Separate Indictments Stem from Long-Term
Investigation that Exposed Multiple Criminal Schemes; Defendants Reside in New
York, South Carolina, Connecticut and Elsewhere
Acting Brooklyn District Attorney Eric Gonzalez, together
with New York City Police Commissioner James P. O’Neill, today announced that
19 defendants have been variously charged in three separate indictments for
allegedly selling 40 trafficked firearms, attempting to steal about $60,000
from bank accounts and possessing two illegal guns. The charges all stem from a
long-term investigation that relied on electronic surveillance and revealed
interconnected schemes and alliances between alleged gang members and their
associates.
Acting District Attorney Gonzalez said, “These
indictments are a testament of our resolve to continue going after firearm
traffickers, who endanger the safety of our communities for profit, and gang
members, who often fund their crimes through larceny and fraud. Gun runners and
those who aid them should be on notice that they are not safe from prosecution
just because they live out of state – we will arrest them and bring them to
Brooklyn to face justice.”
Commissioner O’Neill said, “At the heart of this
long-term investigation is the trafficking of illegal firearms from South
Carolina to New York City. Those guns—40 of them—would be on our streets if not
for the hard work of investigators. I want to thank our law enforcement
partners who continue to be focused, with us, on keeping this city safe and
whose work led to these 19 arrests.”
The Acting District Attorney said that three defendants
have been variously charged in a 140-count indictment with first- and second-degree
criminal sale of a firearm, fourth-degree conspiracy and related counts; 15
defendants have been variously charged in a 63-count indictment with
second-degree criminal possession of a forged instrument, second-degree
attempted grand larceny, third-degree grand larceny, fourth-degree conspiracy
and related counts; and four defendants have been variously charged in a
10-count indictment with second-degree criminal possession of a weapon,
fourth-degree conspiracy and related counts. (Three of the defendants are named
in two indictments; see defendant addendum). Fifteen defendants have been
arraigned over the past week before Brooklyn Supreme Court Justice Danny Chun.
Four defendants, who reside in Connecticut and Nassau County, are in custody in
those jurisdictions and will be arraigned at a later date.
The initial target of the investigation was Colin (“Rum”)
Toney, 27, of South Carolina. Between June 2015 and September 2016, on 19
occasions, Toney allegedly sold a total of 40 guns that were purchased in his
home state to an undercover NYPD detective in Brooklyn and Manhattan, according
to the indictment. On seven of these occasions, the defendant was accompanied
by his girlfriend, Dedra Shantel Wheeler, 21, of South Carolina, who, at times,
allegedly conducted the transactions with the undercover. On four occasions,
Toney was joined by Donte Smith, 25, also of South Carolina. Toney and Wheeler
face up to 25 years in prison and Smith faces up to 15 years in prison if
convicted of the top counts with which they are charged.
During the course of the investigation, detectives
learned of Toney’s past affiliation with a set of the Bloods gang based in New
York City and started to monitor communications of two alleged gang leaders:
Alixe (“Kash)” Charlot, 41, of Canarsie, Brooklyn, and Richard (“Gurilla”)
Michel, 36, of Flatbush, Brooklyn. Through them, the investigation exposed an
alleged larceny operation run by Julius (“Juju”) Salazar, 26, of Far Rockaway,
Queens.
As part of the charged scheme, according to the evidence,
between May and September of 2016, Salazar enlisted co-conspirators who paid
individuals to open bank accounts or provide information about existing
accounts. The account holders handed over all personal information associated
with their accounts, including dates of birth, Social Security numbers and
banking credentials. Salazar then allegedly arranged for either the deposit of
fraudulent checks or the completion of fraudulent wire transfers into the
accounts. The account holders were then instructed to quickly withdraw the
funds (before the banks could discover the bogus transactions) and the
co-conspirators split the proceeds.
The investigation found that the larceny operation used
accounts at Wells Fargo, Bank of America, JP Morgan Chase, Capital One and TD
Bank in four states: New York, Connecticut, Maryland and Georgia. The
defendants allegedly tried to steal approximately $60,000 from the banks and
succeeded in withdrawing at least $37,000. The defendants charged in this
indictment face up to seven years in prison if convicted of the top count with
which they are charged.
In the course of the investigation, intercepted
communications indicated that unidentified individuals contacted Charlot and
Michel on two occasions for the purpose of obtaining firearms from them. The
investigative team intervened both times and prevented the weapons from
reaching the streets of Brooklyn, according to the indictment.
On June 28, 2016, Michel called Titus (“LS”) Haynes, 34,
and Shyla (“Chyna”) Negron, 34, and told them that he needed to secure a gun
that they had, so that Michel could deliver the gun to Charlot. The next day,
Charlot drove to Harlem to meet Michel and pick up the gun. Around the same
time, a vehicle containing Michel, Haynes, and Negron was stopped, and the
loaded .380 caliber pistol was recovered from the vehicle. On August 9, 2016,
Charlot texted Michel, telling him he needed to pick up a firearm referred to
as “Becky.” On August 11, 2016, Charlot drove to Michel’s location in Flatbush
to pick up the gun. Michel brought the loaded gun from an apartment in Flatbush
to Charlot, whose vehicle was stopped a short time later. A loaded .357 caliber
revolver was recovered from the car Charlot was driving. All four defendants
face up to 15 years in prison if convicted of the top count with which they are
charged in this indictment.
The case was investigated by Detective Brian McSweeney,
with the assistance of Detective Frank Kolanovic of the New York City Police
Department’s Firearms Investigations Unit, under the supervision of Sergeant
Donald Morgan, Sergeant Alex Lago, Lieutenant Michael Jennings, Captain
Jonathan Korabel, Deputy Inspector Brian Gill and Captain Jonathan Korabel,
Commanding Officer of Firearms Investigation Unit, and the overall supervision
of Inspector Richard Green and Assistant Chief James Essig of the Gun Violence
Suppression Division.
The case is being prosecuted by Assistant District
Attorney Owen Sucoff of the District Attorney’s Violent Criminal Enterprises
Bureau with the assistance of Assistant District Attorney James Slattery, also
of VCE, under the supervision of Assistant District Attorney Tara Lenich,
Deputy Chief for Special Investigations, and Assistant District Attorney Nicole
Chavis, VCE Bureau Chief, and the overall supervision of Executive Assistant
District Attorney William E. Schaeffer, Chief of Investigations and Patricia
McNeill, Deputy Chief.
An
indictment is an accusatory instrument and not proof of a defendant’s guilt
