Providence Reporter

PROVIDENCE, R.I. – Attorney General Peter F. Neronha announced today that a Providence man has been sentenced in Providence County Superior Court to serve six years at the Adult Correctional Institutions (ACI) after pleading to illegally possessing a semi-automatic handgun following his arrest by the Providence Police Department in 2022.

At a hearing on March 8, 2023, Josse Mosque Rodriguez (age 20) waived criminal information and entered a plea of nolo contendere to possession of a pistol without a license.

At the hearing, before Superior Court Justice Melissa E. Darigan, the Court sentenced the defendant to 10 years, with six years to serve at the ACI, and a four-year suspended sentence and 10 years of probation.

“Much of the senseless of gun violence in Rhode Island stems from a common set of circumstances – young men with the ability to acquire guns, often illegal, with relative ease, who are all too willing to use them to settle petty disputes,” said Attorney General Neronha. “Having achieved one critical part of that equation, the defendant was apprehended before he could put it to use, and thankfully so. I am grateful in this case, and in so many others, for the great work of the Providence Police Department and the prosecutors in my Office.”

Had the case proceeded to trial, the State was prepared to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that during the evening of October 1, 2022, the defendant was arrested for possession of an illegal firearm stemming from a motor vehicle stop by the Providence Police Department.

That evening, members of the Providence Police Department’s Violent Crime Task Force encountered a Jeep Cherokee while on patrol in the area of Hartford Avenue. The Jeep attempted to flee from investigators and crashed into a parked car. Before investigators could apprehend him, the defendant jumped out of the Jeep and ran away.

After a brief chase, investigators apprehended the defendant, who fell during the pursuit, and dropped a gun in the process. Investigators recovered the gun, a Glock 9mm semi-automatic handgun equipped with a magazine containing 12 rounds.

The defendant is known to investigators as a member of the Trinitarios gang.

“The men and women of the Providence Police Department make great efforts to prevent incidents related to violent crimes and gun violence, and this case is an example of the risks officers face on every shift,” said Providence Police Chief Oscar Perez. “Every illegal firearm that is removed from our streets works towards our long-standing commitment to reducing gun violence and ensuring public safety. I commend the great work of our investigators in this case, and thank the members of the Office of the Attorney General for their continued partnership and commitment to public safety.”

Investigators Darryl Pfeiffer and Ryan Malloy of the Providence Police Department and Special Assistant Attorney General John Kilpatrick of the Office of the Attorney General led the investigation and prosecution of the case.

Original source can be found here.