3 East NY Criminals Busted Trafficking Guns From South Carolina: Brooklyn DA

EAST NEW YORK, BROOKLYN — Two brothers and one of their girlfriends from the East New York area were charged on Wednesday for trafficking nearly 40 illegal handguns from South Carolina to Brooklyn and selling them to an undercover officer for thousands of dollars, the Brooklyn District Attorney's office announced. Shawn Landrum, 40; Jamel Landrum, 38; and Ashley Finch, 22, were all charged with various counts of criminal sale of a firearm, criminal possession of a weapon and conspiracy, according to the Brooklyn DA.

Between June and December 2016, the undercover officer in Brooklyn bought nine guns from Landrum in front of his home in Cypress Hills, where he lives with Jamel Landrum, his brother, and Jamel's girlfriend, Ashley Finch, according to Acting Brooklyn District Attorney Eric Gonzalez. Each gun cost the undercover officer anywhere from $620 to $8,050, Gonzalez said. Landrum went to South Carolina, where the gun laws are more lax, and buy the weapons from Dondrell Cheeks, a South Carolina gun supplier, according to trial testimony.

New York state requires background checks for all firearm transfers, except for transfers between immediate family members, while South Carolina does not.

Jamel Landrum was charged with providing finanial assistance for the illegal weapons purchases, as well as selling one of the weapons himself. Finch allegedly helped the operation by arranging wire transfers to Cheeks through MoneyGram and Western Union. Cops said that Landrum traveled via GoToBus, a cheap bus service, from South Carolina to New York, carrying illegal weapons with him.

South Carolina gun supplier Cheeks from Spartanburg was charged with criminal sale of a firearm and conspiracy, and is detained in South Carolina, soon to be extradited to Brooklyn, the Brooklyn DA's office said.

"The majority of guns used in Brooklyn crimes are handguns trafficked into our communities from other states with notoriously lax gun laws," Gonzalez said.

NYPD Commissioner James O'Neill said the bust was an example of precision policing that helped reduce the crime rate in 2016 and will continue to help reduce it in 2017.

Shawn and Jamel Landrum were held on $500,000 bail, and Finch was held on $100,000 bail, the Brooklyn DA said.

Photo via Shutterstock