Chester Man Who Shot Delivery Driver Sentenced to 17 Years

MOUNT HOPE, N.Y.—The former town of Chester highway superintendent was sentenced to 17 years in prison followed by five years of post-release supervision on May 18 for shooting a delivery driver in 2025.

John Reilly III, 49, of Chester shot the driver as he was trying to leave Reilly’s property on the evening of May 2, 2025. Reilly faced assault and weapons charges.

Court documents state that a lost and unarmed food delivery driver with a dead phone approached Reilly’s residence. Holding a bag of food, the driver asked Reilly whether he had ordered any, but Reilly ordered the man to leave. As the man was leaving in his vehicle, Reilly came out of his house with a shoulder holster carrying a .45 caliber Glock pistol. Reilly shot the gun into the front lawn. As the car was driving away, he shot at the vehicle. A few seconds later, Reilly aimed at the car again and shot, and the round pierced the vehicle and hit the driver in the lower back.

The bullet was removed from the victim’s abdomen during an emergency surgery, as were two feet of the driver’s small intestine. The driver survived and is recovering, Orange County District Attorney David Hoovler said in March when Reilly was convicted.

During a search of Reilly’s residence, .45 caliber casings were recovered in his kitchen and front lawn, as well as a shoulder holster, a loaded .45 caliber Glock pistol, and seven more illegally possessed pistols.

Reilly did not have a New York state firearms license or pistol permit, making the weapons illegally possessed. He did hold a federal firearms license, which would have allowed him to sell firearms but did not legalize possession in New York state.

The prosecutor recommended 21 1/3 years to 24 years in prison for Reilly.

Reilly’s wife, Selina Nelson-Reilly, pleaded guilty on April 10 to deleting 17 videos from their home’s smart doorbell camera that recorded the shooting. She deleted the footage after investigators questioned her, and texted a friend saying that the videos had been permanently deleted.

As part of a plea deal for attempted tampering with physical evidence and tampering with physical evidence, Nelson-Reilly will be placed on interim probation supervision for one year and do 200 hours of community service.

Hoovler said in a statement, “The lengthy sentence imposed on this defendant justly reflects his depraved indifference to human life.”

Reilly was dismissed as highway superintendent as soon as he was convicted, Chester Supervisor Brandon Holdridge told The Epoch Times on March 27. The town is interviewing candidates for the position through the end of 2026.