Queens Woman Gets 10 Years In 'Iron Pipeline' Gun Ring Sentencing: DA

QUEENS, NY — A Queens woman will spend a decade behind bars for leading a gun ring that funneled weapons into the city through the I-95 "Iron Pipeline," prosecutors said.

Jessica Heyliger, 39, who appeared Tuesday in a Queens courtroom for sentencing, brought weapons and ammunition in the south and drove them into the city, authorities said.

From there, Heyliger and others dealt guns in Queens, including to undercover NYPD officers, prosecutors said.

"This defendant trafficked illegal lethal weapons with no regard for
the bloodshed and misery they could visit upon our communities," said Melinda Katz, district attorney for Queens, in a statement. "She is being held accountable for her callous acts."

The case began with an NYPD probe dubbed "Operation Tiger" that focused on the gun ring starting in 2019 when one of Heyliger's eventual co-defendants — Sharod King — sold an undercover cop a handgun and two large-capacity ammunition feeding devices, authorities said.

Until the probe closed in July 2020, the ring sold an undercover cop 23 guns, hundreds of rounds of ammunition and more than 10 high-capacity magazines, prosecutors said.