case, including Cramsey's lack of remorse and the need to deter others from vigilantism, outweighed the sole mitigating factor, which was that Cramsey had no prior criminal convictions.

"The laws of this country are in place to prevent citizens from this kind of behavior," Venable said.

Out in the hallway after the hearing, Cramsey declined to comment on the decision.

"I don't feel like talking right now," he said.

Steve Strunsky may be reached at

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