Bronx District Attorney Darcel D. Clark today announced that a Bronx man has been
sentenced to 10 years in prison for selling over a dozen firearms to an undercover NYPD detective
in the Bronx.
District Attorney Clark said, “The defendant had in his possession multiple weapons that
could have been used to injure or kill people in the Bronx. Throughout several occasions, the
defendant sold the firearms to a brave, undercover NYPD Detective who was acting as a buyer.
The defendant will now spend years in prison for promoting illegal guns in our communities.
Public safety is a priority and my Office will continue to work to prosecute and hold
accountable anyone who sells, possesses or shoots guns on Bronx streets.”
District Attorney Clark said the defendant, Frankie Esperanza, 35, of 2816 Schley
Avenue, was sentenced to 10 years in prison and five years’ post-release supervision today by
Bronx Supreme Court Justice Robert Neary. The defendant pleaded guilty to first-degree
Criminal Sale of a Firearm on October 2, 2019.
According to the investigation, Esperanza sold 14 firearms to an undercover NYPD detective
on eight separate occasions between August 8, 2018 and January 28, 2019, at several locations in
the Throgs Neck area of the Bronx. Among the weapons the defendant sold to the undercover
detective were revolvers, pistols, two semi-automatic rifles, a high-capacity magazine and
ammunition.
District Attorney Clark also thanked NYPD Deputy Inspector Brian V. Gill, Commanding
Officer of the Firearms Suppression Section; NYPD Captain Jonathan P. Korbell, Commanding
Officer; NYPD Detective Jonathan Jordan and Detective Dennis Kenefick, all of the Firearms
Investigation Unit, and NYPD Detective Douglas Lansing of the Drug Enforcement Task Force,
formerly of the Firearms Investigation Unit, for their assistance in the investigation.
