Hi, I’m United States Attorney for the Eastern District of New York Breon Peace. Thank you all for joining us today. With me today are: Keechant Sewell, Commissioner of the New York City Police Department, James W. Essig, Chief of Detectives of the New York City Police Department, Deputy Chief Joseph Gulotta, Commanding Officer of Detective Borough Brooklyn South, Captain Genienne King, Commanding Officer of Violent Crimes Squad, Detective Borough Brooklyn South, Captain Gary Marcus, Lieutenant Mohammed Islam, Detective Michael Griffith, of Detective Borough Brooklyn South Violent Crimes Squad, Frank Tarentino, III, Special Agent in Charge of the Drug Enforcement Administration, New York Division, and My U.S. Attorney’s Office team, Assistant United States Attorneys Adam Amir, Irisa Chen, James Simmons, and Francisco Navarro.
We are here today to announce the arrest and charging of four defendants, David Mccann, Tajhai Jones, Raymond Minaya, and Calvin Tabron for trafficking over 50 firearms, fentanyl, and crack cocaine in the Canarsie neighborhood of Brooklyn. This is one of the first prosecutions in the nation—and the first unsealed indictment in New York—under the Bipartisan Safer Communities Act, the first federal statute specifically designed to target gun trafficking, which was enacted by Congress in June 2022. The charges brought today exemplify how the Bipartisan Safer Communities Act can be used as an effective tool in our continued battle against gun violence that plagues communities in Brooklyn, across New York City and Long Island, and across the nation.
These charges and the arrest made today are the culmination of a significant investigation into firearms and narcotics trafficking occurring largely in and near the Breukelen Houses public housing complex in Canarsie. The defendants sold an NYPD undercover officer over 50 guns. The defendants, of course, did not believe they were selling guns to a law enforcement officer. They thought they were selling these guns to a drug dealer. The undercover officer told the defendants that he was a drug dealer who needed guns and that he was also going to resell some of the guns. Despite this knowledge, Mccann and others continued to sell large quantities of drugs and guns to the undercover officer without hesitation.
Some of the firearms were made from “ghost gun” kits. Certain of the guns sold had a defaced serial number, which makes it more difficult for law enforcement to trace them. Several of the guns trafficked by the defendants have been linked by law enforcement to prior violence in Brooklyn. For example, one defendant, Minaya, sold the undercover officer a gun that was used in an August 21, 2021 shooting in Bedford-Stuyvesant during which armed perpetrators shot into a large crowd gathered for a family day celebration. In total, eight people were shot. Another gun sold by Minaya to the undercover officer is linked to a December 18, 2021 shooting of an individual in Canarsie, in the blocks surrounding the Breukelen Houses complex. That individual sustained multiple gunshot wounds to his body, including his right hand, shoulder, neck, and the base of his skull.
The investigation revealed that defendant Tabron would often purchase three or four guns at a time from retailers in Virginia Beach and Lynnhaven, Virginia, for the express purpose of bringing them to Brooklyn to engage in sales set up by his co-defendants.
The defendants’ drug and gun deals occurred primarily in vehicles outside homes in Canarsie. Almost all the deals occurred in the middle of the afternoon and in broad daylight, with the dealers sometimes boldly walking down public streets carrying bags of dangerous guns past residents. And, many of these transactions took place during the day in the summer months at the Canarsie Pier—a popular recreational area where scores of Brooklyn families picnic and play with their children at the playground.
The evidence of the defendants’ involvement in the alleged conduct includes (1) video and audio recordings made by the undercover officer during gun and drug sales with the defendants; (2) text and telephone records; (3) surveillance, GPS and social media showing the defendants’ whereabouts at particular times; and (4) physical evidence, including firearms, ammunition and drugs.
Additionally, when agents arrested one of the defendants in Brooklyn this morning, he was in illegal possession of two handguns, including one with an extended magazine. The defendant threw one of the guns out a window in an attempt to hide it. But agents recovered both guns at the scene.
By charging the defendants today, our Office and law enforcement partners have interrupted a network of firearms traffickers that endangers our community. Prosecutions of gun trafficking prior to the enactment of the Bipartisan Safer Communities Act relied on statutes concerning unlicensed sale, transport and delivery of firearms, and false statements made to acquire firearms. By using the new law in the charges today, we are able to streamline these prosecutions by charging firearm trafficking conspiracy as a standalone federal crime. This charge also comes with increased penalties should the defendants be proven guilty.
As the first prosecution to utilize this new legislation in New York, and one of the first in the country, we are demonstrating that we are prepared to use all the tools at our disposal—new and old—to combat gun violence. Reducing gun violence will always be one of the foremost priorities of this Office.
I’d like to give special thanks to the NYPD and the officers on this case – especially the undercover officer, who displayed extreme bravery by repeatedly engaging with the defendants to take over 50 guns off the street, and to the DEA and Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF), for their work on this case. I’d also like to thank the team from my Office who have worked tirelessly to protect our community.
I’ll now turn it over to NYPD Commissioner Sewell.