A Southeast Queens gun trafficking crew was taken down, and nearly 200 firearms, including 11 assault weapons, were recovered, New York Attorney General Letitia James announced Friday.
The 579-count indictment charges Deundre Wright, 32, of Jamaica, and Abner Sparkes, 31, and Ethan Charles, 22, both from Cambria Heights, with trafficking and selling numerous assault weapons, semi-automatic pistols, revolvers, high-capacity magazines and hundreds of rounds of ammunition.
A multi-agency investigation led by the Office of the Attorney General (OAG) recovered 184 firearms from the operation, which transported weapons from Goldsboro, North Carolina, to Queens, where they were sold. If convicted, the three defendants face maximum sentences of 25 years in prison.
“The majority of gun crimes in New York City are illegally trafficked from other states with lax gun laws along the Iron Pipeline and are fueling deadly gun violence in our communities,” James said. “This investigation shut down a major gun trafficking operation that brought a flood of dangerous weapons, including assault weapons, from North Carolina into New York City in just a few months.”
The investigation revealed that from March to July 2024, Deundre Wright was responsible for sourcing firearms in North Carolina and trafficking them to Queens, where they were sold. Wright would travel by bus from Chinatown in Manhattan to North Carolina and back, storing the firearms in luggage during the trips. After transporting the guns to New York, Wright stored them at friends’ homes in Jamaica, including in cars parked at the homes.
Wright would set the prices for the firearms, ranging from $1,000 to $2,500 per gun, and provide them to Abner Sparkes, who would meet a customer for sales at 115th Road and 222nd Street in Cambria Heights. Sparkes would meet the customer in a car, conduct the sale and then bring the cash to Wright, who was parked nearby monitoring each transaction.
On Aug. 8, 2024, investigators detained Wright and Charles in Manhattan while they were exiting a bus carrying suitcases and other luggage. Investigators seized 41 firearms, including four shotguns and an inoperable rocket-propelled grenade launcher, from their luggage.
The 579-count indictment was unsealed in Queens Supreme Court, charging the three defendants with multiple crimes, including criminal sale of a firearm in the first degree, criminal possession of a weapon in the first degree and other related crimes.
“I will continue to use every tool at my disposal to keep New Yorkers safe and get illegal guns off our streets,” James said. “I thank our partners in this investigation for their work to stop gun violence.”
James thanked the members of the DEA New York Stikeforce and the NYPD’s DEA Firearms Task Force Officers, as well as the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, the Queens District Attorney’s Office and the Goldsboro Police Department in North Carolina, the Wayne County Sheriff’s Office and the North Carolina State Bureau of Investigations for their participation and assistance during the investigation.
“Today’s charges are a stark reminder that high-powered, illegal firearms continue to proliferate and circulate in our communities, and the NYPD investigators and our law enforcement partners are doing the dangerous work of preventing them from getting into criminals’ hands on the street,” NYPD Interim Commissioner Thomas Donlon said. “Disrupting and dismantling gun trafficking networks is a top priority for our city. I thank everyone at [the] Office of the Attorney General and all of our local, state and federal partners for their hard work on this important case and for their ongoing commitment to our shared public safety mission.”
Wright, Sparkes and Charles were also charged with criminal sale of a firearm in the first degree and criminal possession of a firearm in the first degree, which are both class B felonies. If convicted of one count of either of these crimes, the defendant faces a maximum of 25 years in prison.
“Often times we see drug and gun violence go hand in hand,” DEA New York Division Special Agent in Charge Frank Tarentino said. “The removal of over 150 firearms, which includes numerous assault weapons and semiautomatic pistols, just made the streets of New York City and our neighborhoods safer. The DEA remains committed to protecting our communities, reducing gun violence and enhancing public safety.”
