Suffolk Men Charged With Trafficking Ghost Guns: Prosecutors

WEST BABYLON, NY — Two West Babylon men were part of a gun trafficking ring whose members ran mostly ghost guns into New York and Pennsylvania from different online retailers, state Attorney General Letitia James' office said Thursday.

James, who made the announcement with her Drug Enforcement Task Force, announced a 438-count indictment, charging three men, including Devon Smith-Martin, 26, and Fritz Pierre-Louis, 46, and Hakeem Solomon, 26, of Sumter, SC, in connection with the gun trafficking operation in which 47 firearms were sold.

The indictment accuses the three of trafficking numerous ghost guns, which are weapons without serial numbers or other identifiers, including assault weapons, machine guns, and semiautomatic pistols. The operation also sold rapid-fire modification devices, silencers, high-capacity magazines, and hundreds of rounds of ammunition, prosecutors said.

The investigation led to the recovery of 57 firearms, nearly all of which were ghost guns, according to prosecutors.

Smith-Martin and Fritz Pierre-Louis ordered ghost gun components and accessories from out-of-state online firearm retailers and would have them shipped to an address in Pennsylvania, prosecutors said, adding that Smith-Martin then "trafficked the firearm components and accessories to New York for assembly and sale."

"As a result of the interstate 'Polymer' pipeline trafficking, the investigation was named 'Operation Ghost Runner,'" prosecutors said.

The investigation into the ring led to the seizure of 57 illegal firearms, including hundreds of hours of physical and covert surveillance, court-authorized wiretapping of numerous target phones, and undercover operations, according to prosecutors.

The state's Organized Crime Task Force and partners executed search warrants Thursday at the homes of Smith-Martin’s and Pierre-Louis’s, as well as the Queens job site where Pierre-Louis works, prosecutors said.

Investigators seized three Polymer 80 9mm ghost guns, including one equipped with a rapid-fire modification device, and numerous high-capacity magazines, including ones designed for AR-15 assault rifles, according to prosecutors.

Silencers, firearm component parts, including AR-15 and 9mm lower receivers and upper receivers, threaded barrels, drill kits, Polymer 80 and AR-15 molds, assembly tools, pistol jigs, and additional ammunition were also seized, prosecutors said.

Smith-Martin acted as the main point of contact for the sale of firearms to an undercover officer and he would communicate with Pierre-Louis, who ordered ghost gun components and kits from various online firearm retailers and had the packages shipped to his home, as well as a home in Allentown, PA, according to prosecutors.

Working together with Pierre-Louis, Smith-Martin traveled to the Allentown home to get the packages containing the gun parts and other related accessories, prosecutors said, adding that Pierre-Louis would then assemble the ghost guns at both his home and his job.

Smith-Martin would then outfit several of the firearms with rapid-fire modification devices, which turned the guns into fully-automatic machine guns, prosecutors said. Smith-Martin also bought a few illegal, but serialized, guns from other people for resale, according to prosecutors.

Smith-Martin and Solomon also worked together to sell guns, prosecutors said.

Intercepted communications from Smith-Martin and Pierre-Louis often discussed how many finished guns they had available to sell, counting the tops and bottoms they had on hand, prosecutors said, explaining that tops referenced upper receivers, made up of the slide and barrel, and bottoms, lower receivers, or the frame comprised of the trigger and firing mechanisms.

Specialty firearms discussed included AR-15-style rifles, as well as the addition of rapid-fire modification devices, and often referred to as switches, which convert a semi-automatic firearm to fully-automatic, prosecutors said.

Discussions also included adding high-capacity magazines, or clips, with some having the capacity to hold 30, 50, or 100 rounds of ammunition, according to prosecutors.

The three were charged with various counts of criminal sale of a firearm, criminal sale of a ghost gun, criminal possession of a weapon, and conspiracy for their participation in the illegal gun trafficking operation.

James said she would not allow the state's streets "to be flooded with ghost guns, assault rifles, or other weapons of war.”

“Giving criminals easy access to illegal and untraceable guns is a threat to all New Yorkers and a danger that my office will not tolerate," she said. "High-capacity ammunition magazines and rapid-fire modification devices can easily turn firearms into mass-murder machines."

She credited law enforcement for its members' "support and coordination as we work to protect the safety and well-being of all New Yorkers.”

Smith-Martin and Pierre-Louis are being held on warrants, according to online court documents.

Smith-Martin's attorney, Kevin P. O'Donnell of Queens, could not be immediately reached for comment.

Pierre-Louis' attorney, Seth Koslow of Mineola, also could not be immediately reached.

Court information was not available for Solomon.

This story will be updated. Check back later.