Senior citizen sentenced to 4-years after shooting mugger faces the grim truth: ‘I might not come out’
Yes, New Yorkers, we can finally rest easy. We got him. And by him, I mean a 67-year-old man who poses no danger to society.
Foehner is a retired doorman with the gift of gab, a devoted wife, and a habit of saying “groovy.” He spends his time watching naval history videos on YouTube.
While there are many violent criminals with rap sheets the length of a CVS receipt walking our streets, Queens DA Melinda Katz decided to throw the book at this senior citizen, after he pleaded guilty to owning unlicensed guns.
“The only way I can get out of bed in the morning is to not think about [going to prison],” Foehner told me as we sat in the living room of his Pennsylvania townhouse, where he moved a year ago.
As sun sets on his freedom, Foehner is trying to summon the energy to call the prison consultant, who will prepare him for his grim next chapter.
“I’ve got to really give him a buzz, but I’m so shut down that it’s hard to get anything done. You think, ‘okay, I am going to call’ and the day goes by and I haven’t done it.”
Instead, he’s spending time with his devoted wife Jenny Foehner-Speed and his 8-year-old dog, Biscuit, who was recently diagnosed with cancer. He’s making plans to see loved ones and friends. One of whom is suffering from various maladies.
“I don’t know if he’s going to be here in three, four years when I get out. I have friends in Queens who might move. Or they might be dead. I mean, I might not come out,” he said.
He doesn’t know where he’ll be serving his time, but he has one objective: “Survive.” He’s trying to make a plan for his imminent confinement.
“I wouldn’t mind learning to weld. I’d like to become a tutor. I always thought I would be a good teacher.”
Well, the way his case has been handled by Katz has certainly been instructive. And it should enrage anyone with a sense of justice or proportionality.
Foehner first collided with our criminal justice system in May 2023 when he went out for a pack of cigarettes in the early hours of the morning. Crime in his Kew Gardens neighborhood became a problem after a now-shuttered seedy hotel had opened up in 2017, so Foehner took a revolver with him as protection.
In an eerie twist, Foehner had complained to this very paper about the disorder in 2020.
“This isn’t our nice little neighborhood anymore,” he told The Post at that time, noting the brazen drug deals taking place.
But on that fateful night, he returned from buying smokes and saw an unhinged man banging on the door of his building. It was Cody Gonzalez, who then menacingly approached Foehner, demanding a cigarette and his phone.
“He kept coming closer and clearly he was going to attack me.” Foehner said he pulled out a gun and pointed it at the ground. But Gonzalez didn’t stop. He motioned toward Foehner’s neck with an object and his instincts kicked in. Foehner shot the man dead. The ordeal was caught on security camera.
“I didn’t want to hurt anyone. He left me no choice,” said Foehner.
He called 911 and cooperated with authorities.
Gonzalez had at least 15 priors dating back to 2004 and a history of mental illness. Conversely, Foehner had no criminal history. But he is a lifelong gun enthusiast and a doomsday prepper, who had amassed a stockpile of approximately 26 weapons the police found. Only a few were licensed.
“Until that night, I never pointed a gun at anybody. I never had to. I’m not a gun bully…I don’t want power over anyone,’ Foehner said, adding “I believe in the social contract.”
He wasn’t charged in the death of Gonzalez, which was deemed justified, but the DA threw the book at him for criminal weapons possession.
Instead of undergoing a costly and ultimately risky trial that could have sent him to jail for 25 years, he took a plea deal.
Foehner’s attorney Thomas Kenniff, who also represented acquitted subway hero Daniel Penny, blamed the city’s “draconian” gun laws that made it difficult for law abiding citizens to legally obtain guns for protection.
Clearly, Katz insisted on exacting maximum pain onto Foehner.
In fact, she heartlessly requested he spend the last few months in Rikers, but the judge granted one last mercy and allowed him to spend Thanksgiving and Christmas at home.
I cannot imagine how anyone in that office believes justice is being served here. Why are we spending tax dollars to let this good man rot in jail? Give him an ankle bracelet, probation or community service.
Foehner acknowledges he should receive some sort of punishment.
“I said to Tom [Kenniff], If they want me to, I’ll start at the Triborough Bridge and I’ll clean to Grand Central Parkway all the way to the Nassau border. As long as I don’t have to go to jail.”
He calls it a political case. A checkmark for Katz that will allow her to boast about getting guns off the street.
Meanwhile, “They’re ignoring the dangerous people committing crimes every day.”
People like David Mazariegos, who beat Nicola Tanzi to death in October after he kindly held a door open for him in the subway. Despite having two open felony cases, Mazariegos was given taxpayer-funded art “diversion” program for repeat criminals.
Or William Credle, who in 2023 sexually assaulted a 14-year-old but was ordered to undergo mental health treatment, only to go on to allegedly rape a 15-year-old in eerily similar circumstances in November. That case is yet to come to trial, but the examples could easily fill this page.
Even worse, Foehner’s social security benefits will stop while he’s in jail, and his wife of 20 years was just laid off from her job at a publishing company after 12 years. They have an online fundraiser to help defray the cost of his defense, but everything still feels so uncertain.
“We’re just sad and devastated,” Jenny told me. “It’s hard to grasp.”
Indeed, Foehner’s cruel and usual punishment is extremely difficult to wrap one’s head around.
Governor Hochul could pardon him, but Foehner has no hope in that. He does, however, still feel guilt.
“Whatever the circumstances are, a guy is dead because of me. Maybe I should have taken the beating [that night], but who knows where the beating stops.”
Let’s be honest, Foehner has been taking a beating from the system since he was arrested in 2023.
This isn’t justice. Sending a man like Foehner to prison is a crime in itself.
I’m a big fan of U.S. Rep. Ilhan Omar, the Somali congresswoman who always speaks her mind. Of course, I’m not a fan because I like her politics. But I do like the fact that nearly every time she speaks out in public, it serves as a warning for freedom-loving Americans that a true threat exists within our own federal lawmaking body.
