NORWICH – Two brothers who allegedly possessed and sold stolen firearms were arraigned on Feb. 2 in Chenango County Court by Judge Frank B. Revoir, Jr.
Thomas L. Ackermann, 25 of South Otselic and his brother, Samuel J. Ackermann, 22 of Norwich were arrested in December of 2014 for allegedly possessing and selling stolen firearms.
According to Chenango County Sheriff's Office deputies, the arrest of the Ackermann brothers followed an anonymous phone call from a person who had allegedly purchased firearms at a low cost in the Town of Ostelic.
After deputies spoke with the person who had purchased the inexpensive firearms, it was found that the purchaser had allegedly bought the stolen firearms from the two Ackermann brothers while in the Smyrna area.
When deputies were informed of the alleged sale of the firearms and charged the two brothers, Thomas was already incarcerated at the Chenango County Correctional Facility for other theft-related crimes. According to First Assistant District Attorney Michael D. Ferrarese, Thomas had allegedly stolen property out of vehicles in the City of Norwich.
Samuel was also remanded to the county jail for the charges related to the stolen firearms.
Thomas and Samuel were both indicted on Jan. 21 for two counts each of criminal possession of stolen property in the fourth degree, a class E felony.
It is alleged on Nov. 25, 2014 at a Town of Otselic residence, Thomas and Samuel did knowingly possess three stolen weapons, consisting of a Ruger 308 M77 Winchester rifle, a Ruger 77/50 muzzle-loader and a Remington 870 shotgun, to benefit themselves or another person other than the owner. The guns had an approximate value of $1,960 and belonged to a Town of Otselic resident.
Thomas was also indicted on Jan. 21 for the separate case of the alleged vehicle thefts. He was indicted on criminal possession of stolen property in the fourth degree, a class E felony, and two counts of criminal possession of stolen property in the fifth degree, a class A misdemeanor.
It is alleged on Dec. 9, 2014 – at approximately 2 p.m. – at a residence in the City of Norwich, Thomas did knowingly possess stolen property, consisting of a XPS-M14 Dell laptop computer and a XJ-A140V Casio projector belonging to one Norwich resident; two DVD players, $40 in loose change and a wallet belonging to another Norwich resident; and an Apple iPod belonging to a third Norwich resident, to benefit himself or another person other than the owners.
• Samuel was arraigned on Feb. 2 in Chenango County Court for the two counts of criminal possession of stolen property in the fourth degree, a class E felony.
He pleaded not guilty to both counts.
According to Ferrarese, Town of Otselic Court had remanded Samuel on $5,000 cash bail or a $10,000 bond. He also said Samuel is a predicate felon and has seven misdemeanor convictions.
