Middletown Man Sentenced to Twelve Years for Cocaine Sales, Possession

A jury conviction and subsequent court sentence brought a major narcotics case to a close for Middletown this week. Fifty five year old Marquis McCray was found guilty on October 21, 2025 of Criminal Sale of a Controlled Substance in the Third Degree and two counts of Criminal Possession of a Controlled Substance in the Third Degree. On December 22, 2025, Orange County Court Judge Craig Stephen Brown imposed prison terms that add up to twelve years behind bars.

The jury determined that on September 4, 2024, at approximately 5 36 p.m., McCray possessed cocaine with the intent to sell while in the vicinity of East Main Street in Middletown. The panel also found that on September 12, 2024, at approximately 2 41 p.m., he sold cocaine to an undercover police officer near John Street in Middletown. For the September 4 incident the court imposed concurrent sentences of seven years in prison and three years of post release supervision for the sale and possession convictions. For the September 12 incident the court imposed five years in prison and three years of post release supervision and ordered that the five year term run consecutively to the seven year term.

District Attorney David M. Hoovler thanked the City of Middletown Police Department for the investigation that led to McCray’s arrest and highly commended Senior Assistant District Attorney Richard Giordano for prosecuting the case. "I hope that this sentence will deter others tempted to profit from the selling narcotics in Orange County," Hoovler said. "Where there is narcotics trafficking you inevitably find guns, violence, and lives devastated by substance abuse. I commend the City of Middletown Police Department not only for the work that they put into this case, but for all the resources that they devote to narcotics enforcement. We will continue to vigorously prosecute those who sell narcotics in our communities."

For local residents the conviction and sentence signal continued attention from law enforcement and prosecutors to street level drug sales. The use of an undercover officer in the investigation and the court ordered post release supervision reflect both immediate enforcement actions and longer term monitoring aimed at reducing recidivism. The district attorney’s statement frames the outcome within a public safety argument that links narcotics trafficking to broader harms, a theme likely to shape community and policing conversations in the months ahead.

This criminal charge was tried in court, and defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty.