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‘Iron Pipeline’ drug trafficker pleads guilty to illegally selling guns

May 12, 2017 By Paul Frangipane Special to the Brooklyn Daily Eagle
Marcus Gamble will face 10 years in prison for illegally selling guns. Photo courtesy of the Brooklyn District Attorney’s Office
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A 24-year-old Brooklyn native pleaded guilty Friday to first-degree criminal sale of firearms after he smuggled 33 guns from North Carolina to Brooklyn, officials said.

Marcus Gamble, who grew up in Brooklyn but had been living in Charlotte, North Carolina, decided not to take his chances and pleaded guilty to Judge Elizabeth Foley in Brooklyn Supreme Court, and accepted a deal that would give him 10 years in prison with five years’ post-release supervision once he is sentenced on June 26.

“Today’s guilty plea and promised lengthy sentence is further evidence of our commitment to fight the scourge of gun trafficking, particularly from southern states with lax gun laws, in an effort to keep these deadly weapons off of the streets of Brooklyn,” Acting Brooklyn District Attorney Eric Gonzalez said in a statement.

Gamble brought 33 guns, mostly pistols and revolvers up what is called the “iron pipeline,” a common route from the South to New York, a state with some of the strictest gun laws, that criminals use to transport guns from states with loose gun laws.

“This case is yet another clear example of how the lax gun laws and regulations in other areas of our country can directly impact the crime fighting efforts of New York,” Police Commissioner James O’Neill said in a January statement.” It is further evidence of the need for a greater level of control and accountability in connection with access to illegal firearms throughout our nation.”

President Donald Trump signed a bill into law on Feb. 25 easing gun restrictions, rolling back a regulation that made it more difficult for people with mental illnesses to purchase guns.

Gamble was arrested on Dec. 20, 2016 when he was waiting to sell guns to undercover police officers for the third time inside a Prospect-Lefferts Garden Golden Krust restaurant at 568 Flatbush Ave. Gamble sold 10 loaded guns to undercover officers on Dec. 5 and 15 guns on Dec. 13, for a total of $27,000.

“This defendant has now been held accountable and faces 10 years in a New York state prison for his actions,” Gonzalez said.

 

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