MINEOLA, N.Y. – Nassau County District Attorney Madeline Singas announced that a Queens man was convicted today of murder for the fatal shooting and robbery of a man in Freeport in 2011.
Jerod Plowden, 30, was convicted today by a jury today of:
- Murder in the Second Degree (an A-I felony)
- Two counts of Robbery in the First degree (a B violent felony)
- Robbery in the Second Degree (a C violent felony)
The trial started on September 26, and the jury deliberated for a day. The defendant was remanded, is due back for sentencing November 27 before Judge Patricia Harrington and faces a maximum of 25 years to life in prison.
“Jerod Plowden robbed and then viciously shot and killed Moez Hassan at point-blank-range in broad daylight,” DA Singas said. “While a guilty verdict cannot bring Mr. Hassan back to his family, we hope today’s conviction brings them some solace knowing his killer will be behind bars for many years.”
DA Singas said that on April 12, 2011, at approximately 1:35 p.m., Plowden and another man, Nolan Gaugler, met with the victim, Moez Hassan, outside of an abandoned house on Steven Street in Freeport under the pretense of buying Xanax pills from him. Before the transaction could take place, however, Plowden and Gaugler robbed the victim of 75 Xanax pills and approximately $30 at gunpoint.
Hassan, 23, of Queens, was then shot five times, once in the head, chest, and left arm, and twice in the abdomen. The Nassau County Police Department’s ShotSpotter system picked up the sound of the gunshots and automatically alerted police to the area. Gaugler ran away and was caught within minutes by police several blocks from the scene of the murder, still in possession of the stolen drugs and cash.
Plowden, who fled through the backyard, was arrested 16 days later in Suffolk County after the vehicle he was a passenger in was pulled over in a routine traffic stop. Gaugler, of Mineola, pleaded guilty to Robbery in the First Degree in exchange for a promised prison sentence of 16 years.
Deputy Chief Jessica Cepriano and Assistant District Attorney Elizabeth Shumejda of the DA Singas’ County Court Trial Bureau are prosecuting the case. Mitchell Barnett, Esq., represents the defendant.
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