{"id":299748,"date":"2025-10-13T11:05:12","date_gmt":"2025-10-13T11:05:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/299748\/"},"modified":"2025-10-13T11:05:12","modified_gmt":"2025-10-13T11:05:12","slug":"violent-convictions-on-staten-island-mark-latest-in-botched-rollout-of-legal-cannabis-in-new-york-d-a","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/299748\/","title":{"rendered":"Violent convictions on Staten Island mark latest in \u2018botched\u2019 rollout of legal cannabis in New York: D.A."},"content":{"rendered":"

STATEN ISLAND, N.Y.\u2014 Two men who carried out a violent robbery last year at an illegal smoke shop on Staten Island are headed to prison, in a case that the borough\u2019s District Attorney says \u201cembodies\u201d an ongoing public safety hazard. <\/p>\n

The defendants \u2014 Rayquan Douglas, 23, of the 200 block of Westwood Avenue in Castleton Corners, and Dustin Johns, 19, of the 200 block of Schmidts Lane in Castleton Corners \u2014 both pleaded guilty Tuesday to second-degree robbery in connection with the 2024 incident in West Brighton. <\/p>\n

In exchange for his plea, Douglas is scheduled to be sentenced Nov. 13 in state Supreme Court, St. George, to eight years in prison and five years post release supervision. <\/p>\n

Johns is scheduled to be sentenced Nov. 5 to six years incarceration and five years post release supervision. <\/p>\n

Attorneys for both defendants declined to comment. <\/p>\n

The robbery was one of several crimes reported over the past five years in and around unlicensed smoke shops on Staten Island, including incidents of drug dealing, assaults, robberies and homicides. <\/p>\n

Wielding a pipe, hammer<\/p>\n

Police said the robbery unfolded at about 1:30 a.m. on July 8, 2024, inside OMW Smoke Shop at 490 Broadway in West Brighton. The store was located across the street from a 24-hour McDonald\u2019s restaurant. <\/p>\n

Johns, who is listed in jail records as 5 feet, 9 inches tall and 140 pounds, was wielding a metal pipe as he allegedly stated in sum and substance: \u201cGive me everything you got. Where\u2019s the weed.\u201d<\/p>\n

The victims were described as a 17-year-old male and a 35 year-old male. <\/p>\n

The two men forcibly took cannabis from the store before fleeing the scene, but were arrested soon after, police said at the time. <\/p>\n

The defendants \u201cused a metal pipe and hammer to threaten and assault their victims,\u201d said District Attorney Michael E. McMahon in a written statement following their recent court hearings. <\/p>\n

\u201cToday, these brazen lawbreakers were held accountable in the courtroom for their violent crimes,\u201d said McMahon, who went on to thank members of the NYPD and Assistant District Attorney Rebecca Hendershott for their efforts in pursuing a conviction. <\/p>\n

\"DAIn this July 1 photo, District Attorney Michael E. McMahon holds a press conference in his St. George office for \u201cOperation Road Test\u201d, an elaborate scheme involving the alleged unlawful distribution of driver permits and licenses. Reining in \u2018illegitimate storefronts\u2019: D.A.<\/p>\n

In his statement Thursday, McMahon referenced an \u201cexplosion\u201d of black market cannabis across Staten Island and elsewhere as lawmakers \u201cbotched\u201d the rollout of a legalized industry. <\/p>\n

\u201cThis case epitomizes the very real public safety concerns my office raised around the proliferation of illicit cannabis dispensaries in our borough and across New York City,\u201d said McMahon. <\/p>\n

\"NYCIn this July 3, 2024 photo, city officials inspect an alleged, illegal smoke shop on Staten Island. (Staten Island Advance\/Jan Somma-Hammel)<\/p>\n

\u201cFlush with cash and contraband, illegal smoke shops naturally attract nefarious actors and criminals and drastically diminish a neighborhood\u2019s quality of life.\u201d<\/p>\n

McMahon said his office continues to \u201cwork tirelessly, using every tool at our disposal, to rein in these illegitimate storefronts, shutter their doors, and hold their criminal proprietors accountable.\u201d<\/p>\n

In 2024, the district attorney\u2019s office announced a law enforcement blitz on nearly 20 smoke shops<\/a> across Staten Island that were shuttered for alleged black market cannabis sales. <\/p>\n

\"'23In this September 2023 photo, Borough President Vito Fossella announced a series of law enforcement raids of illicit smoke shops operating across Staten Island, netting a trove of illegal cannabis and other contraband. <\/p>\n

In 2023, Borough President Vito Fossella announced a massive seizure of cannabis and other contraband<\/a> from 17 smoke shops across the borough. <\/p>\n

In recent years, crimes carried out at unlicensed smoke shops on Staten Island and elsewhere have included armed robberies, burglaries, assaults, homicides and other narcotics sales. <\/p>\n

If you purchase a product or register for an account through a link on our site, we may receive compensation. By using this site, you consent to our User Agreement<\/a> and agree that your clicks, interactions, and personal information may be collected, recorded, and\/or stored by us and social media and other third-party partners in accordance with our Privacy Policy.<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"STATEN ISLAND, N.Y.\u2014 Two men who carried out a violent robbery last year at an illegal smoke shop…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":299749,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5122],"tags":[5229,405,403,5226,5225,5228,5227,67,586,132,5230,68,2969],"class_list":{"0":"post-299748","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-new-york","8":"tag-america","9":"tag-new-york","10":"tag-new-york-city","11":"tag-newyork","12":"tag-newyorkcity","13":"tag-ny","14":"tag-nyc","15":"tag-united-states","16":"tag-united-states-of-america","17":"tag-unitedstates","18":"tag-unitedstatesofamerica","19":"tag-us","20":"tag-usa"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/115366535524080394","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/299748","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=299748"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/299748\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/299749"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=299748"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=299748"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=299748"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}