Robert Alcántara was sentenced yesterday in New York to almost six years in prison after pleading guilty to trafficking more than 100 “ghost guns” to the Dominican Republic.
Alcantara, a 36-year-old Rhode Island resident, pleaded guilty in August to conspiring to trafficking firearms and laundering money. The export of homemade pistols and rifles to the Caribbean made them from 2017 to last year, then laundering the high profits he obtained. He assembled the weapons with parts that he bought at specialized fairs, he explained. Daily News.
In addition to a prison sentence of 68 months, Manhattan Federal Court Judge Vernon Broderick also imposed three years of supervised release in the Alcántara ruling.
“He trafficked more than 100 Untraceable ghost guns to Dominican Republic. “The proliferation of illegal ghost guns is a threat to public safety, and our response is clear: we will not let up,” said Manhattan U.S. Attorney Damian Williams. it’s a statement.
“Mr. Alcántara accepted his responsibility and the judge reviewed the facts and sentenced him correctly,” said his lawyer, Ana Davide.
Police became aware of his crimes in November 2021, when they detained Alcantara with equipment to build 45 ghost guns. At that time he told agents that he planned to use them to prepare weapons, but denied that he was selling them.
The ghost gun enthusiast even He posted footage of himself on YouTube shooting a DIY Glock in 2019. In the video he shows a homemade 9mm Glock, loading it with an extended clip before opening fire. “Everything works. No problem. Very nice,” she says in the images, speaking in English.
His cell phone included a picture of suitcases full of cash and weapons at a port in the Dominican Republic.
The proliferation of manufacturing and distribution of fully functional polymer pistols, which anyone can make at home with the right tools, is of deep concern to authorities: They are called “ghost guns” because they cannot be traced without serial numbers and can be purchased without undergoing a background check.
According to the Department of Justice (DOJ), Between 2016 and 2020, law enforcement recovered more than 23,000 weapons without serial numbers at possible crime scenes, including 325 cases of homicide or attempted homicide.
It has been suspected for years that many of the weapons involved in crimes are brought to New York from other states with less severe laws.
2023-12-22 13:19:00
#Hispanic #trafficked
