Albany man pleads guilty to 2023 gun, drug arrest

ALBANY, N.Y. (NEWS10)-- On the first day of jury selection, an Albany man pleaded guilty to drug and gun charges on Monday. Albany County District Attorney David Soares said Marquis Dixon, 27, pleaded guilty to one count of second-degree criminal possession of a weapon.

Jury selection for Dixon's trial was set to begin Monday morning. He was arrested in 2023 while on parole and initially pleaded not guilty to the charges he faces.

In June 2023, Dixon was arrested following a report of a man possessing a handgun near Orange and Dove Streets in Albany. At the time of his arrest, Dixon allegedly ran from detectives when they approached him; detectives say he had a loaded 9 mm handgun on him.

He was later remanded to the Albany County Correctional Facility, when on or around June 21, 2023, he was allegedly found to have illicit drugs on him while in jail. Dixon's sentencing is scheduled for Friday, Dec. 13.

Dixon first made headlines in 2016 while serving nine years in prison for luring a man and stealing his sneakers in 2014. He was 16-years-old at the time of the crime.

His case brought awareness to youth offenders and helped lead the way for the state to raise the age of youth offenders. He was released in November 2016 with a clean slate.

Dixon was arrested in August 2021 on drug charges and was later arrested again in January 2022 on unrelated gun charges. According to the Albany Police Department, the agency has arrested Dixon over 10 times since his 2016 release.