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Demetrio Daga worried most about his two young boys
Demetrio Daga is not doing well in New York’s Albany County jail, especially last week when his son Dimitri had his 8th birthday.
When Daga turned eight, his father was in the very same jail, but he was facing drug charges.
“When I turned eight, I got a letter from my father from the very facility I am now in,” Daga said this week. “Now, I’m here in some twisted nightmare and my son is in the same situation I was in. It’s a punch in the gut.”
Daga never heard from his father after that, which is not what he wants for his two young boys.
“That’s the most difficult thing for me—being away from my children,” he said. “They were constantly with me. If I was working outside, I’d teach them how to paint and sand. My eight-year-old knows how to start the mower on his own and mow the lawn. We’d go to a state park and see all of Albany from 1,500 feet up. We’d go there on mornings and weekends. I miss them both so much.
“So far, I’ve missed Dimitri’s birthday. I’m going to miss my wife’s birthday. I’m going to miss Christmas. I’ve never missed their birthdays, and I have never not been with them for the holidays. It’s difficult for me,” Daga said. “I try and call them every day. My oldest son keeps asking when he’s going to see me. It’s hard for them, and I don’t want to break down for them. I don’t want to tell them the wrong info or make promises I can’t keep.”
State charges only
In September, Daga was convicted after a seven-day trial of violating 15 New York state weapon charges: one count of Criminal Possession of a Weapon in the First Degree, two counts of Criminal Possession of a Weapon in the Second Degree, three counts of Criminal Possession of a Weapon in the Third Degree, and nine counts of Criminal Possession of a Firearm.
He was not charged or convicted of making firearms, even though his prosecutor accused him of it in court.
“Demetrio Daga was buying and producing gun parts and building weapons in his home,” Deputy Chief Assistant District Attorney Jessica Blain-Lewis told the jury during closing arguments. “And he wasn’t just someone who builds guns, he was building an arsenal.”
Blain-Lewis has never shied away from the media. In 2016, she was a contestant on the popular CBS show “Survivor.”
Daga’s entire criminal case was investigated solely by the New York State Police. No other local, state or federal law enforcement agencies were involved in the investigation.
Daga became the focus of the state police investigators because they were monitoring eBay purchases by New York residents and saw that he was purchasing firearm components, such as springs, pins and other legal gun parts.
He was never accused of misusing any of the firearms he made. Prior to his current case, Daga had never once been arrested.
Possible relief?
Daga was supposed to have been sentenced last month. However, County Court Judge Andra Ackerman, who oversaw Daga’s trial, delayed his sentencing until Nov. 30. The judge did not say why the delay was needed.
Daga strongly suspects why the judge did not want to sentence him last month. She wants a new pre-sentence investigation report, or PSI.
Even though Daga is technically facing decades behind bars, the last PSI, which was prepared by the Albany County Probation Department, recommended that he receive no jail time, only probation.
Judge Ackerman—who has already admitted she may not follow her own probation department’s recommendations—hopes a new PSI will recommend that Daga serve time behind bars, Daga and his legal team believe.
On Tuesday, Daga was interviewed again for the new PSI. The entire process took less than five minutes.
“I told her I was working 12-hour days in the jail’s kitchen,” Daga said. “It was very quick. The woman who interviewed me wrote the first PSI too.”
A family harmed
Daga’s mother-in-law, Mary Googas, supports him 100 percent.
“He’s a special edition. We totally love him. He’s a great help to everybody. I’m happy he’s in our family,” she said. “He’s a great father. He takes those kinds everywhere. They adore him and he adores them.”
Now, with Daga behind bars, she and her husband have stepped up to help.
“We pick the boys up from school and we’ll watch them when our daughter Maria needs to do something,” she said. “We go to the jail and visit him and my heart breaks. They’re taking him away from his family. He’s not a criminal. He made the guns and put them away. He never used them, but it’s New York State, and New York State wants to rule everything you do.”
Despite the decades he is facing behind bars, Daga is worried most about Gianni and Dimitri.
Said Daga: “My boys became my rhythm. You don’t realize how in tune you are until you don’t hear that rhythm anymore. There are so many things that you don’t realize became the rhythm of your life until they’re gone.”
Demetrio Daga’s family has established a GiveSendGo page for those who are able to help.
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California let a violent domestic abuser and armed robber, Smiley Martin, out of prison six years early. Only about 8 weeks after that early release, Martin was one of the perpetrators of a gang-related mass shooting in Sacramento that killed innocent bystanders. He was illegally in possession of a Glock, which he illegally modified to fire full auto with a switch.
California politicians then used that crime, which was caused by THEIR foolish early release policies, as a pretext to ban the sale of Glocks and similar handguns to law-abiding citizens.
This has not gotten enough attention. To try to change that, our new fact sheet covers the origin of California's Glock ban, which has now spread to three other states.
Like most California antigun laws, it has since spread to other states, three in total so far. Connecticut's has been enjoined for now.
SAF is challenging the the Maryland and New York bans in federal court. Please consider supporting our fight: saf.org/individual/
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You can read it all here: drive.google.com/file/d/13Ch…
SAF and its partners have filed a response brief with the Supreme Court in Viramontes v. Cook County responding to Cook County’s effort to moot the case.
In late October, the lead plaintiff in SAF’s landmark “assault weapons” ban case, Mr. Viramontes, asked to be dismissed from the case. Following that request, Cook County filed a brief with the Supreme Court suggesting the case should be mooted and dismissed. Today, SAF and its partners replied to Cook County and explained to the Court why the case should continue.
This summer, the U.S. Supreme Court agreed to hear SAF’s two cases – Viramontes v. Cook County and Grant v. Higgins – challenging bans on commonly owned rifles, including the AR-15, in both Cook County, Ill., and Connecticut. Originally filed in 2021, Viramontes challenges Cook County’s ban on many commonly owned modern firearms, which was the precursor for the nearly identical statewide ban passed by the Illinois legislature. In Grant, SAF is challenging Connecticut’s ban on commonly owned semi-automatic rifles – both by name and by feature set.
“There’s every reason this case can and should continue,” said SAF Executive Director Adam Kraut. “We fully expect the Court to agree with our position on Viramontes, but regardless of the Court’s decision, this issue will be heard. SAF has a second case – Grant v. Higgins – that was also granted cert by the Supreme Court so no matter what the Court decides on Viramontes, we will still have the opportunity to present our case to the Justices on Dec. 2.”...
Read more here: saf.org/saf-files-brief-with…
A sneak peak of some of SAF's Legal Team answering questions about the recent events in the legal fight for gun rights at the @lipseysguns HQ.
In this clip, @MorosKostas talks about what the SCOTUS AWB case means for the whole US and what we can expect the anti-gun groups to do if the ruling goes in our favor.
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Had absolutely nothing to do with you. National decline. Florida is also at record lows.
SAF team building at Range Ready in Robert, LA. (rangereadystudios.com) and home of @guntalkmedia. We believe in staying sharp for the court, the range, and in life.
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CCRKBA warns of looming 2A threat: Monitoring flood of anti-gun bills. tinyurl.com/ynew2t2e @CCRKBArms @2AFDN
“The fatal fallacy of gun control laws in general is the assumption that such laws actually control guns. Criminals who disobey other laws are not likely to be stopped by gun control laws. What such laws actually do is increase the number of disarmed and defenseless victims.” -Thomas Sowell
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ATF Director: ‘We will not change’
ATF Director Robert Cekada was flying with Todd Blanche, the 88th Attorney General of the United States, Sunday night when the two men started talking.
Of course, the recent midterm election losses were discussed, as were ATF’s priorities.
Cekada said Monday that his response to the election was simple: He will not change.
“We’re forging ahead,” he said. “I am pushing all of the rules that we told everyone to modernize. We are going to repeal all of the old Biden rules.”
Once the ATF rules are formalized, everyone will have protections that they need, Cekada said.
“It takes almost two years to change the rules,” Cekada said. “That gives Congress a lot of time.”
Cekada said he has no plans to resign after the election losses were tallied.
“I am not going anywhere unless the President fires me,” he said. “I am not going anywhere.”
Cekada is still angry about the ongoing actions of some former staffers, like former ATF assistant director Marianna Mitchem, who is now an official with Everytown for Gun Safety and constantly providing false information and fictitious stats to the anti-gun media.
“Everytown would love to see me go, but they should be ready for a fight,” Cekada said. “Especially when former ATF employees are spewing lies over there.”
Unique history
Cekada’s changes to the ATF almost defy belief.
He inherited an agency that was nothing more than the despised law enforcement arm of Joe Biden’s anti-gun mob, and he turned it into a real federal law enforcement agency that now—as he constantly maintains—targets only “real bad guys.”
Cekada is personally overseeing the return of the firearms that were seized by Biden’s ATF from three men who were all pardoned by President Donald J. Trump.
All three of these real victims did nothing wrong, but they were still charged and convicted of violating Joe Biden’s mythical zero-tolerance policy.
Pastor Russell Fincher lost all of his guns after Biden’s ATF raided his home and pointed guns at him and his young son. Now, after he was pardoned, he is talking with Cekada about the return of his firearms and a lot more.
“Mr. Cekada is such a breath of fresh air that the Second Amendment community truly needs,” Pastor Fincher said. “I know there are a lot of doubters, but I need to rejoice in the positive. The hour-long conversation I had recently with him was unbelievable. I left saying, ‘I can’t believe he’s the ATF director.’ I really feel like he’s a true patriot battling for the Second Amendment. He’s a different kind of cat.”
The other team has made their plans very clear: They want show trials and they plan to target the Second Amendment.
It’s refreshing to hear that ATF will not be assisting them with half of their national agenda—that ATF will remain solely focused on arresting real bad guys instead of legitimate gun owners.
Said Cekada: “We will not change.”
The Second Amendment Foundation’s Investigative Journalism Project wouldn’t be possible without you. Click here to make a tax-deductible donation to support pro-gun stories like this.
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