South Carolina Criminal Lawyer Blog

Eight NYPD officers and one New Jersey corrections officer were arrested because they were running a gun-smuggling ring that trafficked more than $1 million in illegal weapons and stolen goods. The officers arrested include five active-duty officers assigned to Brooklyn and three retired NYPD officers. They were picked up by FBI agents and NYPD Internal Affairs investigators early Tuesday. The criminal complaint accuses several officers of smuggling M-16 rifles and weapons that had their serial numbers removed. Just last month, three of the officers smuggled the firearms from New Jersey to New York.

Of those arrested, several were accused of illegaly transporting other stolen goods such as machine guns, cigarettes and slot machines. 12 people have been charged with federal conspiracy counts which will be formally announced later this week. The arrests on Tuesday were based on charges that include conspiracy to transport firearms across state lines, conspiracy to transport defaced firearms across state lines, conspiracy to sell firearms across state lines and conspiracy to transport and receive stolen property across state lines. The alleged NYPD corruption arrests come as other officers could also be charged this week in a separate ticket-fixing investigation headed by the Bronx District Attorney's office. Officials have said more than a dozen NYPD officers could face charges, including some police union delegates.

In recent weeks, testimony at the trial of narcotics detective has featured accusations that he and his colleagues in Brooklyn and Queens planted drugs or lied under oath to meet arrest quotas and earn overtime, leading to the arrests of eight officers, the dismissal of hundreds of drug cases because of their destroyed credibility and the payout of more than $1 million in taxpayer funds to settle false arrest lawsuits. This gun-smuggling case did not begin as a sting, according to the four-count criminal complaint unsealed in the case, and indeed one of the officers, along with two co-defendants, sold a shotgun to an undercover F.B.I. agent. But as the investigation continued, it became a sting operation, with the undercover agent selling inoperable weapons, including the M-4 assault rifle, to the defendants. The defendants are expected to be arraigned today in United States District Court in Manhattan.

These people will need an experienced federal criminal lawyer to help them with their case. If you or someone you know is facing federal criminal charges, call one of our South Carolina federal criminal lawyers. Our criminal defense lawyers at The Mace Firm would like to speak with you about your case.