United States District Court in Brooklyn unsealed a third superseding indictment charging Richard Almarez, Terrell Brown, Tislam Cato, Shaheem Evans, Joseph Isar Ras, and Elvin Sanabria, along with six others, for conspiracy to deal in firearms. The defendants are alleged to be part of a massive gun trafficking operation that transported over 70 firearms from Georgia to New York between October 2015 and June 2016.
The indictment, returned under seal by a federal grand jury on February 23, 2017, reveals at least seven firearms were recovered in the New York area. The ring was run by members of the Gangsta Killa Bloods (GKB), who used straw buyers to purchase firearms legally in Georgia and then sell them illicitly in New York.
Previous charges included Micah Isaiah Desuze, Dominique Chanel Fairnot, Jeremy Sanchez, Ashanti Sease-Matthews, Omar Jermaine Walker, and Marquez Bridges. Straw buyers faced sentences of up to ten years for making false statements to acquire firearms, while the newly charged defendants face five years’ imprisonment for conspiracy.
Robert L. Capers, United States Attorney for the Eastern District of New York, William F. Sweeney, Jr., Assistant Director-in-Charge of the FBI, and James O’Neill, Commissioner of the NYPD, announced the charges. Assistant United States Attorneys Rena Paul and Margaret E. Gandy are prosecuting the case.
The accused:
- RICHARD ALMAREZ (42, Westchester)
- BONNAY BENFORD (30, Brooklyn)
- MARQUEZ BRIDGES (26, Atlanta)
- TERRELL BROWN (34, Miami)
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Key Facts
- State: New York
- Agency: DOJ USAO
- Category: Drug Trafficking|Fraud & Financial Crimes|Violent Crime|Weapons|Organized Crime
- Source: Official Source ↗
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