FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Wednesday, April 10, 2019
Three Men, Including South Carolina Resident, Indicted for Trafficking Guns Purchased in the South to Sell on Brooklyn Streets
Thirty-Six Handguns Purchased During 10-Month-Long Undercover Police Operation;
Second Indictment Charges Three Individuals with Narcotics Sales
Brooklyn District Attorney Eric Gonzalez, together with New York City Police Commissioner James P. O’Neill, today announced the indictment of an alleged gun trafficking ring that purchased firearms in South Carolina that were then transported on the Iron Pipeline and destined to be sold on the streets of Brooklyn.
District Attorney Gonzalez said, “The guns that were recovered as part of this investigation are exactly the types of weapons used to commit violence in our communities. These indictments reflect our continued commitment to focusing on drivers of crime, maintaining public safety and stopping the influx of guns into Brooklyn from Southern states with lax gun laws. I thank the police and my prosecutors for their joint efforts in this case.”
Commissioner O’Neill said, “The NYPD will tirelessly target not only those who might use illegal firearms, but also those who would profit from their sale. I want to thank our local state and federal law enforcement partners involved in bringing the members of this illegal gun and drug trafficking network to answer for their crimes.”
The District Attorney identified the defendants as Markie Brown, 44, of Bedford-Stuyvesant, Brooklyn; Darryl Currie, 49, of Oakland Gardens, Queens; and Craig Darby, 46, of Conway, South Carolina. The defendants have been variously charged with first-, second- and third-degree criminal sale of a firearm; first-, second- and third-degree criminal possession of a weapon; and fourth-degree conspiracy. They were arraigned before Brooklyn Supreme Court Justice William Harrington who set bail at $250,000 for Brown and $100,000 for Currie and ordered the defendants to return to court on May 20, 2019. Darby is awaiting extradition from South Carolina.
Currie and Dorian Cabrera, 47, of Rosedale, Queens were arraigned on a separate indictment in which they and Fred Chapman, 46, of Bedford-Stuyvesant, are variously charged with second- and fourth-degree conspiracy; second- and third-degree criminal sale of a controlled substance, and third-degree criminal possession of a controlled substance. Cabrera was ordered held on $25,000 bail and Chapman will be arraigned at a later date.
The District Attorney said the investigation began in June 2018, when an undercover detective allegedly purchased four handguns from defendant Brown in Brooklyn. The indictment alleges that an undercover detective purchased a total of 36 guns during 11 transactions, in the vicinity of Fulton Street and Broadway in East New York and, later, in the vicinity of DeKalb Avenue and Throop Avenue, in Bedford-Stuyvesant.
It is alleged that, as part of the conspiracy, Darby and Currie provided Brown with firearms that he then sold to the undercover detective. The weapons were allegedly purchased legally in South Carolina and brought to Brooklyn for resale.
The defendants allegedly sold a wide variety of firearms to the undercover, including: a Glock 9mm pistol, a Springfield Armory 9mm pistol, a Ruger .380 caliber pistol, a Taurus International .45 caliber pistol, a .40 caliber pistol, a Sig-Sauer .22 caliber pistol, a Ruger 9mm and others, as well as hundreds of rounds of ammunition.
Furthermore, the District Attorney said, it is alleged that defendant Chapman operated as the primary supplier of heroin to re-sellers who operated within Brooklyn and elsewhere. Chapman would allegedly travel to Brooklyn and elsewhere to deliver heroin to his re-sellers, including Cabrera, who then allegedly resold that heroin to Currie. Currie then allegedly sold the heroin to multiple individuals.
The investigation was conducted by New York City Police Department Detective William Reddin, with the assistance of Detective Charles Lovett, under the supervision of Sergeant Eric Francis, Sergeant Matthew Griffin, Lieutenant James Donovan, and Commanding Officer Captain Jonathan Korabel, under the supervision of Firearms Suppression Section Commanding Officer Deputy Inspector Brian Gill, and the overall supervision of Gun Violence Suppression Division Commanding Officer Inspector Richard Green.
The case is being prosecuted by Senior Assistant District Attorney Thomas Teplitsky and Assistant District Attorney Maria Paolillo, of the District Attorney’s Violent Criminal Enterprises Bureau, under the supervision of Assistant District Attorney Jonathan R. Sennett, Deputy Chief, and Assistant District Attorney Nicole Chavis, VCE Bureau Chief, under the overall supervision of Assistant District Attorney Patricia McNeill, Chief of District Attorney’s Investigations Division.
#
An indictment is an accusatory instrument and not proof of a defendant’s guilt.
Materials from the press conference can be accessed via this link:
https://brooklynda-my.sharepoint.com/:f:/g/personal/yanivo_brooklynda_org/ElGaWGDNoXVCnDu3uxTQxZUBzfQD5hWgH7QEibu363hHaQ?e=kNHsUH