QUEENS — Lindy Jones was sentenced to five years in prison and five years of post-release supervision on July 15, 2026, in Queens Supreme Court after pleading guilty to criminal possession of a weapon in the second degree. The sentence concluded a case stemming from a March 2024 incident in Far Rockaway that occurred on the same day a New York City police detective was fatally shot during an encounter with Jones’s co-defendant.

Jones, who was 44 years old at the time of sentencing, entered his guilty plea on June 24, 2026. Queens Supreme Court Justice Michael Yavinsky presided over the proceeding. Police had found a loaded 9-mm pistol with a scratched-off serial number in the glove compartment of the car Jones was driving, which was parked in front of 19-19 Mott Ave in Far Rockaway. Jones refused an order to unlock the vehicle during the encounter.

According to court records, the charges against Jones included two counts each of criminal possession of a weapon in the second and third degrees, which carried a potential sentence of up to 15 years in prison if convicted. His prior attempted murder conviction in 2002 elevated one of the weapons charges from the fourth to the third degree. The prosecution was led by Assistant District Attorneys Gabriel J. Reale and Jaggnoor Lali, under the supervision of Executive Assistant District Attorney Shawn Clark.

Jones had told police that his co-defendant, Guy Rivera, was hitchhiking and that they had met on the day of the shooting. Rivera was later convicted of aggravated manslaughter in the first degree and attempted murder in the second degree. The legal basis for Jones’s charge was New York Penal Law §265.03, which defines criminal possession of a weapon in the second degree as possessing a loaded firearm.

Jones, who resides at Rockaway Beach Boulevard in Edgemere, was previously arrested on a weapons charge in Far Rockaway in 2023. During that arrest, he reportedly said, “My name is Lindy Jones, and I shoot people.” He had been ordered to return to court on March 29, 2024, following his arraignment on those earlier weapons charges.