A mechanic at LaGuardia Airport was arrested and criminally charged with weapons possession and other related crimes after a cache of ghost guns and the accouterments needed to assemble the illegal firearms, were found at his Queens Village home after law enforcement executed a court-ordered search warrant on Jan. 15.
Jonathan Diaz, 37, of Hillside Avenue, was arraigned in Queens Criminal Court a day after he was taken into custody after the multi-agency search of his premises, Queens District Attorney General Melinda Katz announced on Friday.
According to the charges, the NYPD Financial Crimes Task Force, Homeland Securities Investigations New York, New York State Police, and the Queens District Attorney’s Office Detective Bureau conducted a long-term investigation into the purchase of unserialized firearm components by Diaz, which were used to assemble two Glock 19-style semiautomatic ghost gun pistols, a Glock 17-style semiautomatic pistol, and a Glock 43X-style semiautomatic ghost gun pistol.
The illegal firearms were recovered along with a 3D printer, 14 spools of PLA filament, which is used in the 3D printing of ghost guns, eight unserialized 3D-printed Glock-style lower receivers, and nine rounds of 9 mm ammunition.
Diaz was inside his home at 214-01 Hillside Avenue, two blocks south of the Grand Central Parkway, when law enforcement arrived and was told police were there to serve a search warrant for firearms and other related items.
“It’s just a hobby, 3D printing,” Diaz said, according to the criminal complaint. “They’re over there in the top drawer,” while he gestured his head towards a computer desk. The illegal firearms were then recovered from a filing cabinet located beneath his computer desk. His electronic devices and his computer were also seized.
Diaz was arraigned before Queens Criminal Court Judge Michael Gaffey on a complaint charging him with 21 counts of weapons possession in varying degrees and unlawful possession of pistol or revolver ammunition.
“This defendant, according to the complaint, amassed a collection of ghost guns and parts in his Queens home,” Katz said. “Working with our partners at the NYPD Financial Crimes Task Force, New York State Police, Homeland Security Investigations New York, Port Authority Police Department, [and] Nassau County Sheriff’s Department, we are committed to finding and removing illegal homemade weapons from our communities.”
Since August 2021, the DA’s Crime Strategies & Intelligence Bureau has conducted investigations that have led to the seizure of 453 firearms, including 294 ghost guns, as well as 1,190 high-capacity magazines, 338 additional firearms lower receivers, 13 3D printers and more than 140,500 rounds of ammunition. In 2024, Queens had the most ghost gun recoveries in New York City for the fourth year in a row.
“We will continue to investigate the assembly and sale of these untraceable firearms to get an upper hand in our fight against gun violence,” Katz said.
Diaz is being held on $150,000 bail. He faces up to 15 years in prison if convicted.
