MTA Conductor, 3 Others Busted In Brooklyn Gun Trafficking Ring

BROOKLYN, NY — An MTA subway conductor was among four people busted this week for a Brooklyn gun trafficking ring that sent authorities on a year-long undercover operation, prosecutors announced.

The ring, run out of a home in Brownsville, brought dozens of guns onto the streets of Brooklyn from South Carolina and Virginia, where two of the defendants are from, authorities said.

The takedown comes as New York City faces an ongoing surge in gun violence, which has hit Brooklyn, and Brownsville in particular, especially hard.

“This indictment is part of our multi-pronged approach to stem the surge in gun violence that we have seen in Brooklyn and throughout the entire city this year," Brooklyn District Attorney Eric Gonzalez said. "We are determined to work with the Police Department to focus specifically on the drivers of crime, including those responsible for the proliferation of firearms by bringing them to streets of Brooklyn."

Officers first caught onto the gun trafficking ring in October 2019, when they heard about its leader Montoun Hart, who was known as a "gun merchant" in Brownsville, according to the DA.

Over the next few months, two undercover cops would buy a total of 44 guns from Hart, who was among those charged this week. Through the meet-ups — which all happened within a block of Hart's house — investigators were able to pin down three of Hart's suppliers, who would send photos or details about the guns to Hart before he set up the sale, prosecutors said.

Those three suppliers — Vernal Douglas, Christopher Hodges and Ira Jones — were all charged in the 139-count indictment unveiled this week.

Douglas, who worked as a subway conductor and lived in Brooklyn, would bring Hart guns from South Carolina, where he has a house, prosecutors said.

The MTA said Thursday that Douglas joined the agency in 2017 and has since been removed from service.

"The indicted conductor is not in active service and will remain out until further notice," a spokesperson said. "The MTA has zero tolerance for conduct that facilitates crimes of violence, and fully cooperates with law enforcement investigations in such cases.”

The other two alleged suppliers would bring guns to New York from their home states, prosecutors said.

Hodges, who lives in South Carolina, would transport the guns on a Chinatown bus, prosectors said. He is still being sought by authorities.

Jones, who lives in Virginia, is waiting to be extradited. He also personally traveled to New York with the guns, including at least two assault weapons, prosectors said.

Hart and Douglas were arraigned this week in Brooklyn Supreme Court, prosectors said. Hart has been remanded and bail was set at $750,000 for Douglas.