GUN TRAFFICKER SENTENCED TO PRISON FOR SELLING 73 FIREARMS TO UNDERCOVER OFFICER

Defendant Brought Firearms from Tennessee By Bus; Weapons Included 59 Loaded Guns, 40 High-Capacity Magazines 

 Bronx District Attorney Darcel D. Clark today announced that a 23-year-old man has been sentenced to 10 years in prison for trafficking 73 weapons and high-capacity magazines to the Bronx and Manhattan, where they were sold to an undercover NYPD officer.

 District Attorney Clark said, “The defendant, who was a college student at the time in Tennessee, trafficked semi-automatic weapons and high-capacity magazines from the south to New York City. He brought some of the weapons in duffle bags by bus and then sold them to an undercover NYPD officer. The illegal influx of guns threatens the safety of Bronxites. I thank our partners at the NYPD for intercepting these guns before they ended up on our streets.”

 District Attorney Clark said the defendant, Shakor Rodriguez, 23, originally from the Bronx, who was attending Austin Peay State University in Clarksville, Tennessee at the time, was sentenced today by Bronx Supreme Court Justice Albert Lorenzo to 10 years in prison and 5 years of post-release supervision for first-degree Criminal Sale of Firearm, and received a 1 to 3 years indeterminate sentence for fourth-degree Conspiracy, to run concurrently. Rodriguez pleaded guilty to the charges on September 19, 2022.

 According to the investigation by the NYPD Firearms Investigations Unit and the Bronx District Attorney’s Violent Criminal Enterprise Bureau, dubbed “Operation Overnight Express,” Rodriguez, also known as “Sha,” trafficked 73 firearms to the Bronx and Manhattan and sold them to an undercover NYPD officer between July 17, 2020 and December 22, 2021. Of the 73 weapons sold were 59 loaded firearms. He also sold 40 high-capacity magazines, including multiple “drum” magazines. The officer typically paid between $1,000 and $1,500 per gun.

 Rodriguez sold most of the weapons near his former home in the vicinity of Weeks Avenue and Nelson Avenue in the Bronx, and multiple sales occurred on Allen Street in Manhattan. The investigation found the defendant transported guns in duffle bags and in some instances traveled with them by bus.

 District Attorney Clark thanked the NYPD’s Firearms Investigations Unit for their work in the investigation, specifically Detective Gustavo Medina, Sergeant Brian O’Hanlon, Lieutenant Michael Raso, Captain Jeffrey Heilig and Inspector Brian Gill.