Georgia Men Charged With Trafficking Guns To Long Island

NEW YORK STATE — Two men from Georgia were arraigned on Wednesday and charged with trafficking guns into New York, many of which were recovered on Long Island.

Patrick Polidore, 32, of Powder Springs, Georgia, was arraigned on Wednesday in Central Islip. His co-defendant, Dennis Wolfolk, 29, originally from Hempstead, but now in Lovejoy, Georgia, is currently in federal custody in a facility in Georgia. He will be extradited to New York at a later date.

“As alleged, these defendants illegally trafficked over two dozen guns across state lines, distributing them to street-level buyers in New York where at least 11 were then used in numerous violent crimes, including multiple shootings across Long Island,” said United States Attorney Breon Peace. “This office and our law enforcement partners will continue to vigorously investigate and prosecute those who exploit state and federal gun laws directly leading to deadly gun violence in our communities.”

According to Peace, between October 2020 and January 2021, Polidore acted as a straw buyer for 27 handguns in Georgia, many of which were purchased in rapid succession. Peace said that, for example, on Nov. 4, 2020, Polidore bought six handguns at multiple locations in Georgia. Records show that Polidore said he was purchasing the guns for himself, Peace said. In actuality, Polidore was conspiring with Wolfolk — a convicted felon who could not legal possess a gun — to move the guns to New York and resell them illegally, Peace said.

To date, 11 of the guns that Wolfolk transported to New York have been recovered by police in and around Long Island.

On Jan. 13, 2021, Peace said that police recovered one of the guns during a traffic stop in Hempstead. The gun was linked to a shooting in Uniondale on Nov. 25, 2020, in which people shot at a car. According to Peace, the gun had been purchased by Polidore just two days earlier.

On Oct. 3, 2021, police arrested a man fleeing an armed robbery in Bethpage, Peace said, who was in possession of a handgun purchased by Polidore. That same gun was linked to a shooting in Hempstead on Dec. 16, 2020, Peace said.

Peace said officials have yet to locate 16 guns that were purchased by Polidore.

“Illegal firearms are flooding into Long Island every day and causing untold destruction," said Nassau County District Attorney Anne Donnelly. "To date, our county law enforcement partners
have seized 272 weapons in 2022. As of this date last year, that number was 193. Patrick Polidore and Dennis Wolfolk are part of that problem. These defendants allegedly conspired to purchase firearms in Georgia and trafficked those weapons to Long Island, where at least 11 of them have already been recovered at crime scenes.”