Defendant Also Charged with Selling Cocaine Base and Fentanyl
At the federal courthouse in Brooklyn, a five-count indictment was unsealed charging Ariana Charles with conspiring to illegally traffic 18 firearms to Brooklyn. The defendant is charged under the gun trafficking provisions of the Bipartisan Safer Communities Act, which Congress and the President enacted in June 2022. The Act is the first federal statute specifically designed to target gun trafficking. Charles is also charged with three narcotics-related charges, including distribution of fentanyl and cocaine base, and a conspiracy to do the same. The defendant was arrested this morning and is scheduled to be arraigned this afternoon before United States Magistrate Judge Joseph A. Marutollo.
Breon Peace, United States Attorney for the Eastern District of New York, Frank A. Tarentino, III, Special Agent-in-Charge, Drug Enforcement Administration, New York Division (DEA), and Edward A. Caban, Commissioner, New York City Police Department (NYPD), announced the charges.
“As alleged, the defendant brazenly trafficked firearms and deadly drugs to the streets of Brooklyn, feeding the cycle of gun violence and drug abuse endangering our community,” stated United States Attorney Peace. “This Office will not relent in its efforts to keep the community safe by investigating and prosecuting those who seek to profit from the proliferation of guns and fentanyl which have destroyed so many lives.”
“DEA and our law enforcement partners work to stop the invasion of guns, drugs and violence that invade our neighborhoods causing unimaginable casualties along the way,” stated DEA Special Agent-in-Charge Taremtino. “This indictment reinforces our commitment to saving lives through comprehensive investigations at the behest of public safety and health. I commend the DEA New York Division, New York City Police Department and the U.S. Attorney’s Office Eastern District of New York for their work throughout this investigation.”
“This indictment underscores the destructive threat that illegal guns and drugs continue to pose on the streets of New York City, as well as our unwavering commitment to delivering public safety and improving quality of life in every community,” stated NYPD Commissioner Caban. “Together with our partners at the DEA and the office of the U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of New York, NYPD investigators remain dedicated to this critical mission.”
According to the indictment and court documents, Charles personally conducted firearms sales to an undercover member of law enforcement (the UC) in and around New York City Housing Authority’s Breukelen Houses which is located in Canarsie, Brooklyn. Transactions also took place outside apartment buildings and in shopping center parking lots in broad daylight. Several guns were purchased in Virginia and Georgia and transported to New York. The UC told Charles and her co-conspirators that he was a drug dealer who needed guns and that he was going to resell some of the guns and drugs that were provided to him. For example, messages between the UC and Charles show that the UC told Charles that he intended to “flip” the firearms Charles sold him so that he could resell them to others. One firearm sold had a defaced serial number, making it hard for law enforcement to trace. Charles also sold semi-automatic rifles.
In addition to firearm sales, Charles sold drugs, including crack cocaine and fentanyl. The fentanyl allegedly sold by the defendant was disguised as Oxycodone pills.
The charges in the indictment are allegations, and the defendant is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty. If convicted of the charges, Charles faces up to 20 years in prison.
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