A Queens man has been convicted of gunning down a 23-year-old man he and another man were robbing at a Freeport abandoned home during a drug deal two years ago.
A Nassau County jury found Jerod Plowden guilty Friday of second-degree murder and robbery. He was acquitted of first degree murder and criminal possession of a weapon charges.
Prosecutors said the 25-year-old St. Albans man and Nolan Gaugler, 21, of Mineola, met with the victim, Moez Hassan of Queens, on Stevens Street under the guise of buying Xanax pills from him on April 12, 2011.
But, Plowden and Gaugler robbed the victim of 75 Xanax pills and $30 at gunpoint before the drug deal went down.
Hassan was then shot five times—once in the head, chest, and left arm, and twice in the abdomen.
Police caught Gaugler within minutes several blocks from the scene. He was found to be in possession of the stolen drugs and cash. He pleaded guilty to robbery in a plea deal in which he’s facing 16 years in prison.
Plowden was apprehended 16 days later in Suffolk County during a routine traffic stop.
He faces up to 25 years to life in prison when he is sentenced June 6.
