FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Friday, May 12, 2017
North Carolina Man Pleads Guilty in Connection With
Trafficking 33 Guns to Sell on the Streets of Brooklyn
To be Sentenced to 10 Years in Prison
Acting Brooklyn District Attorney Eric Gonzalez today announced that a 24-year-old man from North Carolina has pleaded guilty to first-degree criminal sale of a firearm in connection with trafficking 33 firearms from his home state into Brooklyn.
Acting District Attorney Gonzalez said, “Today’s guilty plea and promised lengthy sentence is further evidence of our commitment to fight the scourge of gun trafficking, particularly from southern states with lax gun laws, in an effort to keep these deadly weapons off of the streets of Brooklyn. This defendant has now been held accountable and faces 10 years in a New York State prison for his actions.”
The Acting District Attorney identified the defendant as Marcus Gamble, 24, of Charlotte, North Carolina. He pleaded guilty today before Brooklyn Supreme Court Justice Elizabeth Foley to the top count in the indictment, first-degree criminal sale of a firearm, in exchange for 10 years in prison and five years’ post-release supervision when he is sentenced on June 26, 2017.
The Acting District Attorney said that, according to the investigation, on December 5, 2016, the defendant sold 10 loaded firearms to an undercover police officer and, on December 13, 2016, the defendant sold the undercover 15 loaded firearms for a total of about $27,000. The sales took place inside a car in the vicinity of Flatbush Avenue and Maple Street in Prospect-Lefferts Gardens, Brooklyn.
On December 20, 2016, as the defendant was waiting for a third sale to commence, he was arrested inside a Golden Krust restaurant located at 568 Flatbush Avenue in Prospect-Lefferts Gardens. Eight guns and parts of an assault rifle were recovered from his backpack, according to the indictment.
The 33 guns the defendant transported to Brooklyn were mostly pistols and revolvers, including Smith & Wessons, Colts and Rugers. Some of the weapons were purchased legally in North Carolina and others were reported stolen, the investigation found. The defendant grew up in New York City, has extensive family ties to Brooklyn, but has been living in North Carolina for the past couple of years, according to the investigation.
The case was prosecuted by Assistant District Attorney Katie Lee Wright, of the District Attorney’s Violent Criminal Enterprises Bureau, under the supervision Assistant District Attorney Jonathan R. Sennett, Deputy Chief of VCE, and Assistant District Attorney Nicole Chavis, Bureau Chief, and the overall supervision of Assistant District Attorney Patricia McNeill, Deputy Chief of the Investigations Division.
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