A Mount Vernon man who sold guns to an undercover state trooper after stealing them from a New Rochelle storage unit has been sentenced to six years in prison.
The theft of the three guns was not discovered last fall until six weeks after the undercover sale.
On Thursday, Sept. 3, Zaid Lewis, 33, got the prison term he was promised by Westchester Judge George Fufidio after he pleaded guilty in July to first- and third-degree criminal sale of a firearm and third-degree burglary, all felonies.
In a news release from her office, Westchester District Attorney Susan Cacace praised the collaborative work of police from New York state, New Rochelle, New York City and Westchester County and her office's High Technology Crime unit.
"Every illegal firearm
that remains on our streets poses a serious threat to public safety, and removing these weapons before they can be used to inflict further harm is critical to protecting our residents," she said. "There is no doubt that this multi-agency investigation has helped prevent further violence and avert tragedy.”
According to court documents, on Sept. 18, 2025, Lewis met with an undercover state trooper on Union Street in Mount Vernon and sold him a .38 caliber Ruger revolver, a Glock 19 pistol, a Sig Sauer P226 pistol, two Kimar blank firing pistols, boxes of 9mm ammunition, a 9mm speed loader and two holsters for $3,750.
It would take six weeks before law enforcement learned that the guns had been stolen from a unit at Extra Space Storage on Huguenot Street in New Rochelle.
A series of break-ins there was first uncovered Sept. 20 when a man told city police that $15,000 worth of items was taken from his unit that week, presumably when someone gained access by cutting the wire grid in the ceiling. In addition to high-end sneakers and clothing the list of missing items included two distinct blankets.
Three days later, the man returned to Extra Space Storage and saw two men pushing a cart covered with the two blankets. One of the men, he told police, was wearing his wine-colored Sergio Tacchini sweatsuit that had been missing from the storage unit. According to court documents, he followed and recorded them leaving in a Chevrolet Suburban and provided the video to police.
The next day, police learned that a unit at the storage facility rented by a Mount Vernon firefighter had also been burglarized that month.
Lewis was a passenger in the Suburban when police pulled it over on Sept. 26. He was arrested on a burglary charge after a bag found in the car contained a document missing from the firefighter's storage unit. He was released without bail.
In late October, police were notified of another break-in at the storage facility where the brother of the renter had found the unit in disarray. Among the items taken was a safe that had contained three guns. The serial numbers matched the three guns Lewis sold six weeks earlier.
Even after his arrest, Lewis arranged another gun sale. On Nov. 13, Lewis sent Alexander James to meet a buyer on Washington Street in Mount Vernon. According to court documents, James got in the car of an undercover trooper and sold him a Ruger SR9 pistol for $850.
James, 34, pleaded guilty this summer to criminal possession of a weapon and is scheduled to be sentenced next week.
This article originally appeared on Rockland/Westchester Journal News: Mount Vernon man sentenced for gun sales, break-ins at storage facility
