D.A. Bragg & NYPD Commissioner Caban: Man Indicted For Manufacturing Ghost Guns In Harlem Apartment, Test-Firing Weapons In Central Park

 

Weapons and parts recovered from Guerrero’s Apartment 

Manhattan District Attorney Alvin L. Bragg, Jr., and New York City Police Commissioner Edward A. Caban announced the indictment of ROBERTO GUERRERO, 29, for manufacturing and possessing ghost guns and gun parts, including two fully operable 3D-printed assault weapons, inside of his apartment in Harlem. GUERRERO allegedly test-fired some of the guns in Central Park on several occasions. GUERRERO is charged in a New York State Supreme Court indictment with Criminal Possession of a Weapon in the Second Degree, Criminal Possession of a Weapon in the Third Degree, Manufacture, Transport, Disposition and Defacement of Weapons, and Criminal Possession of a Firearm, among other charges. [1] 

“As alleged, Roberto Guerrero threatened the safety of all New Yorker, including his own children, when he decided to manufacture and store 3D-printed weapons – some of which were fully operable – in his home,” said District Attorney Bragg.  “As the technology behind 3D weapons continues to improve, the guns being produced are only becoming more sophisticated. Gun violence remains our top priority and while I am pleased that shootings and homicides are down significantly since I took Office, we must remain diligent and leverage every tool at our disposal to tackle ghost guns and ultimately prevent gun violence.”      

“The NYPD does incredible work every day to identify, investigate, and arrest anyone who chooses to deal in the illegal gun trade, and this indictment proves that more needs to be done,” said NYPD Commissioner Caban. “This cache of weapons, including untraceable, 3D-printed ghost guns, had the potential to wreak horrendous carnage — as the defendant, himself, demonstrated several times on video. The NYPD will continue its critical efforts to keep all New Yorkers safe, and I thank our city, state, and federal law enforcement partners for their ongoing dedication to our shared public safety mission.”

This case stemmed from the Office’s Ghost Gun Initiatives’ long-term investigation, in partnership with the New York City Police Department (“NYPD”), New York State Police, the United States Postal Inspection Service (“USPIS”), the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (“ATF”), and Office of the Inspector General of the New York City Housing Authority (“NYCHA”).

According to court documents and statements made on the record in court, beginning in at least September 2023, GUERRERO created 3D-printed firearms and ordered firearm parts to his home.  

On March 20, 2024, at approximately 6:10 a.m., pursuant to a court-authorized search warrant on GUERRERO’s apartment, officers recovered a 3D-printed pistol with a magazine loaded with seven rounds of ammunition; a 3D-printed assault weapon-style pistol; 30 3D-printed pistol lower receivers; and a large capacity ammunition feeding device. One of the lower receivers was modeled off of a traditional AR-15 weapon. A 3D printer and other supplies to assemble weapons, such as filament and other tools, were also recovered. 

These firearms and components were unsecured and accessible inside of bags and cardboard boxes in GUERRERO’s residence. GUERRERO’s children were home at the time the search warrant was executed. His wife, who is separately charged in a Criminal Court complaint for allegedly assisting with the manufacturing operation, was also at home when the search warrant was conducted.   

GUERRRO also purchased and sold gun parts through several online retailers under various aliases. He would advertise his designs through self-produced videos. 

Furthermore, GUERRERO recorded videos of himself firing some of the weapons he constructed on five occasions in Central Park. For example, he fired two assault weapons with attached silencers on December 8, 2023, and February 20, 2024.

Weapons and parts recovered from Guerrero’s Apartment 

The Office has made cracking down on the proliferation of ghost guns a top priority. Earlier this year D.A. Bragg called on YouTube to take additional steps to stop the proliferation of videos on its platform that show how to make and manufacture ghost guns and 3D-printed guns, many of which are pushed towards young children and adults through its algorithm. The D.A. also proposed legislation to close loopholes in New York’s gun laws that would make it a felony to manufacture ghost guns and a misdemeanor to share, sell or distribute files containing blueprints for 3D-printed firearms components.

The D.A.’s Office, in partnership with the NYPD and other law enforcement partners, established the Ghost Guns Initiative in 2020 to crack down on the proliferation of ghost guns in New York City. To date, the Ghost Guns Initiative has prosecuted cases involving the seizure of over 134 ghost gun parts, 92 firearms, 443 high-capacity magazines, 47 silencers, and other gear including scopes and rapid-fire modification devices.  

Assistant D.A. Tyler Keefe is handling the prosecution of this case, with the assistance of Assistant D.A. Bonnie Seok (overseeing the Ghost Guns Initiative), under the supervision of Assistant D.A.s David Stuart (Chief of the Counterterrorism Unit), Mike Ohm (Chief of the Major Economic Crimes Bureau), Judy Salwen (Principal Deputy Chief of the Rackets Bureau), and Jodie Kane (Chief of the Rackets Bureau and Acting Chief of the Investigation Division). Trial Preparation Assistant Reva Kale (Rackets Bureau), Senior Computer Forensic Analyst Borislav Vestfrid (High Technology Analysis Unit), Cyber Response Investigator Marko Papic (High Technology Analysis Unit) and Steven Moran (Director of the High Technology Analysis Unit) are providing valuable assistance.

D.A. Bragg thanked the following members of the NYPD’s Major Case Field Intelligence Team: Detective John Uske, Detective Christopher Thomas, Detective John Shultz, Detective Michael Billotto, Detective Victor Cardona, and Detective Paul Molinaro, under the supervision of Sergeant Bogdan Tabor, Captain Christian Jara, and Inspector Courtney Nilan. D.A. Bragg also thanked the 28th Precinct’s Field Intelligence Team, as well as Inspector General Ralph Iannuzzi and Assistant Inspector General Robert Joyce of the Office of the Inspector General of NYCHA.  

D.A. Bragg: Christopher Villacis Sentenced To 20 Years-To-Life For Sexually Assaulting, Beating, Strangling Woman He Held Captive For Three Days

 

Manhattan District Attorney Alvin L. Bragg, Jr., announced the sentencing of CHRISTOPHER VILLACIS, 34, to 20 years-to-life in state prison for holding his former neighbor captive in his East Village apartment beginning on December 31, 2020, and repeatedly beating her, strangling her, and sexually assaulting her over the course of three days. VILLACIS was convicted by a New York State Supreme Court jury on February 9, 2024, of Kidnapping in the First Degree, Sexual Abuse in the First Degree, Strangulation in the Second Degree, and Assault in the Third Degree.

“Christopher Villacis inflicted terrible abuse on a woman who had come to him for help, suddenly turning an argument into three days of absolute torture,” said District Attorney Bragg. “I thank our prosecutors for their dedication to seeing justice done in this case. Most of all, I thank the survivor for taking the stand and recounting this unimaginably difficult experience. Despite his best attempts, the defendant was not able to take her dignity.”

As proven at trial, VILLACIS lived in the same East Village apartment building as the young woman for several years beginning in 2015. She briefly moved to California before returning to New York in November 2020 after a friend called and promised her a safe place to stay. When she landed at JFK, that friend did not answer or return her calls, and – without a place to stay – the survivor returned to her former building. VILLACIS, with whom she had had fleeting interactions in the past, found her in the laundry room and invited her to stay with him. After approximately two weeks, the survivor left, and eventually settled into a shelter in the Bronx.

On December 31, 2020, the survivor returned to the East Village apartment building to pick up her mail, extend New Years wishes to friends and acquaintances, and to speak with the defendant. Inside his apartment, their conversation turned into an argument about relationships and the VILLACIS’ views on women and feminism. When she decided to leave, VILLACIS blocked her from exiting and told her that she owed him money. She tried to leave multiple more times, but VILLACIS pinned her against the wall, hit her, and eventually strangled her until she lost consciousness.

Over the course of the next two nights and three days, the survivor was trapped at VILLACIS’ apartment. When she tried to leave again, he threatened to kill her while brandishing a long knife. He strangled her on multiple occasions to the point of loss of consciousness. He sexually assaulted her, beat her about her face and head, urinated on her, and shaved her head. He would not allow her to eat any food – even cutting up her benefits card – or bathe. 

Eventually the victim was able to leave the apartment by persuading the defendant that she would not call the police or tell anybody what had happened. He instructed her to clean his apartment and take out the trash. As she went to take the trash out, she threw it in the hallway, ran down the staircase, and out of the building where she used a bystander’s phone to call 911.

Justice Department Announces Achievements in Police Reform in Suffolk County, New York

 

The Justice Department announced that the Suffolk County Police Department (SCPD) has achieved sustained compliance with provisions of its settlement agreement with SCPD, including requirements concerning tracking and trending hate crimes and hate incidents, investigating allegations of police misconduct and development of policies and training. As a result, the department has terminated those provisions of the settlement agreement.

“The County and its Police Department have made significant progress towards ensuring that all Suffolk County residents benefit from constitutional policing,” said Assistant Attorney General Kristen Clarke of the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division. “The Police Department has improved the tracking of hate crimes, is strengthening the handling of internal affairs investigations and has improved the way it handles complaints of discriminatory policing.  This progress demonstrates that meaningful policing reform and change can be achieved through our work. The Justice Department is committed to collaboratively working with the community, Suffolk County officials and the police department to ensure constitutional, fair and nondiscriminatory policing for all County residents. Residents across Suffolk County deserve nothing less.”

“We are pleased to see the Suffolk County Police Department’s progress in fulfilling significant requirements of the police reform agreement to help ensure fair and equitable policing and make the County better and safer for its residents and visitors,” said U.S. Attorney Breon Peace for the Eastern District of New York. “By terminating the areas of the agreement where reform efforts have been successful, we can focus on the areas that require additional attention. We look forward to working together to help the Suffolk County Police Department successfully achieve the reforms required by the remaining areas of the agreement.”

SCPD has made substantial changes in reaching compliance with provisions of the police reform agreement that the Justice Department is terminating, including:

• SCPD provides annual training on responding to, investigating and charging hate crimes.
• SCPD implemented a mapping system to track and analyze hate crimes and hate incidents. These maps are available to the public on SCPD’s website.
• SCPD improved its systems for reporting allegations of discriminatory policing and accepting third-party complaints of discrimination.
• Members of the public can now submit complaints of bias to any part of the police department — the hate crimes unit, internal affairs, any officer and any precinct.
• SCPD improved the quality of internal affairs investigations. 
• SCPD now tracks civilian complaints and internal investigations by the nature of the allegation, the status of the investigation and how it resolved the investigation. This tracking allows SCPD to evaluate trends and identify patterns of problematic behavior.
• SCPD has developed and updated a number of policies, which are available on SCPD’s website in English and Spanish.

The Civil Rights Division and U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of New York entered an agreement with Suffolk County in January 2014 to ensure that SCPD provides fair and equitable policing services to all members of the Suffolk County community, including the Latino community.

In determining that SCPD has achieved and sustained full and effective compliance with significant portions of the agreement, the United States relied on its own independent evaluations of SCPD’s compliance.

Attorney General Merrick B. Garland Statement on the Extradition of Néstor Isidro Pérez Salas

 

The Justice Department issued the following statement from Attorney General Merrick B. Garland on the extradition of Néstor Isidro Pérez Salas, also known as “El Nini”:

“This morning, Néstor Isidro Pérez Salas, also known as ‘El Nini,’ was extradited to the United States. We allege El Nini was one of the Sinaloa Cartel’s lead sicarios, or assassins, and was responsible for the murder, torture, and kidnapping of rivals and witnesses who threatened the cartel’s criminal drug trafficking enterprise. We also allege El Nini was a part of the Sinaloa Cartel’s production and sale of fentanyl, including in the United States. I am grateful to our Mexican government counterparts for their extraordinary efforts in apprehending and extraditing El Nini. With this enforcement action, El Nini joins the growing list of cartel leaders and associates indicted in, and extradited to, the United States. The Justice Department will continue to go after the cartels responsible for flooding our communities with fentanyl and other drugs.”

NYCHCC Sponsors The 30th Annual Competitive Edge Conference

The Competitive Edge Conference is an annual event that connects minority-owned small businesses with agencies, providing them with the knowledge and opportunities they need to succeed. Since 1993, the Competitive Edge Conference has been the premier event for minority-owned businesses looking to grow, develop, and take their businesses to the next level.

Join us for the Competitive Edge Conference and discover the knowledge, resources, and opportunities that will help you take your business to the next level.

This is THE conference to attend for both participants and sponsors, and we look forward to seeing you there!

 

Memorial Day Remembrances at Peace Plaza and the Van Nest Memorial

 

Memorial Day Remembrances at Peace Plaza and the Van Nest Memorial

By Robert Press

With clouds overhead and a constant threat of rain at any time, the rain held off until the finishing speech of both the Peace Plaza and Van Nest Memorial Day Remembrances were over. In attendance were veterans, their families, community board members, union leaders, and community people who came out to remember those who gave their lives so there could be Memorial Day Remembrances, an other rallies no matter what they may be about. 

Peace Plaza is located on Williamsbridge Road at Pelham Parkway North, and the Van Nest War Memorial is located on White Plains Road and Van Nest Avenue. 

Former Marine Corp Corporal Joseph Ronda was the Emcee of the Peace Plaza Memorial Day Remembrance of those who served and died while in the armed forces. 

Bronx Commander Gene DeFrancis says a few words that Memorial Day is not a day to celebrate, but to remember those soldiers who did not come back from war, or those soldiers who have died not from war.

Mr. Ernest Shalini a local recording artist sang the National Anthem at Peace Plaza.

Assemblyman John Zaccaro Jr. says a few words at Peace Plaza.

Councilwoman Kristy Marmorato is with Vietnam Veteran Oscar Grant as she announces that she is spons

oring a bill in the City Council to honor those veterans who served in the Vietnam War, as they did not get any respect when then returned from the war. 

Flowers were placed on the monuments as taps was played and all salute their fallen comrades in arms. 

Councilwoman Marmorato, and Assemblyman Zaccaro with the veterans in attendence at Peace Plaza. 

At the Van Nest Memorial Day Remembrance there was a small parade through some streets in Van Nest to the Van Nest War Memorial.  

The Van Nest Memorial ceremony centered around Lt. Patrick Gallagher and Cpr. Richard Parker, both of the U.S. Marine Corps, as East Bronx Historian Richard Vitacco was the emcee at Van Nest. 

Councilwoman Kristy Marmorato speaks to the crowd at the Van Nest Memorial day Remembrance.

Councilwoman Marmorato with Veterans and Van Nest Neighborhood Alliance President Bernadette Ferrara, as plaques for Lt. Gallagher and Cpr. Parker are held.

News from State Senator Gustavo Rivera

 

SENATOR RIVERA'S HEALTH COMMITTEE PASSES 26 BILLS

This week, 26 bills passed the Senate Health Committee in the last meeting of the 2024 legislative session. Two of the bills that passed were Senator Rivera's Find Lead Pipes Faster Act and the Health Equity Stabilization and Transformation Act, which will reimburse essential safety-net hospitals at no less than regional average commercial rates for health care services based on geographic region

SENATOR RIVERA ATTENDS AMALGAMATED HOUSING COOPERATIVE MEET AND GREET

This week, Senator Rivera and fellow elected officials met with Amalgamated co-op owners at Vladek Hall to discuss the history of the cooperative and to answer questions regarding the complex future facing thousands of residents that reside at this housing cooperative. Thank you to Jack Spiegel and Andy Kimerling for the invitation.

SENATOR RIVERA JOINS

BEDFORD PARK CLEAN-UP

Senator Rivera joined community leaders and neighbors at the Bedford Mosholu Community Association's clean up. During the event, they cleaned up the streets and sidewalks, and removed graffiti from buildings. Thank you to Bedford Mosholu Community Association President Barbara Stronczer for putting together this event.

FRIDAY 5/31: VIRTUAL OFFICE HOURS WITH SENATOR RIVERA

6/3 THROUGH 6/9: NYCHA RE-OPENS WAITLIST FOR SECTION 8 PROGRAM

After 15 years, NYCHA will reopen its waitlist for its Section 8 Housing Voucher Program. Interested New Yorkers can learn more about Section 8 eligibility here: www.nyc.gov/site/nycha/section-8/applicants.page and can apply to join the waitlist online starting June 3rd at apply.section8.nycha.info.

FRIDAY 6/14: SENATOR RIVERA HOSTS FREE HOUSING AND IMMIGRATION ASSISTANCE WITH NMIC!

SENATOR RIVERA'S OFFICE PROVIDING FREE LIFE-SAVING NALOXONE SPRAY AND TESTING KITS

SUNDAY 6/9: CELEBRATE PRIDE AT THE RIVERDALE NEIGHBORHOOD HOUSE!

SATURDAY 6/15: CELEBRATE BRONX DAY AT NYBG!

On Saturday, June 15, join the New York Botanical Garden on Bronx Day for a celebration of Juneteenth with Bronx Borough President Vanessa L. Gibson. Visit the Garden from 10am to 6pm for a lively celebration of Juneteenth featuring music, dance performances, arts and crafts, food trucks, and so much more. 

NYBG is offering complimentary tickets for Bronx residents to visit on June 15. Distribution of tickets is on a first-requested, first-served basis. RSVP here.

Manager of Mexico-Based Drug Trafficking Organization Sentenced to More Than 20 Years in Prison for International Methamphetamine Trafficking and Money Laundering

 

A manager of a Mexico-based drug trafficking organization was sentenced to 21 years and 10 months in prison and ordered to forfeit $1,339,500 for his role in an international drug trafficking conspiracy.

According to court documents, beginning around May 2013 and continuing to at least December 2016, Gabriel Cerda-Guillen, 49, of Mexico, was a manager for a Mexico-based drug trafficking organization that served as a source of methamphetamine and marijuana supply for an Omaha, Nebraska-based distribution network. Specifically, from 2013 and through 2014, Cerda-Guillen imported marijuana and methamphetamine from Mexico into the United States and subsequently distributed those controlled substances to cities across the United States, including Omaha and the surrounding areas. During and in furtherance of the conspiracy, Cerda-Guillen participated in the shipment of an estimated 22 to 44 kilograms of methamphetamine and nearly one ton of marijuana. Cerda-Guillen imported drugs to Nebraska from Mexico with the expectation that members of local distribution networks would further distribute the drugs and remit the drug proceeds back to him after receiving payment. Cerda-Guillen provided drugs on credit or before payment was rendered, received reporting on the status of sales, and received drug proceeds through bulk cash transports or through established money laundering networks.

Cerda-Guillen pleaded guilty in December 2023 to a two-count indictment charging him with conspiracy to distribute and possess with intent to distribute 500 grams or more of methamphetamine and 100 kilograms or more of marijuana and conspiracy to conduct and attempt to conduct financial transactions, affecting interstate and foreign commerce, which involved proceeds of a specified unlawful activity. 

Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney General Nicole M. Argentieri, head of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division; U.S. Attorney Susan T. Lehr for the District of Nebraska; Assistant Director Michael Nordwall of the FBI’s Criminal Investigative Division; Special Agent in Charge Eugene Kowel of the FBI Omaha Field Office; and Special Agent in Charge Thomas F. Murdock of IRS Criminal Investigation (IRS-CI) St. Louis Field Office made the announcement.

This investigation is supported by the Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Forces (OCDETF).

The FBI Omaha Field Office and IRS-CI St. Louis Field Office investigated the case.

Trial Attorneys Robert Sainvil and Douglas Meisel of the Criminal Division’s Narcotic and Dangerous Drug Section and Assistant U.S. Attorney Matthew Molsen for the District of Nebraska prosecuted the case.

The Justice Department’s Office of International Affairs and Office of Enforcement Operations provided significant assistance.