NASHVILLE, Tenn. — The New York Police Department said three Tennesseans and a Manhattan doorman have been charged in a 141-count New York State Supreme Court indictment over guns that were illegally trafficked from Tennessee and sold in the city.
Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus Vance and NYPD Commissioner Dermot Shea said 51-year-old Roberto Carmona was caught selling multiple weapons outside the West 55th Street building where he worked as a doorman.
Between January and September 2021, police said Carmona sold a total of 80 guns, including 63 semi-automatic pistols, 11 revolvers, two assault rifles, two rifles one sawed-off shotgun, one shotgun and corresponding ammunition to an undercover detective. Prices ranged from $500 to $3,700 per firearm, and detectives said the doorman stored the ammo in his locker in the building's basement.
Police said 15 of the sales took place near Carmona's home in Morningside Heights and at the West 55th Street building.
Investigators later tracked the guns' origins back to Tennessee, saying three Tennesseans had worked together to sell guns they bought in Tennessee to Carmona through text messages and phone calls. Those suspects were identified as 51-year-old Harold Floran from Fayetteville, 30-year-old Alan Goode from Huntland, and 41-year-old Melvyn McDonald from Fayetteville.
Detectives said Goode and McDonald purchased the guns in Tennessee and then sold them to Floran. Floran would then meet Carmona in Virginia or New Jersey to exchange the weapons in their personal cars, but on one occasion the NYPD said Floran used a U-Haul.
Police said the guns were typically bought at gun stores, but some were purchased online through a classified ad website that serves as a platform for people to buy and sell weapons and accessories in private transactions.
The DA criticized Tennessee and other Southern states for having "non-existent" gun laws, arguing New York needs to increase penalties for people caught illegally trafficking guns into the state.
“Not even a global pandemic can stop the flow of guns from Southern states into our City," Vance said. "We can wait a lifetime for states like Tennessee to strengthen their nonexistent gun laws, or we can raise the stakes for trafficking in New York."
Vance said since 2016 he has pushed for a "Gun Kingpin" bill to establish a new prosecutable criminal charge in the city: operating as a major firearms trafficker. Vance said his proposal is to make that charge carry a penalty of up to 25 years to life in prison for selling 20 or more firearms in a year.
Floran faces four class B felony counts, two class C felony counts, and 68 class D felony counts for criminal sale of a firearm, and one class E felony of conspiracy in the fourth degree.
Goode faces a total of 22 felony counts of criminal sale of a firearm, and one county of conspiracy in the fourth degree. McDonald faces 26 felony counts of criminal sale of a firearm and one count of conspiracy in the fourth degree.
Carmona is facing 83 counts of criminal sale of a firearm, 55 felony counts of criminal possession of a weapon, and one count of conspiracy in the fourth degree.
Since its creation in 2010, Vance said the Manhattan District's Violent Criminal Enterprises Unit has combatted gun and gang violence in New York, removing 1,800 illegal guns and bringing 42 indictments against 123 gun traffickers operating between New York City, Virginia, North and South Carolina, Georgia, Ohio, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, and Tennessee.