An anti-drug crusader who set out to rescue a teenager from a Brooklyn drug den pleaded guilty Monday to weapons charges — but vowed to continue his battle against the scourge of drug abuse.
John Cramsey, 52, of East Greenville, Pa., and two cohorts were collared at the Holland Tunnel in June 2016 in a weapons-laden truck covered in decals reading, among other messages, “God Guns Guts Made America Free.”
He said he, Dean Smith, 53, and Kimberly Arendt, 29 – a trio dubbed the “Kooks of Hazard” – were going to rescue Jenea Patterson, 18, who died months later of an overdose.
Acquaintances said the gun range owner became an anti-drug crusader after his daughter died of an overdose last year. He posted online shortly before his arrest that he wanted to “rescue” a girl whose friend had OD’d.
Police recovered an AR-15 assault rifle, a 12-gauge shotgun, several handguns and tactical gear in the neon green and black vehicle.
Asked after Monday’s hearing if he would do what he did again, Cramsey said he would but would be more cautious.
“I would have carried her out if I’d had the chance,” he said. “I still would to this day. If I’d had to leave my truck there and run to get that girl, I would have.”
Cramsey pleaded guilty to unlawful possession of a gun and possession for an unlawful purpose.
Each count carries a maximum sentence of five years with no parole for a year, but under Cramsey’s plea deal, his attorney can apply for a probationary sentence that wouldn’t include prison.
Fellow Pennsylvanians Smith and Arendt were accepted this year into a pretrial intervention program. If completed, the program can lead to charges being dropped.
Cramsey was denied entry into the probationary program, and attorney James Lisa said he is appealing.
Smith told authorities in June that during the trip to the Big Apple, Cramsey told Arendt to load a shotgun and shoot anyone who followed them on their way back.
He also described Cramsey as “a danger to himself and others.”
Smith was driving Cramsey’s truck when the group was stopped on the New Jersey side of the tunnel because it had a crack in its windshield and had some objects hanging from a rear-view mirror.
The suspects claimed they were actually pulled over because of the truck’s Second Amendment-themed decorations. They sought unsuccessfully in court to have the search invalidated.
New Jersey, which has stricter gun laws than Pennsylvania, doesn’t recognize carry permits from other states, and weapons in cars must be kept locked and unloaded in a trunk or secure container.
Cramsey said the notoriety from the case has made him a lightning rod in the battle against opioid addiction, and that he receives calls from people “all over the world.”
“This is an ongoing thing, I don’t stop. I don’t go looking for it, it finds me,” he said. “It’s as much a curse as it is a blessing. It consumes me every waking moment of the day.”
With Post Wires