Judge Astacio facing felony gun charge

Rochester City Court Judge Leticia Astacio was arrested and arraigned on Tuesday in connection with her attempted gun purchase last week.

The official charge Astacio is facing is attempted criminal purchase or disposal of a weapon, which is a class E felony.

She appeared before Judge William Kocher at the Hall of Justice before she was released on her own recognizance. She is due back in Henrietta Town Court on May 3.

News10NBC was first to break the story.

The judge, who has been on probation in connection to a DWI conviction in August 2016, allegedly tried and failed to buy a gun at the Dick's Sporting Goods store in Henrietta. That prompted a report with Monroe County Probation. On a Facebook video that has since been taken down, Judge Astacio claimed it was her sister who tried to purchase the weapon.

"I don't play with guns, I've never had a gun, I've never touched a gun," she said.

In addition, in a Facebook post of her own, her sister- Felicia Astacio, said she had never been to Dick's to buy a gun.

According to court paperwork, Astacio attempted to purchase a Maverick 88 .12 gauge shotgun from the Dick's Sporting Goods, despite the fact that she is prohibited from possessing firearms, rifles or shotguns because of a prior conviction. The allegations are based on information and belief by the Monroe County Sheriff's Office and signed depositions from Dick's Sporting Goods employees. Court paperwork says that Judge Astacio had identified herself with her driver's license to the employees.

According to a statement in court paperwork from an assistant store manager at the Dick's Sporting Goods in Henrietta, they had learned from their counterpart at the Greece location that Judge Astacio had been in that store, only to be denied the purchase of a shotgun. The Greece assistant manager said that the Astacio had seemed very distraught and upset and that they had not felt comfortable selling her a gun. Once the sale was denied, Astacio told them that she was going to go and buy it at a different store.

At around 6:30 p.m., a store employee called the Henrietta assistant manager to report that they had seen Astacio enter the store. Shortly after, the assistant manager went to the gun counter at the request of Astacio, who asked why her purchases were being denied. According to the paperwork, Astacio felt it was her right to be able to purchase a gun, and it was explained several times that it was company policy to reserve the right to sell a gun to anyone, and that the denial extended to all stores.

The statement in the paperwork says that Astacio told the Dick's employees that she did not really want a gun, but felt she needed one.

Astacio has been barred from hearing cases since she violated the terms of her DWI conviction, and has only reported to work at the Hall of Justice once since August 30. In several broadcasts on Facebook she has said that her work arrangements are bad for her health and beneath that of an elected judge.

The New York State Commission on Judicial Conduct, the only entity in the state that can punish and remove an elected judge, is investigating Judge Astacio.



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Judge Astacio facing felony gun charge