TWO BRONX MEN SENTENCED FOR SELLING FIREARMS TO UNDERCOVER OFFICER

 

Weapons Included Ghost Guns and Assault Rifles; Two of the Guns Had Been Used on Shootings 

 Bronx District Attorney Darcel D. Clark announced that two Bronx men have been sentenced to prison for their roles in selling multiple firearms and large capacity ammunition feeding devices to an undercover NYPD officer.

 District Attorney Clark said, “The community is safer thanks to the undercover officer who stopped the recycling of these weapons. Two of the recovered guns had been used in shootings in the Bronx and Manhattan. Getting these guns, which were sold in broad daylight, off our streets is a huge feat and sending the gun sellers to prison sends the right message that gun violence has to stop.”

 District Attorney Clark said the defendant, Dereck Velasquez, 30, last of 1077 Boston Road, was sentenced today to 11 years in prison and five years post-release supervision by Bronx Supreme Court Justice Albert Lorenzo. He pleaded guilty to first degree Criminal Sale of a Firearm and fourth degree Conspiracy on January 31, 2023.

 Eric Colvin, 26, last of 328 East 145th Street, was sentenced on January 23, 2023, to nine years in prison followed by five years of post-release supervision by Bronx Supreme Court Justice Albert Lorenzo. He pleaded guilty to second-degree Criminal Sale of a Firearm on January 6, 2023.

 Velasquez admitted to selling ten or more firearms to an undercover officer between September 28, 2021, and February 1, 2022. Colvin admitted to selling five or more firearms to an undercover officer between October 28th, 2021, and February 1, 2022. Both defendants were high-ranking members of the Forest Over Everything crew, affiliated with the Bloods, and were charged with conspiring to sell a total of 33 firearms to an undercover police officer.

 According to the investigation, most of the weapons were sold in the Bronx on Tinton Avenue, East 163rd Street and other streets near the Forest Houses in the Morrisania section.

 Investigators traced two of the firearms to shootings in the Bronx and Manhattan through ballistics evidence found at the scenes.

 District Attorney Clark thanked her Crime Strategies Bureau, Technical Investigation Bureau and Video Unit for their assistance in the case.