Allen is being charged for allegedly levelling a gun at two officers and is facing a possible sentence ranging from 20 years to life. Before Wednesday his top charge had been possession of a loaded firearm, which carries a possible maximum sentence of no more than 15 years.
Allen is the son of former Brooklyn prosecutors, grandson of a judge and the great-grandson of longtime New York Post publisher Dorothy Schiff. He was arrested back in January 2017, when police responded to reports that people were shooting guns in a wooded area in the Charleston neighbourhood. The police found Allen and a friend, Jonathan Derbyshire, at the scene. Allegedly, Allen aimed his gun at the arriving cops, who then opened fire, striking him five times.
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The police had tried to issue a warrant application for the search of a local house full of drugs connected to Allen and his associates, yet because of a mistake — describing the house as multi-family instead of correctly as single-family – they didn’t get it, and 11 drug charges on Allen were lifted.
Allen remains free on $150,000 bail. Prosecutors had asked for an increase in bail, which was denied by the court. Allen is due back in court on 27 March.
“The new charges are a mark of desperation fabricated by the prosecution when they realized they couldn’t prove their case. This is designed as a bullying pressure tactic to try to force [Allen] to take a plea,” said Allen’s lawyer, Jay Goldberg, noting that he plans to file a motion to dismiss the new charges.