A Bayside man who’s apparently gaga for guns will be spending years in prison for illegally stockpiling scores of firearms — and tens of thousands of bullets — inside his home.
Ronald Drabman, 61, of 208th Street pleaded guilty back in January to first- and second-degree criminal possession of a weapon charges for two cases: one in which he ditched a gun after being involved in a traffic accident, and the other for his household arsenal.
Acting Queens District Attorney John Ryan said that Drabman is now serving concurrent prison sentences of five years and 3 1/2 years, respectively, for the charges. Acting Queens Supreme Court Justice Karen Gopee handed down the terms on Aug. 15.
“This defendant was caught twice attempting to hide weapons and live rounds of ammunition,” Ryan said on Aug. 19 in announcing the sentencing. “His actions posed a grave threat to the public. The sentence imposed by the Court is more than warranted, and this should serve as a reminder that illegal guns and ammo will not be tolerated in Queens County.”
The first case involving Drabman happened at 4 p.m. on Sept. 29, 2017, after he became involved in a motor vehicle crash on Hillside Avenue in Jamaica; officers from the 103rd Precinct had to extricate him from the truck.
While being administered medical care by first responders inside an ambulance, authorities said, Drabman removed a black firearm from his waistband and tried to give it to an EMT on the scene. The EMT refused to take the weapon, leading Drabman to exit the ambulance and return to his truck to hide the weapon.
But officers later found the gun, a .357 revolver, along with two speed loaders and several rounds of ammunition from inside the truck.
Then, on April 19, 2018, the NYPD Field Intelligence Division executed a court-authorized search of Drabman’s home as part of an investigation.
During the raid, they found his homemade arsenal in the basement, which contained 45 rifles, 23 handguns, a zip gun, two .177-caliber pellet guns and more than 50,000 rounds of ammunition.
Officers also recovered $15,805 in cash from Drabman’s residence.
Prosecutors said that Drabman does not have a valid firearms license, nor is he licensed to sell or manufacture guns or ammunition.
This story was updated on Aug. 20 at 2:35 p.m.
