Bronx District Attorney Darcel D. Clark announced on Friday, March 24, that two Bronx men were sentenced to prison for their roles in the illegal selling of multiple firearms and large capacity ammunition feeding devices to an undercover NYPD officer. According to the prosecution, the weapons included so called “ghost guns” and assault rifles, and two of the guns had been used in prior shootings.

 

Clark said in the context of the announcement, “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.”

The district attorney said the defendant, Dereck Velasquez, 30, last of 1077 Boston Road in Morrisania was sentenced on Friday to 11 years in prison and five years post-release supervision by Bronx Supreme Court Justice Albert Lorenzo. According to court filings, Velasquez pleaded guilty to first degree criminal sale of a firearm and fourth degree conspiracy on Jan. 31.

 

Meanwhile, according to court records, Eric Colvin, 26, last of 328 East 145th Street in the South Bronx, was sentenced also by Lorenzo on Jan. 23, to nine years in prison followed by five years of post-release supervision. He pleaded guilty to second-degree ccriminal sale of a firearm on Jan. 6.

Clark said Velasquez admitted to selling ten or more firearms to an undercover officer between Sept. 28, 2021 and Feb. 1, 2022. Meanwhile, she said Colvin admitted to selling five or more firearms to an undercover officer between Oct. 28, 2021 and Feb. 1, 2022. Both defendants were high-ranking members of the “Forest Over Everything” crew, which is affiliated with the Bloods gang, 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 of the borough. Investigators traced two of the firearms to shootings in The Bronx and Manhattan through ballistics evidence found at the scenes.

As reported, a Norwood man was convicted and sentenced in April 2022 for illegal possession of ghost guns, in May, Mayor Eric Adams called for the cancellation of the country’s largest ghost gun supplier and in August, four people were charged for interstate trafficking of ghost guns into Yonkers.

 

As reported, ghost guns are firearms for which the parts are purchased online and later assembled at home. As reported, Rep. Adriano Espaillat (NY-13) who represents parts of the west Bronx and northern Manhattan, introduced a bill in 2017 to regulate their proliferation in recent years but have since received increased attention, and were the subject of a meeting in New York last year with Mayor Eric Adams, the NYPD, and other officials during a visit by U.S. President Joe Biden.

 

Attached are some screenshots of the year-to-date and year-on-year, 28-day, major and other crime statistics in The Bronx as a whole, and specifically for the 46th, 50th, and 52nd Precincts as of March 19, including shootings and shooting victims.

The 46th Precinct covers the neighborhoods of Fordham, University Heights, Morris Heights and Mount Hope. The 50th Precinct covers the neighborhoods of Kingsbridge, Marble Hill, Spuyten Duyvil, Riverdale, and Fieldston. The 52nd Precinct covers the neighborhoods of Norwood, Bedford Park, Fordham, Kingsbridge, University Heights and Bronx Park.

 

In reference to falling crime statistics for February, Police Commissioner Keechant Sewell said in early March, “While it is early in the year, the crime statistics released today are encouraging as we saw significant reductions in major crimes across our streets, subways, and public housing developments in the month of February.”

 

She added, “The NYPD continues to improve off of our accomplishments in 2022, and I am proud of our members who continue to address crime wherever and whenever it occurs. We can never lose focus of our mission: fight crime, keep people safe, and work in partnership with the community. Our success stems from our officers and the people we serve working alongside one another to create a safer city for all. There is much more work to do, and we will continue to step forward together.”

As reported, on Tuesday, Jan. 24, on what would have been Angellyh Yambo’s 17th birthday, her family and friends gathered at her mausoleum in Woodlawn cemetery to mark the official launch of The Angellyh Yambo Foundation. Angellyh was a 16-year-old high school student with dreams of becoming a doctor when she was shot and killed in crossfire as she walked home from school with friends in Mott Haven on April 8, 2022.

 

One surviving victim was shot in the left leg and a third teen sustained a gunshot wound to the left buttocks. As reported, Angellyh was allegedly shot in the upper back in front 510 East 156th Street by a 17-year-old youth, Jeremiah Ryan, of The Bronx, during a verbal dispute between Jeremiah and two other men. He had been armed with a ghost gun and was later arrested. He is due back in court April 21.

 

Norwood News has asked the Bronx District Attorney’s office for details of which crimes the above-referenced, recovered ghost guns (sold to the police) were used, and will update this story upon receipt of any feedback we receive.

 

Angellyh’s family said through the foundation, among other aims, they hope to support anti-gun violence programs and provide support to gun violence victims. “We wish to turn our personal tragedy into something positive,” the family said in a press release at the time.

Following the passage into law in June 2022 of the the Bipartisan Safer Communities Act, hailed by the Biden administration as the most significant bipartisan gun safety legislation in nearly 30 years, U.S. President Joe Biden announced on Tuesday, March 14, new executive orders with the aim of building upon that law to help address the ongoing gun violence epidemic seen across the country.

 

The orders include requesting various federal department heads to each submit a report to the president describing what actions their respective agencies have taken to implement the act, data and analysis regarding the use and early effects of the act, and additional steps their respective agencies will take to maximize the benefits of the act.

The executive orders also include additional required agency actions to reduce gun violence such as, but not limited to, clarifying the definition of who is engaged in the business of dealing in firearms, and thus required to become federal firearms licensees (FFLs). This is in order to increase compliance with the federal background check requirement for firearm sales.

 

The orders also provide for specific federal heads of department to expand existing federal campaigns and other efforts to promote the safe storage of firearms, and to encourage the effective use of extreme risk protection orders (“red flag” laws) in partnership with law enforcement, health care providers, educators, and other community leaders.

 

The orders further require federal department heads to develop a proposal, to be submitted no later than Sept. 15, on how the federal government can better support the recovery, mental health, and other needs of survivors of gun violence, families of victims, first responders to incidents of gun violence, and communities affected by gun violence.

 

Other requirements cover the furthering of firearm and public safety practices through the U.S. Department of Defense’s acquisition of firearms, and the prompt entry of ballistics data recovered in connection with criminal investigations, the reduction of the loss or theft of firearms during shipments, including by engaging with carriers and shippers, analyzing how gun manufacturers market firearms to minors and how such manufacturers market firearms to civilians, including through the use of military imagery.

 

In 2022, landmark gun legislation was also either introduced or passed at nearly every other level of government in the wake of a series of  mass shootings, across the country, including in Buffalo, NY, but not without challenges to such laws by Republicans. On June 6, New York State passed a comprehensive 10-bill package closing critical gun law loopholes exposed in the Buffalo and Uvalde mass shootings. Legislation S.9458/A.10503 bars the purchase of semi-automatic rifles by anyone under 21 by requiring a license. Legislation S.9407-B/A.10497 prohibits the purchase of body armor with the exception of those in specified professions.

 

Legislation S.9113-A./A.10502 expands the list of people who can file Extreme Risk Protection Orders (ERPOs) and requires law enforcement to file ERPOs under a specified set of circumstances. The package also strengthens crime reporting; closing “other gun” loopholes; requires the microstamping of new semi-automatic pistols; eliminates grandfathering of high-capacity feeding devices; and requires social media companies to improve the response to and reporting of hateful content.

On June 8, federal legislators in the House of Representatives voted 223 to 204 in what has been called an unprecedented bipartisan bill, the “Protecting our Kids Act,” which, among other measures, if it passes in the U.S. Senate, will also raise the age to buy semi-automatic rifles from 18 to 21, and will restrict the sale of large-capacity ammunition magazines. It was received in the U.S. Senate on June 9, 2022.

 

Meanwhile, the latest Bronx illegal firearm and ammunition sale case was prosecuted by Assistant District Attorneys Edward Christian Uy of the violent criminal enterprise bureau and Joseph Russo of the human trafficking unit, under the supervision of Jonathan Abramovitz, director of Rikers Island violence reduction unit; Jose Arocho, deputy chief of the Rikers Island prosecution bureau, Ronald Sannicandro, deputy chief of the violent criminal enterprise bureau, and Newton Mendys, chief of the violent criminal enterprise bureau, and under the overall supervision of Denise Kodjo, deputy chief of the investigations division, and Wanda Perez-Maldonado, chief of the investigations division.

 

Clark thanked her crime strategies bureau, technical investigation bureau and video unit for their assistance in the case.

 

As reported, in October 2022, the NYPD announced proposed rules for obtaining a firearm license.

 

A person arrested and charged with a crime is deemed innocent unless and until convicted in a court of law.