Four men pleaded guilty for their roles in operating a major Brooklyn gun and drug trafficking ring taken down by an inter-agency bust last year, the U.S Attorney for the Eastern District of New York announced Thursday.
David Mccann, of Brooklyn, and Calvin Tabron, of Virginia, pleaded guilty at the federal courthouse on Thursday, March 28, to conspiring to traffic firearms into the borough. Mccann, 29, also pleaded guilty to conspiring to distribute fentanyl before United States District Judge William F. Kuntz, II.
Co-defendants Raymond Minaya and Tajhai Jones pleaded guilty to conspiring to traffic firearms earlier this month. When sentenced, Mccann faces up to 40 years in prison, Minaya faces up to 20 years in prison, and Jones and Tabron each face up to 15 years in prison.
All four men were charged in January 2023 following an inter-agency investigation into gun and narcotics trafficking occurring largely in and near the Breukelen Public Housing complex in the Canarsie area. Between January and August in 2022, the defendants sold over 50 guns to NYPD undercover officers.
According to court filings, many of these guns were sold in broad daylight at family-friendly locations such as public parks, housing complexes and blocks away from a preschool and grade school. Prosecutors also found that a number of the guns sold to undercover cops could be traced to previous acts of gun violence in the borough.
“Today’s guilty pleas underscore the unwavering commitment of our investigators to disrupt the flow of illegal guns and deadly drugs coming into our communities,” said NYPD Commissioner Edward Caban. “I thank our colleagues at the DEA for their partnership, and I commend our NYPD undercover officer for their diligent work, performed under the most dangerous of circumstances. I also applaud everyone at the office of the U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of New York for delivering this prosecution to its righteous conclusion.”
Officials assert that two members of the gun-trafficking operation obtained the firearms in Virginia and then transported them to New York to be sold on the streets of Brooklyn. Some of the firearms the men sold had defaced serial numbers or were made from ghost gun kits, making them harder for law enforcement to trace.
The firearms sold in the conspiracy were also linked to several shootings in the borough. On June 22, 2022, a defendant sold an undercover officer a Glock 30, .45 caliber handgun. Investigators found that this gun was used in an August 21, 2021 shooting in Bedford-Stuyvesant during which armed perpetrators shot into a large crowd gathered for a family day celebration, injuring eight people.
Another gun trafficked by the men — a Glock 43, 9 millimeter caliber handgun— is linked to a Dec. 18, 2021 shooting of an individual in Canarsie, in the blocks surrounding the Breukelen Houses complex.
“With these guilty pleas, the defendants have admitted to bringing dozens of deadly weapons and dangerous drugs, including fentanyl, to the streets of Brooklyn,” stated United States Attorney Breon Peace. “This Office will vigorously use all tools available, such as Bipartisan Safer Communities Act, to ensure that no one is able to illegally feed the cycles of gun violence and drug abuse in our community.”
