Orange County DA Announces 12-Year Sentence in Operation Hot Lunch Case

Orange County Court on March 2, 2026 sentenced William (Willaim) Pulley, 34, of Hollister, North Carolina, to an aggregate term of twelve (12) years in state prison followed by five (5) years of post-release supervision; a court summary provided to news outlets says Pulley had pleaded guilty to "Criminal Sale of a Fi," a charge line that is truncated in the material supplied. The case is described in local filings and DA materials as tied to a broader gun-trafficking probe referenced in DA communications as Operation "Hot Lunch."

The broader investigation has produced multiple pleas and multi-year recommendations. Orange County District Attorney David M. Hoovler announced on October 1, 2024 that 42-year-old Kirkland Salmon of Newburgh pled guilty 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; the DA's office said the People would recommend Salmon be sentenced to twelve (12) years in prison followed by five (5) years of post-release supervision when he was scheduled for sentence on December 16, 2024, and that Salmon agreed to forfeit a vehicle and a food truck as proceeds or instrumentalities of his crimes.

News10 identified 56-year-old Anthony Nelson of Poughkeepsie as a co-conspirator in what it described as the "Hot Lunch Operation," reporting Nelson was one of 26 people charged and that investigators' six-month probe "reportedly revealed Nelson was conspiring with a supplier to distribute cocaine across the county and in the city of Newburgh." News10 stated Nelson "will spend the next six to 12 years in prison" for his involvement.

Local coverage and DA materials use multiple names for the probe. Warwickadvertiser's coverage of an August press event labeled the case "Operation Powder Burn," said some 20 individuals were arrested after wiretaps and an eight-month investigation, and quoted Hoovler: "We are here today to announce arrests in the largest gun trafficking case in Orange County history." At that Aug. 1 press conference, Hoovler also said, "The 20 [defendants] on the boards to my immediate left are nothing more than merchants of death. Some of them sell guns and some of them sell drugs," and he explained, "What began as a drug operation expanded when wiretaps uncovered the weapons aspect."

Warwickadvertiser credited investigators with seizing "over 67 total weapons," "$65,000 in cash," and "over a kilo and a half of cocaine and fentanyl - enough fentanyl to kill 190,000 residents of Orange County)." That coverage and Hudsonvalleypost reporting described an interstate trafficking route with the majority of weapons coming from Pennsylvania and Georgia and, according to DA remarks, entering New York via Federal Express. Hudsonvalleypost's media advisory listed participants at the Aug. 1 event at Orange County Offices, 23 Hatfield Lane in Goshen, including Sheriff Paul Arteta, City of Middletown Police Chief John Ewanciw and DEA New York SAC Frank Tarentino.

The materials supplied to this newsroom show differences in defendant counts and operation names across reports; the Pulley sentencing record supplied here is truncated on the charge language. The DA's Special Projects and Community Affairs Bureau is listed on county pages as a contact point for further information at 845-615-3640.