Eric Gonzalez
Acting District Attorney
Kings County
October 21, 2016
COMMUNITY PARTNER IN JUSTICE NOTIFICATION
Nineteen Defendants Charged in Three Indictments with
Gun Trafficking, Weapons Possession and Bank Larceny
Acting Brooklyn District Attorney Eric Gonzalez today announced that 19 defendants have been variously charged in three separate indictments for allegedly selling 40 trafficked firearms, possessing two illegal guns and attempting to steal about $60,000 from bank accounts. The charges all stem from a long-term investigation that relied on electronic surveillance and revealed interconnected schemes and alliances between alleged gang members and their associates.
The initial target of the investigation was Colin (“Rum”) Toney, 27, of South Carolina. Between June 2015 and September 2016, Toney and co-defendants allegedly sold a total of 40 guns that were purchased in his home state to an undercover NYPD detective in Brooklyn and Manhattan, according to the indictment.
During the course of the investigation, detectives learned of Toney’s past affiliation with a set of the Bloods gang based in New York City and started to monitor communications of two alleged gang leaders. Through them, the investigation exposed an alleged larceny operation, in which one of the defendants arranged the opening of bank accounts for the deposit of fraudulent checks and withdrawal of funds before banks could identify the bogus transactions. The defendants allegedly tried to steal approximately $60,000 from the banks and succeeded in withdrawing at least $37,000.
Acting District Attorney Gonzalez said, “These indictments are a testament of our resolve to continue going after firearm traffickers, who endanger the safety of our communities for profit, and gang members, who often fund their crimes through larceny and fraud. Gun runners and those who aid them should be on notice that they are not safe from prosecution just because they live out of state – we will arrest them and bring them to Brooklyn to face justice.”
#
Read the full press release here.