Two county prosecutors win ‘Prosecutor of the Year’ awards

Orange County District Attorney David Hoovler congratulated Senior Assistant District Attorney Alexis Gregory and Assistant District Attorney Amanda Bettinelli, who each received “Prosecutor of the Year” awards from the Federal Law Enforcement Foundation during a presentation at the New York Hilton Midtown in Manhattan, on Friday, December 6. The two prosecutors won the awards for their work on the “Operation Hot Lunch” gun and narcotics trafficking investigation. According to Hoovler, “Operation Hot Lunch” was the largest gun and narcotics trafficking case in the history of Orange County.

“Operation Hot Lunch” took several months and included members of the Hudson Valley Field Office of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (“ATF”); the Orange County Drug Task Force; the Orange County Sheriff’s Office; and the Orange County District Attorney’s Office. Other law enforcement agencies who contributed to the investigation included the New York City Police Department, the City of Middletown Police Department, the City of Newburgh Police Department, the New York State Police, the City of Poughkeepsie Police Department, the Hudson Valley Crime Analysis Center, ATF Miami Field Division, and ATF Charlotte Field Division.

The investigation led to the arrest of Kirkland Salmon, 42, of Newburgh, who was allegedly found to be at the center of four different conspiracies involving the tracking of narcotics and firearms through Orange County by using the cover of a food truck, oftentimes in broad daylight, parked just feet from the City of Newburgh Courthouse.

On October 1, 2024, Salmon pled guilty in Orange County Court to criminal possession of a controlled substance in the first degree, criminal sale of a firearm in the first degree, and conspiracy in the second and fourth degrees. He is expected to be sentenced to 12 years in prison, to be followed by five years of post-release supervision when he is sentenced on December 16, 2024. As part of the disposition, Salmon also agreed to forfeit a vehicle and the food truck as proceeds of his crimes. The case also resulted in the arrest and subsequent guilty plea of Owen Beckford, 53, of Newburgh. Beckford is next scheduled to appear in court on March 3, 2025.

Gregory and Bettinelli were each honored by the Federal Law Enforcement Foundation as being “Prosecutor of the Year,” for assisting the law enforcement agencies throughout the investigation, including by drafting applications for search warrants and eavesdropping warrants, and for being available day and night to provide legal guidance. They both prosecuted all of the cases resulting from the investigation, including those of Kirkland Salman and Owen Beckford.

“I am grateful for the ceaseless and untiring work of Alexis Gregory and Amanda Bettinelli on this important investigation and congratulate them on this award,” said Hoovler. “More importantly, I am grateful to the Orange County Sheriff’s Office, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives, all the law enforcement agencies who comprise the Orange County Drug Task Force, as well as the many other law enforcement agencies, such as the NYPD and New York State Police, who aided in this important and historic investigation. Large-scale criminal enterprises can only be stopped through the coordination and cooperation of multiple law enforcement agencies at the federal, state and local level. ‘Operation Hot Lunch’ epitomizes how that type of cooperation yields results. I look forward to continuing to conduct complex investigations into large scale criminal enterprises with these partner agencies.”