NEW YORK CITY: Gun Lawyer Convicted Of Bribing Former NYPD Sergeant To Speed Up Firearms Permitting

The New York Daily News reports:

A self-described gun lawyer to the stars was convicted Tuesday of bribing an ex-NYPD sergeant to speed up pistol permitting. John Chambers, 63, was found guilty on all four counts following a one-week trial in Manhattan Federal Court. The counts included bribery, conspiracy to commit bribery, honest services wire fraud and conspiracy to commit honest services wire fraud.

The jury, which comprised 10 women and two men, took slightly more than three hours to reach a verdict. The former prosecutor was charged with heaping gifts and greenbacks on former NYPD Sgt. David Villanueva, who had been a supervisor in the License Division, to grease the wheels of the gun permitting process. Villanueva, 44, pleaded guilty in February 2017 to accepting bribes in exchange for pushing through permits.

There’s an interesting twist in the case:

His transgender defense just didn’t work. A former Brooklyn prosecutor was found guilty of bribery Tuesday after a Manhattan federal jury decided it didn’t buy his claim that he showered an ex-NYPD sergeant with gifts because the sergeant was one of the few people he connected with after his transition from a woman to a man.

John Chambers, 63, dropped his head when the jury read the first “guilty” verdict on count 1. The Brooklyn gun lawyer shook his head in disappointment after the jury read the other counts. In total, he was convicted on four counts and faces as much as 50 years in the slammer when sentenced on August 9th.

The bribes reportedly included cash, luxury watches, trips, and expensive liquor. Others were convicted in the same scheme in 2016.