GOSHEN – One of the 33 people charged with drug trafficking in the Operation Hot Lunch investigation in Orange County was sentenced Tuesday to 15 years in state prison followed by five years of post-release supervision based on his guilty plea to criminal sale of a firearm.
Andre Smith, 39, of Poughkeepsie, was arrested following a long-term investigation by several law enforcement agencies into firearms and narcotics trafficking in Orange County.
The investigation was dubbed Operation Hot Lunch after it was learned that firearms were being sold from a food truck parked in front of the Newburgh City Courthouse.
During the six-month investigation, police recovered 31 firearms, high-capacity magazines, numerous rounds of ammunition, over 12 kilos of cocaine, some 90 grams of fentanyl, $45,000 in cash, sales and packaging materials used in narcotics trafficking, 10 vehicles used in the trafficking as well as the food truck.
“Sophisticated criminal organizations that traffic in guns and drugs pose a real and present danger to our communities,” said District Attorney David Hoovler. “But we in law enforcement will not rest until those crime drivers responsible for these enterprises are identified and held accountable.”
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