"Anyone who takes an oath of office to serve the public and is entrusted by their community to serve its constituents should have integrity beyond reproach," the Rockland County D.A. said in a statement.
A deputy mayor of a New York town has been arrested after authorities found a cache of illegal guns including 16 assault weapons and 13 silencers, in his home, according to the district attorney's office. Investigators also said they also found a stash of fake federal IDs, including phony FBI credentials, according to NPR.
Airmont deputy mayor Brian Downey, 47, was arrested on federal and state gun charges on September 4, after authorities found “an arsenal of weapons” in his home, the New York Times reported.
Airmont is located in Rockland County, New York, just north of New York City.
Downey was arrested after Department of Homeland Security agents had tipped off the Rockland County District Attorney to the delivery of a rifle suppression device, which authorities say Downey bought online, according to a press release by Rockland County District Attorney Tom Walsh.
Such a device is illegal in New York State.
During the search of Downey’s home, they found other illegal weapons including an illegally modified short-barrel rifle and a sawed-off shotgun, a criminal complaint shows.
Authorities also found fake federal identification cards, the New York Post reported.
“This fluid investigation involving the Rockland County District Attorney’s office and our Federal partners (HSI, ATF, US Postal Inspector) has resulted in the arrest of a public official who violated that oath of office and betrayed the trust of the public whom he swore to serve. I pledged during my campaign that I would be a District Attorney who would act without fear of favor. This investigation is a primary example of my promise to root out public corruption and those officials who use their right hand to take their oath and utilize their position of power to violate the sacred trust of those they swore to serve,” District Attorney Thomas E. Walsh II said in a statement.
This investigation is ongoing.
The state complaint said Downey does have a pistol license, which lists other firearms, but that none of the guns cited in the charges are listed on his permit, The New York Times reported.
Downey now faces more than 30 state and federal criminal counts, according to NPR.
He has been released on bond after a federal judge reportedly set his bail at $250,000, according to the New York Post.
Inside Edition Digital has reached out to Airmont Mayor Nathan Bubel as well as Downey’s attorney Andrew C. Quinn for comment and has not heard back from either.
