Final Defendant in Large-Scale Firearms Trafficking Ring in Brooklyn Sentenced to 63 Months in Prison

Earlier today, at the federal courthouse in Brooklyn, Calvin Tabron was sentenced by United States District Judge William F. Kuntz II to 63 months in prison for conspiring to traffic firearms.  Tabron acted as a straw purchaser for a gun trafficking ring that operated around the Breukelen Houses, a New York City Housing Authority development in Canarsie, Brooklyn.  Tabron pleaded guilty to the charge in March 2024. 

 Judge Kuntz previously sentenced Tabron’s three co-defendants who pleaded guilty to gun and narcotics trafficking charges: David Mccann was sentenced to 108 months’ imprisonment for conspiring to traffic firearms and fentanyl; Tajhai Jones was sentenced to 97 months’ imprisonment for conspiring to traffic firearms; and Raymond Minaya was sentenced to 135 months’ imprisonment for conspiring to traffic firearms and cocaine base.  The defendants were charged in January 2023 in the first case in New York to publicly charge the gun trafficking provisions of the Bipartisan Safer Communities Act.

 Joseph Nocella, Jr., United States Attorney for the Eastern District of New York; Frank A. Tarentino, III, Special Agent in Charge, Drug Enforcement Administration, New York Division (DEA); and Jessica S. Tisch, Commissioner, New York City Police Department (NYPD), announced the sentences.

 “The defendants’ convictions and sentences demonstrate our resolve to hold accountable those who flood the streets of Brooklyn with deadly weapons and drugs, feeding the cycles of gun violence and substance abuse,” stated United States Attorney Nocella.  “My Office will continue to vigorously enforce our laws by using the tools provided by Congress, such as the Bipartisan Safer Communities Act, to prosecute gun traffickers.” 

 “Today’s sentencing of Calvin Tabron is a direct result of the collaboration we have with our law enforcement partners in targeting those individuals who compromise the safety and security of our communities,” stated DEA New York Special Agent in Charge Tarentino.  “Mr. Tabron not only pushed fentanyl onto our streets, but chose to push and sell weapons as well, both which could have resulted in senseless and deadly consequences. Removing these individuals from our streets, saves lives.”

 “Today’s sentencing is the culmination of government at every level—local, state, and federal—working together to hold dangerous criminals accountable,” stated NYPD Commissioner Tisch.  “Calvin Tabron pumped illegal weapons, including untraceable ghost guns, and drugs into a Brooklyn community, putting countless lives at risk.  I thank all the NYPD investigators, the DEA, and the U.S. Attorney’s Office for their tireless efforts in this historic case.”

According to court filings, the defendants’ gun-trafficking operation involved the sale of at least 50 illegal firearms over multiple transactions in Brooklyn between January 2022 and August 2022.  The defendants conducted these firearms sales in broad daylight in a public park, in shopping center parking lots, in vehicles in and around the Breukelen Houses, across from a church, and blocks away from a preschool and grade school.  Tabron and Jones obtained firearms in Virginia and then transported them to New York to be sold on the streets of Brooklyn.  Some of the firearms sold by the defendants had defaced serial numbers or were made from ghost gun kits, making them harder for law enforcement to trace.  Mccann and Minaya also engaged in significant narcotics trafficking conspiracies, including a fentanyl distribution conspiracy that introduced thousands of lethal doses of fentanyl into the community.

Firearms sold in the conspiracy have also been linked to shootings in Brooklyn.  For example, on June 22, 2022, Minaya sold an undercover officer a Glock 30, .45 caliber handgun.  The investigation revealed 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.  In total, eight individuals were struck by gunfire.  Another gun trafficked by Minaya—a Glock 43, 9-millimeter caliber handgun—is linked to a December 18, 2021 shooting of an individual in Canarsie, in the blocks surrounding the Breukelen Houses complex.  That individual sustained multiple gunshot wounds to his body.

The government’s case is being handled by the Office’s General Crimes Division and supervised by the Office’s International Narcotics and Money Laundering Section.  Assistant United States Attorneys Adam Amir, Irisa Chen, and James R. Simmons are in charge of the prosecution.

The Defendant Sentenced Today:

CALVIN TABRON
Age: 27
Virginia Beach, Virginia

Defendants Previously Sentenced:

DAVID MCCANN
Age:  30
Brooklyn, New York

TAJHAI JONES
Age:  31
Portsmouth, Virginia

RAYMOND MINAYA
Age:  29
Brooklyn, New York

E.D.N.Y. Docket No. 23-CR-8 (WFK)