CHESTER, NY — The wife of a high-ranking town official who was convicted of a slew of felony charges related to the shooting of a delivery driver, has pleaded guilty to evidence tampering, according to prosecutors.
Orange County District Attorney David M. Hoovler announced on Monday that 46-year-old Selina Nelson-Reilly, of Chester, pleaded guilty on Friday to felony tampering with physical evidence, and misdemeanor attempted tampering with physical evidence.
The pleas are related to the indictment that charged her with deleting 17 videos from a smart doorbell camera installed at her home that captured footage of her husband shooting a delivery driver.
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According to court documents, during the evening of May 2, an unarmed DoorDash driver who was lost with a dead phone battery walked up to the home of John Reilly and Selina Nelson-Reilly, in the Town of Chester, with a bag of food, asking if Reilly had placed the order.
Reilly then ordered the man to leave and when the driver tried to leave in his vehicle, Reilly came out of his home with a shoulder holster and armed with a .45 caliber Glock pistol, police say. He racked the gun and discharged a round into the front lawn, according to cops.
Reilly shot at the vehicle, and immediately aimed the gun at the car and fired again, according to investigators. A round pierced the vehicle and struck the victim in the lower back, causing "devastating" injuries.
The .45 caliber projectile was recovered from the victim's abdomen during emergency surgery, which resulted in the removal of over two feet of the victim's small bowel.
A search warrant executed at Reilly's home resulted in the recovery of .45 caliber casings in the kitchen and front lawn, the projectile from the front lawn, the shoulder holster and loaded .45 caliber Glock pistol, and seven other illegally possessed pistols from the home, according to police.
Law enforcement discovered that while Reilly held a Federal Firearms License (FFL) in order to sell firearms, he had no state firearms license or pistol permit, and could not lawfully possess those guns in New York.
On the following day, state police came to the home to investigate further. When they spoke with Nelson-Reilly, she reportedly denied knowing anything about the incident from the evening before.
However, state police allege that after speaking with investigators, Nelson-Reilly then deleted 17 videos from a smart doorbell camera installed at the home. While she was deleting the videos, an investigator came back to the home and Nelson-Reilly again denied knowing anyone came to the home the night before. She then sent a text message to a friend saying that she permanently deleted the videos, according to investigators.
During plea proceedings, Nelson-Reilly admitted that she deleted the doorbell camera video file "while believing that it was about to be produced or used in an official proceeding or a prospective official proceeding, and intending to prevent such production or use."
Under the plea deal, Nelson-Reilly will be placed on interim probation supervision and ordered to perform 200 hours of community service. Her sentencing will be adjourned for one year for her to abide by the conditions of probation supervision and complete the community service. If she fails to abide by the conditions of interim probation supervision, or to complete the community service, or otherwise gets rearrested, she faces a maximum sentence of one and one-third to four years in prison.
If she successfully completes interim probation supervision, community service and remains arrest-free, she will be permitted to withdraw her plea to the felony and will be sentenced on the misdemeanor charge to any lawful sentence, up to a maximum of one year in the Orange County Jail.
Hoovler thanked the New York State Police for their investigation which led to the arrest of Nelson-Reilly. He also thanked the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives who helped in the investigation.
"We were able to achieve a just conviction of John Reilly notwithstanding this defendant's calculated actions to delete video footage of the crime," Hoovler said. "We will not be thwarted from our pursuit of justice by those who seek to undermine the efforts of law enforcement to uncover the truth. To the contrary, we will relentlessly follow the evidence and the law to hold accountable those responsible for violent crime. I am glad that these efforts resulted in justice being served on behalf of the victim of these crimes."
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