Rhode Island Man Sentenced To 68 Months In Prison For Trafficking Over One Hundred “Ghost Guns” To The Dominican Republic

Damian Williams, the United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, announced that ROBERT ALCANTARA was sentenced today by U.S. District Judge Vernon S. Broderick to 68 months in prison for trafficking firearms.  ALCANTARA previously pled guilty to conspiring to traffic firearms and conspiring to launder money.

U.S. Attorney Damian Williams said: “Robert Alcantara alone trafficked over 100 untraceable ghost guns to the Dominican Republic.  The proliferation of unlawful ghost guns is a threat to public safety, and our response is clear: we will not let up.”

According to the charging documents and other filings and statements made in court:

From approximately 2017 until January 2022, ALCANTARA operated a “ghost gun” factory out of his home in Rhode Island.  ALCANTARA purchased ghost gun kits at gun shows and other places and then machined the kits into working firearms.  Once he had completed the untraceable firearms, he exported and sold them to the Dominican Republic.  Most of those guns were handguns, but a number were rifles.  ALCANTARA and others then laundered the proceeds of his gun sales.

On November 20, 2021, ALCANTARA was stopped in his vehicle in possession of kits to build approximately 45 ghost guns. 

ALCANTARA was interviewed by law enforcement agents and stated that he was planning to turn the 45 kits into working firearms, and he had 50 additional similar ghost guns at his home.  A photograph of the 45 ghost gun kits is below:

Below are photographs of ALCANTARA’s home ghost gun factory:

Below are photos ALCANTARA sent of firearms he had available for sale in the Dominican Republic:

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In addition to the prison term, ROBERT ALCANTARA, 36, of Providence, Rhode Island was sentenced to three years of supervised release.

Mr. Williams praised the outstanding investigative work of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives and the Department of Commerce’s Office of Export Enforcement, New York Field Office.  Mr. Williams also thanked the New York City Police Department, the New York State Police Department, the Providence Police Department, and the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Rhode Island for their assistance in the case.

The case is being handled by the Office’s Narcotics Unit.  Assistant U.S. Attorney Kevin Mead is in charge of the prosecution.