Three Brooklyn residents, South Carolina man indicted for interstate firearms trafficking
39 Weapons Purchased During Course of Four-Month Investigation
Brooklyn Acting District Attorney Eric Gonzalez, together with New York City Police Commissioner James P. O’Neill, on Wednesday announced that four people — including two brothers — have been indicted for allegedly trafficking close to 40 firearms from South Carolina to Brooklyn and selling the weapons to an undercover officer over a four-month period in Cypress Hills.
Gonzalez said, “The majority of guns used in Brooklyn crimes are handguns trafficked into our communities from other states with notoriously lax gun laws. This case highlights our determination to aggressively combat gun violence and hold gun traffickers accountable. I commend the brave undercover officer and the dedicated prosecutors in my office who helped us bring this important case.”
Commissioner O’Neill said, “These are the types of cases that helped make 2016 the safest year in New York City history. The department purchased dozens of firearms in covert buys, preventing them from being used to commit violence across this city. It’s an example of the precision policing we discussed when we announced the city’s historic drop in crime and it’s exactly what we’ll continue doing to further reduce crime in 2017. I want to thank the officers in this case who made the gun purchases from the defendants and the Brooklyn district attorney’s whose work led to [the] indictments.”
The acting DA identified the defendants as Shawn Landrum, 40; Jamel Landrum, 38; and Ashley Finch, 22, of Cypress Hills. The defendants were variously charged with first-degree criminal sale of a firearm, second-degree criminal sale of a firearm, third-degree criminal sale of a firearm, second-degree criminal possession of a firearm, third-degree criminal possession of a weapon, criminal possession of a firearm and fourth-degree conspiracy. They were arraigned Wednesday before Brooklyn Supreme Court Justice Elizabeth Foley. Shawn and Jamel Landrum were ordered held on $500,000 bail and Finch was ordered held on $100,000 bail. A fourth defendant, Dondrell Cheeks, 27, of Spartanburg, South Carolina, has been arrested on charges of first-degree criminal sale of a firearm and fourth-degree conspiracy. He is presently detained in South Carolina pending extradition to Brooklyn.