Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg on Thursday indicted 18 people, many of them city employees, for allegedly building ghost guns with 3D printers, defrauding Pandemic Unemployment Assistance programs and ultimately breaking into homes. It was announced that.
Prosecutors told reporters at a press conference that the investigation started with a ghost gun, but led to the discovery of fraud and robbery.
“As suspected, the bust of a sophisticated ghost gun manufacturing operation revealed an extensive scheme involving large-scale fraud and a planned robbery,” Bragg said. “These alleged schemes were orchestrated and primarily operated by city employees, many of whom abused their positions of public trust for personal gain.”
The charges stem from a 2002 investigation into a ghost gun factory in Cliffie Thompson’s East Village apartment. Thompson was indicted in January 2023 after two additional ghost gun charges were discovered as a result of the ongoing investigation.
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Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg (Lev Radin / Pacific Press / LightRocket via Getty Images / File)
One of the charges led to an investigation into 56-year-old Craig Freeman and “Co-conspirator 1,” who was not named pending arraignment.
Both suspects worked as Department of Homeless Services (DHS) employees at the Barbara Kleiman Shelter in Brooklyn.
Freeman and his co-conspirators are charged with fourth-degree conspiracy for allegedly purchasing ghost gun parts and manufacturing weapons between May 14, 2022 and January 13, 2023.
The co-conspirators allegedly shared 3D printing files, templates, and links with Freeman so they could manufacture the weapons. Bragg said some of the templates were titled “9mm Bullet,” “Glock Auto Switch,” “Magazine Body,” and “Right Side Frame.”
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Manhattan Attorney General Bragg announced four indictments in 2022 stemming from the ghost gun investigation. (DA Bragg’s office)
A Glock switch is a part that is printed using a 3D printer and inserted into a semi-automatic gun to turn it into an automatic pistol.
Co-conspirator 1 and Adrian Manigault, 25, are charged with fourth-degree conspiracy for allegedly purchasing ghost gun parts and manufacturing weapons from May 14, 2022 to January 21, 2023.
The defendants allegedly purchased hundreds of dollars worth of 3D printing machines, materials, and ghost gun parts.
Bragg’s office said Manigault and his co-conspirators texted each other links about where to buy parts and materials, and frequently shared photos and videos of finished products.
Manigault was also charged with tampering with physical evidence for allegedly helping investigators destroy evidence before executing a search warrant.
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A ghost gun is on display in New York State Attorney General Letitia James’ office in Manhattan. (Luis C. Ribeiro Archive / New York Daily News Archive (via Getty Images))
Evidence uncovered during the investigation led to the discovery of further Pandemic Unemployment Assistance (PUA) fraud allegedly led by “Co-conspirator 1” and 35-year-old Chard Baker, also a DHS employee.
Bragg said Baker worked for DHS before joining the New York City Police Department. She was fired from the NYPD in 2023 and rehired by DHS.
Baker and his co-conspirators, along with several other DHS employees, are accused of using their positions to steal identifying personal information and defraud vulnerable individuals, including homeless individuals, Bragg said. There is.
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New York City Mayor Eric Adams speaks about illegal and nearly untraceable “ghost guns” in June 2022 at a press conference with Attorney General Letitia James and others. (Spencer Pratt/Getty Images/File)
One co-conspirator, Baker, Freeman, 36-year-old Latricia Kitchens, and 38-year-old Garrett Wessel, along with both DHS employees and 12 other defendants, are charged with fourth-degree fraud against the PUA program. It was done. Bragg said many of the defendants are also charged with first-degree grand larceny and other crimes.
From April 17, 2020 to October 5, 2021, the defendants obtained personally identifying information without their knowledge and filed fraudulent PUA claims in their names with the New York State Department of Labor (DOL). It is said that he did. Once your application was approved, the DOL issued your bank card to the address listed on your application (sometimes your home address).
Later in the process, the defendants used addresses on the Upper East Side mail route of “three co-conspirators” who were U.S. Postal Service employees. USPS agents allegedly intercepted the mail and provided the cards to other defendants.
An example of a 3D printed ghost gun during a statewide gun buyback event held by the New York State Attorney General’s Office on April 29, 2023 in Brooklyn.
(Yuki Iwamura/AFP via Getty Images)
The DA alleges the defendants filed 170 false applications worth $1.2 million.
The funds were said to have been used to support a lavish lifestyle that allowed him to travel to Mexico and Tanzania.
Other defendants in the PUA fraud scheme included Shanice Robers, 30, who worked as a school safety officer for the NYPD. Dawain Bell, 32, worked for the New York City Housing Authority. David Barr, 33, MTA employee. and Saboor Khalifa, 43, who worked for USPS.
In the fourth indictment, Bragg’s office charges Samira Robers-Baker, 34, and another defendant, 2, for allegedly breaking into the apartment of “Conspirator 1” on November 23, 2020. He was charged with first-degree theft.
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According to the documents, Baker sent texts between Nov. 15 and Nov. 23, 2020 stating that “one co-conspirator” was storing thousands of dollars in the group’s proceeds from PUA fraud in a safe in his apartment. It is said that he did. This allegation led to the robbery of “Co-conspirator 1″‘s apartment at Baker’s direction.
“There is a clear link between people involved in violent crime and traditional white-collar fraud,” Bragg said. “My office will continue to leverage the expertise and tools at our disposal to dismantle these types of interconnected schemes, no matter how complex.”
