Albany, NY (WRGB) — Marquis Dixon, 26, was sentenced to nine years in prison with five years of parole in connection to weapon and drug charges.
Dixon entered a guilty plea just as jury selection was about to begin for his trial. Initially, Dixon had pleaded not guilty after being released on parole. The indictment accuses him of possessing a loaded handgun in Albany around June 20 and possessing illicit drugs while incarcerated at the Albany County Correctional Facility the following day.
Dixon first gained attention nearly a decade ago when, as a teenager, he was sentenced to nine years for stealing sneakers. At the time, New York was one of the few states that treated 16-year-olds as adults in criminal cases, a policy that changed in 2018. Activists, using Dixon’s case as an example, helped push for juvenile justice reform, leading to changes in how minors are treated in the legal system.
