Brooklyn man gets 48 months for illegal arsenal, including ‘ghost guns’

October 12, 2021 Brooklyn Eagle Staff

The U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of New York, more informally known as Brooklyn Federal Court, in Downtown Brooklyn. Photo: Rob Abruzzese/Brooklyn Eagle

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On Tuesday, at the federal courthouse in Brooklyn, Gary Brown was sentenced by United States District Judge Eric R. Komitee, to 48 months’ imprisonment for being a convicted felon in possession of numerous firearms and ammunition. Brown pleaded guilty to the charge in April 2021.

Jacquelyn M. Kasulis, acting United States attorney for the Eastern District of New York, and John B. DeVito, special agent-in-charge, Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, New York Field Division, announced the sentence.

“As a result of the outstanding investigation conducted by agents of the ATF, the defendant has been brought to justice and his extensive collection of dangerous weapons and ammunition – including untraceable ghost guns –- no longer pose a threat to the safety of our community,” stated Acting United States Attorney Kasulis.

In July 2019, the Federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives began investigating the manufacture, distribution and possession of privately made firearms (“PMFs”), which are commonly referred to as “ghost guns.”

Through that investigation, law enforcement agents learned that Brown had purchased hundreds of rounds of ammunition, enough PMF parts to assemble at least fourteen separate firearms and a Ghost Gunner 2, which is a machine that can be used to assemble PMFs.

On Aug. 12, 2020, law enforcement executed a search of Brown’s residence in Brooklyn and found an arsenal of weapons, including traditional firearms, PMFs, numerous high-capacity magazines, including one 100-round magazine and multiple magazines with a capacity of 30 rounds or more and hundreds of rounds of

ammunition.

The firearms were strewn about the residence, where the defendant lived with his fiancé and toddler daughter, in unsecured bags and drawers.

A later search of a storage locker used by Brown also revealed a 12 gauge shotgun, additional PMF parts, hundreds of additional rounds of ammunition and a Ghost Gunner 2.

Brown was previously convicted in May 2009 of manslaughter stemming from a 2008 incident in which Brown threw a woman to the ground causing severe head trauma, and ultimately, her death.