Mark Vicars possessed a loaded pistol and assault rifle when he was arrested
MINEOLA, N.Y. – Nassau County District Attorney Madeline Singas announced that a Syosset man arrested in Dec. 2015 for impersonating a federal air marshal and who was found with multiple weapons in his car and home pleaded guilty to four charges in satisfaction of a 51-count indictment.
Mark Vicars, 50, pleaded guilty today before Supreme Court Justice William Donnino to three counts of Criminal Possession of a Weapon in the 2nd Degree (a C violent felony) and one count of Criminal Possession of a Forged Instrument in the 2nd Degree (a D felony). The NCDA is recommending a sentence of 15 years in prison. The defendant is due back in court on March 3.
“This defendant masqueraded as a federal air marshal for years and possessed an incredibly dangerous arsenal of weapons that included handguns, an assault weapon and more than 8,300 rounds of ammunition,” DA Singas said. “Thankfully, this defendant’s ridiculous farce came to end when our partners in law enforcement, based on a tip, arrested him and discovered his stockpile of illegal weapons.”
DA Singas said that Nassau County Police Department Special Investigation Squad detectives, working with the New York office of the Joint Terrorism Task Force and the Transportation Security Administration, initiated a traffic stop of the defendant on Jericho Turnpike in Syosset on Dec. 3, 2015. Vicars allegedly pulled over and activated emergency lights on his 2014 Dodge Durango. The defendant produced a fraudulent shield and credentials that identified him as a federal air marshal. Vicars was found to be in possession of a loaded .380 pistol and a knife. A loaded assault rifle, ballistic body armor, a tactical vest, eight high capacity magazines and hundreds of rounds of ammunition were found in the back seat of the car.
After obtaining a search warrant at the defendant’s home, detectives recovered more weapons and approximately 8,300 rounds of ammunition.
The defendant pleaded guilty to illegally possessing an AR-15 assault rifle, a Ruger pistol, a Smith and Wesson revolver, a Springfield Armory pistol, a Sig Sauer pistol and two Glock pistols.
Assistant District Attorneys Rachel Lasry and Elizabeth Shumejda of DA Singas’ County Court Trial Bureau are prosecuting the case. Vicars is represented by Dennis Lemke, Esq.