Guns Bought In Port Chester Seized in New York Gun-Trafficking Crackdown

A gun-running operation by suspected members of the ‘Bloods’ street gang was busted by New York officials Wednesday who say that some of the nearly 100 guns seized were bought on the streets of Stamford by suspects who then rode Metro-North Railroad trains to bring the weapons to New York City.

New York Attorney General Eric T. Schneiderman and NYPD Police Commissioner William Bratton announced the arrests and indictments of nine alleged members and associates of the violent “Bloods” street gang on charges they operated a high-volume gun trafficking ring. One of the suspects is a Stamford man.

According to the 367-count felony indictment unsealed in Bronx Supreme Court on Wednesday, investigators seized 93 illegal guns. The weapons were allegedly purchased on New York City streets, but also in Port Chester, N.Y., Maine and Stamford for resale in New York City by ring members, officials said. Some of the guns bought in Port Chester, and Stamford were transported to the city on Metro North trains. The weapons were resold in New York City for several times their original price, officials said.

The investigation — dubbed “Operation Redrum” — based on the nickname of alleged ring leader William “Redrum” Soler, led to the arrests of gang members and associates who were charged with felony conspiracy and criminal possession and criminal sale of firearms counts. Soler also was charged with Conspiracy in the Second Degree, which carries a maximum sentence of 25 years in prison, for allegedly plotting to kill a rival gang member. If convicted, the lead defendants, Soler, Ronald Snyder Princesequan Hunter and Cadeim Beckford, face up to 25 years in prison on the top count of first-degree Criminal Sale of a Firearm. A tenth defendant, Erick Ransom, was indicted separately for the murder conspiracy. He also faces up to 25 years behind bars.

The investigation, led by the Attorney General’s Organized Crime Task Force and the NYPD’s Firearms Investigation Unit, began last summer. Among those indicted are alleged ring leaders Devon Fairburn, also known as “Burnz,” alleged to be the “GF,” which stands for Godfather, and William Soler, who goes by the names “Redrum” and “Wobbles,” and who allegedly together ran the East-coast faction of the Bloods known as “Redside.” The gang operates in the Bronx, Brooklyn, Queens, Westchester County, parts of Maine, and elsewhere, court papers maintain.

According to the papers, after an undercover detective, posing as a gun reseller, purchased guns directly from Soler, electronic surveillance began being used to monitor the ring’s activities. The surveillance showed that ring members communicated regularly, often sending each other text messages that included photographs of guns for sale. The undercover officer purchased 93 guns from the ring in 47 separate face-to-face transactions inside two Bronx apartments. Various other defendants participated in the sales, by providing guns for resale, transporting guns and negotiating prices.

Firearms sales charged in the indictment range from .22 caliber pistols to assault weapons. Approximately 11 of the guns seized had the serial numbers filed off, making the weapons untraceable. Investigators are in the process of tracing the other weapons.

The indictment unsealed Wednesday charges the following defendants:

• Devon “Burnz” Fairburn, 27, of Brooklyn
• William “Wobbles” Soler, 33, of the Bronx
• Ronald “Piff” Snyder, 25, Manhattan
• Princesequan “Saiko” Hunter, 29, of the Bronx
• Cadeim “Deim” Beckford, 20, of the Bronx
• Brett “Agony” Carroll, Stamford, CT
• Jordan Romeo, 20, of Binghamton
• Terrence “T-Bone” Gordon, 35, Rocky Point, NY
• Julio “Punn” Morales, 29, of the Bronx
• Erick “Pilz” Ransom, 26, of the Bronx

According to gang investigators, in 1993, a group on the East Coast created a gang known as the United Blood Nation. Born in the Rikers Island prison system, inmates created the group as a way to protect themselves from the Latin Kings, which was the most prevalent group in the jail system at that time.

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