QUEENS, NY – Queens District Attorney Melinda Katz announced today that Ashram Lochan has been indicted by a Queens County grand jury and arraigned in Supreme Court on weapon charges. As alleged, after the execution of a search warrant, police found several illegal firearms in his Edgemere, Queens, home.
District Attorney Katz said, “This defendant is alleged to have kept illegal and dangerous weapons – along with ammunition – in his home. Illegal guns put families and children in harm’s way and have no place in our neighborhoods. We must get them off our streets and put an end to the senseless gun violence that has ripped apart the fabric of far too many of our communities.”
Ashram “Kevin” Lochan, of Beach 45th Street, was arraigned yesterday before Queens Supreme Court Justice Ira Margulis on a two-count indictment. The defendant is charged with criminal possession of a weapon in the second degree and criminal possession of a firearm. Justice Margulis ordered the defendant to return to Court on August 25, 2021. Lochan faces up to seven years in prison if convicted.
During an investigation into the death of 10-year-old Justin Wallace, police executed a Court-authorized search warrant for Lochan’s home next door on June 10, 2021. During that search, law enforcement allegedly found a loaded 9mm pistol, a .380 pistol and a .410 caliber revolver. Police also recovered a tub containing various calibers of ammunition, including bullets for the .380 caliber and .410 caliber pistols. Also found were two converted flare guns and a Tac-79 grenade launder, all capable of discharging shotgun shells.
The investigation was conducted by Detective Andre Figueiredo of the 101st Precinct Detective Squad of the New York City Police Department, under the supervision of Lieutenant Courtney Cummings.
Assistant District Attorney Kirk Sendlein of the District Attorney’s Homicide Bureau is prosecuting the case, with assistance of Assistant District Attorney Joseph Grasso, the under the supervision of supervision of Assistant District Attorneys Peter J. McCormack III, Senior Deputy Bureau Chief, John W. Kosinski and Karen Ross, Deputy Bureau Chiefs, and under the overall supervision of Executive Assistant District Attorney for Major Crimes Daniel A. Saunders.