Photo Courtesy of NYPD
Over the course of the investigation, undercover detectives purchased 26 pistols, two revolvers, two assault rifles, a shotgun, an inoperable blank pistol and more than 400 rounds of ammunition for just over $26,000.
By Forum Staff
Two Jamaica residents have been charged with selling multiple firearms—ranging from pistols to assault rifles and ammunition—to buyers that were undercover City Police Department detectives, Chief Assistant District Attorney John Ryan, on behalf of Queens DA Richard Brown, along with Police Commissioner Jim O’Neill, announced on Monday.
The buys were conducted between December 2017 and March 2019, Ryan noted.
Gerren Devlin, 34, and Kiearra Reynolds, 29, were recently arraigned on separate criminal complaints. Devlin is charged with first-, second- and third-degree criminal sale of a firearm and second-degree criminal possession of a weapon. Reynolds is charged with second-degree criminal possession of a weapon and third-degree criminal sale of a firearm. Devlin was ordered held on $500,000 bond/$250,000 cash bail and Reynolds was ordered held on $100,000 bond/$50,000 cash bail. Both defendants were ordered to return to court on April 29.
According to the charges, on Sept. 6, 2018, Reynolds allegedly sold three pistols and accompanying ammunition to a buyer for $2,800. Unbeknown to the seller, the buyer was an undercover detective.
According to the criminal complaints, between December 2017 and March 2019, Devlin on nine separate occasions allegedly sold numerous firearms to the “buyer” in exchange for thousands of dollars in cash. On Dec. 8, 2017, the undercover detective met with Devlin on Ferndale Avenue in Jamaica. Devlin allegedly sold a pistol, a magazine for that pistol, and ammunition for $600. On Feb. 25, Devlin is accused of selling the “buyer” six pistols, a revolver, assault rifle and ammunition for a total of $7,000. Over the course of the investigation, undercover detectives purchased 26 pistols, two revolvers, two assault rifles, a shotgun, an inoperable blank pistol and more than 400 rounds of ammunition for just over $26,000.
Late Thursday, a court-authorized search warrant was executed at a residence on 146th Street, where Reynolds and Devlin reside. Police allegedly recovered a box with 33 rounds of 9mm ammunition and three forged credit cards.
“Illegal guns in our communities put everyone at risk. Gun runners who profit off the sale of illegal firearms are dealers of death and mayhem and contribute to the senseless gun violence that too often infests our neighborhoods,” Ryan said. “Unbeknown to the defendants in this case, their buyers were undercover police and each transaction is now evidence that will be used to lock them away for a very long time. I want to thank the NYPD’s Firearm Suppression Section for their hard work in taking these dealers—and the guns—off our streets.”
If convicted, Devlin faces a maximum of up to 182 years in prison. Reynolds faces up to 22 years incarceration if convicted.
“Getting illegal firearms off the street is some of the most dangerous work in law enforcement, but it’s essential to keeping violent crime at the historically-low levels that we’ve achieved,” Commissioner O’Neill added.
